Mt Hutt skifield reopens after shock avalanche

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Accident-riddled Mount Hutt skifield has reopened after an avalanche which left some skiers partially buried but uninjured this morning.

The avalanche occurred on the south face of the Canterbury skifield this morning, Mount Hutt manager Dave Wilson said.

"Two or three" skiers were caught up in the avalanche, he told The Press.

Skiers were taken off the mountain to the carpark where a head count was carried out.

About 2000 skiers were on the mountain today.

The Mountain Safety Council said there was considerable avalanche risk in its assessment of the mountain this morning, with isolated snow slabs left after a storm on Sunday.

Mt Hutt yesterday said more than a metre of fresh snow had fallen in 36 hours, with 68cm falling on Sunday.

Three skiers have died on the mountain this season, including a Christchurch snowboarder who fell about 300 metres on Friday.

The snowboarder, aged about 30, was with two friends when he slid while traversing back from groomed terrain to the bottom of the triple chairlift.

His fall took him below the bottom of the chairlift, and outside the ski area boundary over rocky outcrops.

In July, a 54-year-old Christchurch woman died while skiing with her daughter outside the skifield boundary. A month earlier, a 21-year-old American woman died after injuring herself while skiing, also off-trail.

Also in June, a 60-year-old man died after his car veered off the access road as he was drove home from a day at the mountain.

Before this year, the last fatality was in 2005.

- NZPA, NZ Herald staff