Snow, glorious snow has replenished the fields at Coronet Peak and extended the skiing season into the Australian school holidays. Photo / Getty Images, File
Two southern skifields are extending their seasons to make the most of good snow conditions.
Coronet Peak and Treble Cone have put their closing date back by a week, and will now close on October 2, capturing the first week of the Australian school holidays.
Coronet Peak ski area manager Nigel Kerr said the ski field was "skiing epically at the moment".
"It's that old story. When Coronet's good, it's bloody great."
Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone general manager Bridget Legnavsky said given the "fantastic" snow conditions and strong visitor numbers, they decided to also extend Treble Cone's season.
Cardrona's season already runs until late October.
"We couldn't be happier with the amount of snow we've got, and it just keeps coming", she said.
Kerr said snow conditions at Coronet had been "amazing" all season.
The mountain had received about 15cm at the weekend.
The Remarkables ski area manager Ross Lawrence said there was a base of about 2m across the mountain, and they were looking to halt snow-making.
"With the amount of snow we've got there now, and if it does hold nice and cold like this, we've got no problem at all seeing a good long winter through."
The Remarkables was not planning on extending its season past its scheduled closing on October 16.
All three operators said visitor numbers were strong.
Coronet was "well ahead of expectations", while The Remarkables was about 25 per cent up.
Legnavsky said RealNZ's mountains had "really, really strong" numbers.
Staffing across all fields continued to be a struggle.
Kerr said Coronet staff were "managing ... but that doesn't mean we've been able to put our best foot forward all the time".
Lawrence said they were still battling with finding staff, and continuing to recruit.
"There's still sickness going through the place, too, and Covid."
Legnavsky said the worker shortage was mostly affecting its food and beverage outlets.
"It's not really a ski area problem, it's more of a general region problem."
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