New Zealand's Ski Season Delayed Once Again
Ski season is off to a slower start in parts of the Southern Hemisphere than expected. Not unlike the Northern Hemisphere’s past winter, Ullr hasn’t quite delivered enough snow to kick things off at several of New Zealand‘s ski areas, specifically.
The Remarkables, on New Zealand’s South Island, is having a tough time with conditions thus far. The ski area originally pushed its opening date to June 20th and had teams hard at work making snow. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t quite cooperate, and the ski area couldn’t open on the 20th. According to the resort website, they hope to update the public with a new opening date by Tuesday, June 23rd.
Similarly, Cardrona has also delayed its opening more than once this season. Originally scheduled to open on June 13th, the ski area pushed the opening date to June 20th and had snowmaking crews hard at work. However, a warm, wet, and windy weather system came through the weekend of the 20th and didn’t exactly do the existing snowpack at Cardrona any favors. As of June 21, the ski area has their sights set on a June 26th opening date, pending better weather and snow-making conditions.
Cardrona’s sister resort, Treble Cone, currently has an opening date of June 27th set and has staff training underway, according to their social media accounts. Until then, please enjoy this clip of Toby Rafford from last winter and keep your fingers crossed New Zealand looks a bit more like this soon!
On the North Island, Mt. Hutt also has their sights set on Saturday, June 27th for opening day. The ski area needs a 30cm base before it can open for the season.
Thanks to aggressive snowmaking operations, Coronet Peak is one of the lucky ski resorts to have opened on a limited footprint as of June 13th. More natural snow had started to accumulate, following the ski area’s opening, giving Coronet Peak a buffer to open expanded terrain.
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Related: 4 Unbelievable (and Imaginary) New Ski Products Coming Next Winter
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