Queenstown's Remarkable ski area opened this morning for the winter season, to near perfect snow conditions. The entire mountain is open for business. Fifteen hundred skiers and boarders had already hit the snow at 9am. Four centimeters of additional snow fell this morning adding to the 110cm of snow at the upper mountain base.
Remarkables Primary School students were among the first on the Alta lift and in line to received highly-coveted 'First On The Lift' T-shirts, where skiers and boarders were welcomed by ski field staff and celebrated with a glass of Amisfield Winery bubbles.
Area Manager Ross Lawrence said: "To be frank it's not often that we have such amazing snow and the coverage we've got from Day One. I'm hearing lots of 'yahoos' as people get their first runs in and there's plenty of smiles, plenty of good times," he said.
"The timing couldn't have been better and even though it's pretty cold up here people have dressed for the conditions. It's snowing which is what winter is all about!
"For the first time in a few years, we've got Homeward Run, the terrain park and TRIC big park features open and operating all from Day One, so no surprise then that we've got lots of happy people up here.