Ski season shaping up to be a boomer

By JO-MARIE BROWN

Cold temperatures and wintry conditions may have ruined New Zealand's summer but they are likely to produce one of the best ski seasons in recent years.

Mt Ruapehu's marketing manager, Mike Smith, said a string of crisp autumn days had delivered some unusually cold temperatures on the slopes.

"This will be my sixth season on the mountain and I've never seen it this cold, this early," Mr Smith said yesterday.

"It's come out of the strange February we've had, really. I would estimate that we're probably four to six weeks ahead of schedule temperature-wise, so we should have a good, solid start to the season."

Turoa skifield is set to open on June 18 and Whakapapa a week later.

While last winter was decidedly average, Mr Smith believed this year could rival the 1994 ski season when record snowfalls produced a 4m base.

"The weather patterns are looking quite similar to that year. It's a bit like crystal ball-gazing, but the forecasts suggest the storm cycles we're likely to get coming through will deliver snow rather than rain."

The mountain had a taste of things to come last weekend with up to 5cm of snow overnight on Sunday.

If the present weather pattern continues, regular frosts and fine sunny days would provide perfect snowmaking conditions over the next few months.