South Island ski fields delay opening over lack of snow

Ski fields in the South Island are delaying opening or weighing their options because of a lack of snow.

A warm start to winter and the driest May in Christchurch’s recorded history have caused difficult snow-making conditions.

Cardrona Alpine Resort said in a social media post that its ski field near Wānaka had pushed back its opening day to Saturday 20 June, due to a mild start to the season.

“Winter slept in by a couple of weeks this year, which meant we didn’t get snowmaking underway as early as we’d have liked. So we’re taking an extra week to make sure the maunga is ready to welcome you all for another great season.”

In Canterbury, Mt Hutt was also delaying its planned Friday opening due to a lack of snow.

Ski manager James McKenzie provided an update on conditions in a social media post on Tuesday.

“We’re going to need a couple more days of really cold [temperatures] and some snow making, and potentially some natural snowfall, before we can get the season going. We’re just going to be in a watching brief on this and see how conditions change over the next week or so.”

The Remarkables, near Queenstown, said in its latest snow report that a decision on whether it would open on Saturday as planned would be made on Thursday.

“While we haven’t had much natural snow yet (although a developing El Nino looks promising for later on) we’ve finally got conditions to get the snow guns cranking and start making some snow,” it said.

Treble Cone was due to open on 27 June.

Whakapapa ski field in the North Island opened over King’s Birthday weekend.

NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said all mountains were poised to move quickly as soon as conditions allowed.

“Our teams are doing everything they can to get winter underway,” he said.

“We’ll continue to update everyone as the weather unfolds, and we’ll open more terrain the moment we have the coverage to do so safely. We know everyone wants to get up the mountains and into the season and the good news is that we can see colder weather on the horizon so expect to be fully open in the coming couple of weeks.”

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