'Terrible run of weather' forces early end of Porters and Temple Basin ski seasons

Friday, 6 September 2024

Temple Basin and Porters Alpine Resort skifields have experienced too much rain and not enough snow this season, forcing them to shut early. (File photo)

Two Canterbury ski resorts are closing for the season after a “terrible run of weather”.

Temple Basin Ski Area in Arthur's Pass closed on Thursday and Porters Alpine Resort, an hour’s drive from Christchurch, is having its last day of the season on Friday.

The season was “way shorter” than normal because of too much rain, bad weather and a lack of snow, Temple Basin manager Luke Richards said.

His mostly volunteer-run skifield typically opens from mid-July until the end of September, but this year it opened late in mid-August and has now closed weeks early.

Ski scenes at Temple Basin Ski Area last year.

“We had that super-long dry period in July where we had three weeks of beautiful weather - which is terrible - and in August we got that windy westerly cycle,” he said.

“We’ve had horrendous weather up here and it’s been raining.”

The skifield’s higher elevations have had sufficient snow coverage, but its crucial lower levels - that are required to get to the upper levels - have not had enough snow.

“We’ve gotten really quiet and we don’t have any bookings coming up, so it’s just not going to be profitable for us to be open,” Richards said in an online video announcing the early closure.

Season pass holder Jana Chrast was “gutted” her season was cut short. She had a trip planned, with accommodation pre-booked and paid for, at Porters next weekend with her husband and daughter.

The Christchurch family had been up the mountain six times so far this season, so Chrast believed she had got her money’s worth from the $450 single season pass. Her “sad” frustration lied with the weather, rather than resort management.

Staff at Porters said they were “gutted to have to close” after a “terrible run of weather”.

“Unfortunately, recent winds and rain have taken their toll on our snowpack,” Porters said in a Facebook post.

Mt Hutt plans to be open until the end of the October school holidays. (File photo)

Mt Hutt Ski Area is scheduled to remain open until the end of the next school holidays on October 13, which is its standard closing date.

“We’re tracking to a medium snowfall year for Mt Hutt,” manager James McKenzie said.

“The snow that has come has been well received, but we’ve had a lot of snow-making this year. We established many of our trails with snow-making before the natural snow arrived.”

Temple Basin, pictured here in 2023, had to cut its season short this year because of unfavourable weather conditions.

Mt Hutt has had snow-making abilities since the 1990s and started that process this year in June.

“Ongoing investment in snow-making is paying dividends for us,” McKenzie said.

Climate change and rising temperatures were a “concern for the industry”, he said. Mt Hutt has committed to being carbon-neutral by 2030.

Temple Basin did not have snow-making facilities, Anderson said, but “crap” weather-related seasons were not a unique phenomenon.

“We’ve got records back to the 1970s where we had closed years where we never opened, but potentially they have come more frequent in recent memory.”

His committee had formed a climate change sub-committee to look into actions the ski area could implement, worried about rising average temperatures.

Both Porters and Temple Basin thanked staff and customers for their support over the curtailed season.