Poor Start to the Season in New Zealand
14th June 2024
Last modified on June 19th, 2024
There has been some snow and cold temperatures have allowed snow to be made. It’s not a bumper start, but some resorts have been able to open limited areas. UPDATED
The Remarkables, near Queenstown, has been able to open – but there is very limited terrain with only the beginner areas open.
Mt Hutt on the South Island was also able to open but with only be a couple of lifts running.
The resort has invested heavily in snow making in recent years and can produce 400 tonnes of snow per hour when conditions allow.
Coronet Peak was unable to fire up lifts on its scheduled opening day on Saturday 15th, but it is now open.
The resorts have been watching the weather closely.
“We’re keeping all of our fingers and toes crossed. At the moment, it’s a bit of a day-by-day watching brief,” said NZSki chief executive, Paul Anderson, to local media.
“But the weather has got very cold in the last week, and we’ve had some fantastic snowmaking so we’re going all guns blazing.”
Treble Cone is set to open on June 29th and there has been a dusting of snow.
Here at PlanetSKI we’ll keep you updated.
In Australia there has been some welcome fresh snow after resorts opened last weekend with little, if any, snow on the ground.
Now things have changed slightly, with resorts opening small areas this weekend.
All in all it is not quite the start to the season the resorts in New Zealand and Australia would have wanted, but it’s very early days.
Elsewhere in the southern hemisphere it’s a different story.
In South America resorts in Chile and Argentina opening early after bumper snowfalls that are continuing.
