It’s been predicted that this will be the best start to the New Zealand ski season for many years. Cold temperatures and early snow at New Zealand\'s Mt. Hutt mean the Canterbury ski area has got off to an early start with its snowmaking operations. Snow guns were making snow for 16 hours on Friday night and there is now 20-30cm of snow on all the main trails. Mt Ruapehu’s two bases of Whakapapa and Turoa have also had some heavy snow, and there is now about 50cm of snow on the upper slopes and 20cm on the lower ones. More snow is forecast for the rest of the week...
Mt. Hutt is scheduled to open on June 10. There have been several developments at the resort over the past year, including the installation of the six-seater high speed chairlift, a dedicated novice area complete with a 1.2 km novice trail, and a new magic carpet for easy access to the beginners slope.
Whakapapa snowmakers will start next week and Turoa on 1st June. Both Ski Areas are scheduled to open June 16th.
www.MtRuapehu.com
http://www.snow.co.nz/news/index.asp