Mt Olympus ski field faces $50k repairs after missed snow season

Sisyphean task: The Mt Olympus ski field is faced with the prospect of another missed ski season. Photo / Supplied

Just over a month away from opening, a Canterbury Club ski field has been landed with a $50,000 repair bill and no way to access the slopes.

Mt Olympus - which calls itself the 'playground of the gods' - is faced with the prospect of a second season without any skiing.

Last year the poor snow conditions meant there was no skiing on the field. Now club members have the Herculean task of repairing the roads in just six weeks to avoid more missed skiing.

"The repairs are significant and not something that the Club members can carry out with volunteer labor alone," said the club board.

Club members assess the damage at the Mt Olympus ski field roads. Photo / Supplied

"Coming off a low snow season in 2020 the Club does not have the funds to sustain this financial hit."

Stuck between a rock and a hard place the small Canterbury field has asked for donations to patch up their road access.

A crowdfunding campaign on via the website BoostedSport has already raised 87 per cent of this total, with 27 days to make the total.

The club has praised the "amazing response," and thanked donors, saying that they hope they will be able to get the work finished and started for opening day.

The Canterbury ski field has estimaed the repair costs at between $30-50 thousand. Photo / Supplied

The club which was started in 1932 as Windwhistle Winter Sports Club developed the Mt Olympus Ski Field into a top club ski field in the Craigieburn Ranges. Last year 2020 saw both disruption from Covid and the low snowfalls, meaning that the club missed a season.

The Windwhistle Winter Sports Club was established in 1932 and has a rich history which includes the development of Mt Olympus Ski Field. Club members have forged the foundations of this ski field with their own blood sweat and tears. 2020 saw COVID 19 bring uncertainty to how the season would run and then winter did not arrive with low snowfall seeing the field not open, the first time in 42 years.

While the club was able to wait out a year of no operation, the prospect of back-to-back missed ski seasons would be disastorous.