Snow lovers gearing up to slip and slide their way over the Rainbow

Friday, 22 June 2018

Snow fans have their fingers and gloves crossed for a good season with Rainbow Ski Area looking set to open on July 7.

The community ski field near St Arnaud had been busily making snow, with recent overnight temperatures plummeting down to a very frosty -6 degrees Celsius, making for perfect conditions.

Rainbow general manager James Lazor said the whole of the South Island had been 'very fortunate' with good weather so far this year and he was confident Rainbow would have  a healthy season.

'It's a great start to the season for the whole industry.'

Lazor said it looked likely that the season could reach October given the recent weather. 

'We're set to open on the seventh. But we're weather dependent so it all depends on what happens in the next few weeks.'

He said they were expecting a front over the weekend that would hopefully dump 30cm of fresh snow over the trails.

The Rainbow operations team were 'fully set' and in the final stages of getting the field and facilities ready for opening day.  

The season's opening party will be on July 7 and all proceeds will go to the Nelson Rescue Helicopter and to the Rainbow Ski Area's new patrol toboggan.

Events and marketing had set up a fresh schedule for the winter. This includes 'Ski like a VIP Event', 'Rainbow Retro Weekend' and 'Rock Wag a Work Days' in July, with over 10 other events through until September.

Lazor has been in charge of ski operations across North Americai and was appointed to the new position of GM in February as part of a reshuffle of the Nelson-Lakes operation. 

He said Rainbow was 'an amazing area to work with'.