Methven, New Zealand – A lack of snow in New Zealand is affecting the start of the ski season on the country’s South Island.
Mt. Hutt near Methven had expected to launch its ski and snowboard season this Saturday, but this week’s trace of snowfall is not enough to spin the lifts, and a lack of cold weather has hampered snowmaking efforts for more than a week. Snowmakers at Mt. Hutt are on standby to begin making snow at the first opportunity but MetService is predicting high temperatures just above freezing for the remainder of the week, with the only snow predicted over the next week limited to a few snow showers down to 1,000 meters elevation on Saturday.
The season was scheduled to begin Saturday, too, at Snow Park NZ near Lake Wanaka in the Southern Lakes region. While colder temperatures allowed crews at Snow Park NZ to initiate snowmaking operations Tuesday night, an unseasonably warm month of May combined with lower than average pre-season snowfall means Snow Park will delay its scheduled Saturday opening.
“The good news is we were able to make some snow at higher altitudes late Tuesday night and into the early hours Wednesday,” said Snow Park NZ snowmaker Daz Macale, whose initial focus is on the top of the halfpipe and the box run. “At this point we’re optimistic that this is the turn in the weather we’ve been looking for. Conditions look good for the weekend.”
Snow Park NZ claims to be the only Wanaka ski and snowboard area that can open entirely with man-made snow, and General Manager Robin Sadowski-Synnott said a decision on a new opening date will be made once snowmaking operations are in full swing.
“Mother Nature is notoriously unpredictable,” said Sadowski-Synnott. “But the tide seems to have turned so we don’t expect this will have much of an impact on the season overall.”
The ski season at Mt. Hutt’s NZski.com stablemate, Coronet Peak, remains on hold, while other New Zealand ski resorts have later scheduled openings. The Remarkables is still on the calendar for June 18 and Treble Cone for June 23. On the North Island, lifts are scheduled to open at Turoa on June 25, while neighboring Whakapapa Ski Area has its season debut scheduled for July 2.