Mt Cheeseman joins Temple Basin in abandoning ski season

Tuesday, 26 August 2025

Mt Cheeseman photographed on Friday last week.

A second South Island skifield has been forced to remain closed for the season after being blighted by a lack of snow.

Last week Temple Basin announced it was abandoning efforts to open for the 2025 ski season after not getting enough snow.

Now Mt Cheeseman has made the same decision - the first time it has not opened since World War II.

Mt Cheeseman operations manager Cam Lill says while they have snow at higher elevations, further down the mountain it is lacking.

“We are absolutely gutted,” said Cam Lill, operations manager at Mt Cheeseman, which opened in 1929.

“Whilst there is perhaps further hope of snow-bearing systems on the horizon, we still don’t have any degree of certainty moving forward.”

Rainbow Ski Area in the Marlborough region is also yet to open this season.

Snow cam footage from Mt Cheeseman on Monday afternoon showing minimal snow at the learners’ base of the ski area.

The Mt Cheeseman ski club committee decided last Thursday to close operations, and has spend the last few days sharing the news with members, season pass holders and then the general public on Monday.

The early season 30cm snow dump in June had the mountain “in reasonable shape” Lill said, but their excitement was quashed by rain a week before their planned opening date.

Lill said there was decent snow at the top, but the lower elevations had received little.

The club will reassess the situation if there is considerable snow in the coming weeks, and the club’s committee is meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss plans for pass holders, which could involve roll-overs to next season, refunds or donations.

It anticipated having options for special pass or deal holders by early September.

Temple Basin ski field announced on Wednesday that it was abandoning efforts to open this season.

Lill said the skifield — and others — need to consider how they can better manage such situations in the future.

“I think Mt Cheeseman and a lot of other ski areas have to look at operations going forward, to create adaptive models so we can react to seasons like this.”

The mountain’s two lodges are still open for weddings, schools, birthdays and other events, Lill said.

Forecasters say it is too early to say if another major polar blast might happen before the end of the ski season.

MetService meteorologist John Law said while winter officially ends this week, there is still a chance of top-ups for the South Island’s skifields in early spring, with snow expected on higher peaks at the end of the week.

But warm daytime weather this week – including 17C forecast in Christchurch – continues to hamper conditions at lower levels.

Jono Conway, a hydrological forecasting scientist at Earth Sciences New Zealand (formerly NIWA), said lower and mid-elevation skifields have been hit hardest this winter, with sites like Arthur’s Pass seeing just 20% to 30% of their usual snow for this time of year.

“A few snowfalls can make or break a season,” he said, adding that higher average temperatures over the past century are contributing to less reliable snow at these moderate elevations.