Canterbury Mt Hutt delays opening again after warm winds strip skifield of snow

Monday, 22 June 2026

Canterbury skifield Mt Hutt is aiming to open this weekend - a second delay to plans - after “all over the place” weather and a record June high.

Christchurch city hit 25.1C on Saturday afternoon, a record for June coupled with strong winds, but on Sunday dropped to 8.5C and on Monday morning residents woke to below zero and an air temperature that felt like -2C.

“Temperatures are all over the place,” MetService meteorologist Silvia Martino said.

The swings devastated Canterbury skifield Mt Hutt’s opening plans. A nor’wester wind gust reached 248kph on Saturday - just 8kph shy of the skifield’s all-time record - stripping away its thin snow base.

Only artificially-made snow survived the battering.

The skifield, which had targeted a Saturday opening after earlier delays, has now pushed its winter opening date back to this weekend, hoping colder weather forecast late Wednesday will help.

“This next wave of weather is starting to show potential. If you have a snow dance, now would be a good time,” the skifield’s website states.

Monday’s cold snap will stick around, she said. Highs will linger in single to low teen digits for most of the week as winter properly settles in.

“It’s looking pretty nice for the majority - perfect, dry, mid-winter weather, which I guess isn’t always for everybody,” Martino said.