Snowlines: Early falls bring big smiles all round

By COLIN MOORE

A huge sigh of relief can be heard around the New Zealand alpine sports industry.

The first ski season of the new millennium is set to erase the bitter memories of a succession of indifferent years. One more poor snow season and the industry, which has a major impact on winter tourism, would have taken years to recover.

But ski areas, equipment retailers and the accommodation business from Queenstown to Mt Ruapehu are smiling now.

Neil Hunt, at the Auckland Snow Centre, says born-again skiers and snowboarders have been flocking into his shop since the heavy dumps of snow earlier this month.

"The market is buzzing," says Hunt. But he warns that, after the poor seasons in recent years, the industry has scaled down.

"We can't get enough skis, boards and clothing," says Hunt. "If it keeps going like this we will be short of stock."

In something of a turn-up for the industry, the Coronet Peak skifield at Queenstown has had one of its earliest openings after 35cm of snow blanketed the field in one 24-hour dump.

The Remarkables field was also plastered and more than 1m of snow fell on the top of the nearby Cardrona field.

At Mt Ruapehu, the June storms also covered the mountain. The good early cover augurs well for the fields, particularly Mt Ruapehu, because it will freeze the ground and provide an excellent base for further snow.

"This has set us up with a really good base for winter," says Hamish McCrostie, ski area manager at the Remarkables. "It looks like we'll have our best opening since 1996 for great natural snow cover. We are pretty rapt."

As usual, Mt Hutt was the first ski area to open when it started its chairlift on June 5.

Coronet capers

The Coronet Peak snow is good news for the 26th Queenstown winter festival which runs from July 14 to 23.

More than 50 events have been lined up for the annual Queenstown winter shindig, starting with an ice hockey tournament between the Canadian Moose and the New Zealand Ice Blacks at the Queenstown Ice Rink.

The Air New Zealand festival fare includes a fireworks display, a celebrity ski and snowboard race, an acrobatic ski and board display under lights at Coronet Peak, the annual sheepdog derby and a Hollywood-style ball.

The festival has set up its own Website so that even those who don't make it to Queenstown can keep up with the action.

Hutt expansion

Mt Hutt has spent $1.8 million updating its base lodge with a two-storey building that links the old lodge area with the ski school and children's centre.

Onfield facilities have come a long way since Mt Hutt opened in the early 1970s with a couple of longdrops.

The new building gives undercover access to guest services, ticket sales and equipment rental.

The cafeteria has been enlarged. Eventually, it will have a New Zealand alpine theme and give diners extensive views over the Canterbury Plains and the snow slopes.

There have also been modest improvements on the field's access road and the car parks. The ski rental area is bigger and has 400 new pairs of carving skis. A separate snowboard rental area has 100 new rental boards with step-in bindings.

The development reflects Mt Hutt's continued popularity with skiers and boarders from Australia and Japan, as well as the rebound in support from the Canterbury market.

Links

Queenstown winter festival