Ohakune, New Zealand – After an unusually warm and dry start to winter that caused many New Zealand ski areas to delay their scheduled openings, bountiful snowfall over the past week has put the country’s ski season back to where it should be … and then some.

On the country’s North Island, snowy conditions over the past week at Mt. Ruapehu in Ohakune have caused the snow base at Whakapapa Ski Area to soar past July 2010 levels. At Knoll Ridge at Whakapapa, snow levels are now deeper than they were during the entire month of July last year and the base at both Turoa and Whakapapa Ski Areas has cracked the one-meter mark and is expected to climb with the snow storm forecast continue until Thursday.

Dave Mazey, general manager for Mt. Ruapehu is delighted the snow dump has come just in time for the school holidays.

“Mt. Ruapehu has seen a superb kick off to July with a huge amount of fresh snow setting us up for an even better season than last year.   Best of all, the weather is predicted to clear later in the week and we expect a beautiful start to the school holidays,” Mazey said.

On the South Island, residents in Queenstown awoke Tuesday morning to the second dump of new snowfall in town in less than a week, closing schools and snarling traffic. Both Coronet Peak and The Remarkables ski areas near Queenstown were closed for the day on Tuesday due to the severe weather conditions. Mt. Hutt near Methven was also closed on Tuesday. The two storms — the first having arrived on Saturday — have boosted snow depths to 35cm at The Remarkables and over half a meter at Coronet Peak, while it’s 45cm at Mt. Hutt.

Ski patrollers at Coronet Peak were unable to complete their snow safety runs on Tuesday. As a result, the resort’s First Tracks program will not take place at 8 a.m. on Wednesday as scheduled.

Near Lake Wanaka, Treble Cone is virtually tied with Turoa to lead the country in snow depth with a 100cm base reported in Saddle Basin and 120cm in the resort’s Home Basin. Treble Cone remained closed on Tuesday due to wind loading of new snow above the access road, while nearby Snow Park NZ stayed shuttered on Tuesday as well due to heavy snow and high winds.

At this hour it’s not yet clear whether or not any of the resorts will be able to open for skiing and riding on Wednesday before another storm is expected to reach the Southern Lakes region by Thursday.