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Mt Hutt re-opens
Saturday August 14, 2010 - Email this article to a friend
Over 1,000 skiers and snowboarders were trapped in the NZ resort as a 200km/hr wind buffeted the mountain. The access road to Mount Hutt was closed and people were stranded. The road has now re-opened and people have made it home.
The wind has finally dropped and the road has been pronounced safe.
The resort gets severe weather and high winds and some locals refer to it as Mt Shut has it has to close so often.
But rarely quite like this.
Among the people forced to spend the night in the restaurant and base buildings were 300 children.
Most of them found it an adventure, according to local media reports, as they were forced to sleep on the floor and be escorted to the outside toilets in gale force winds.
There is no purpose built accommodation in the ski area and 1,200 people had to be looked after.
The food was simple, but it was enough.
We reported on the closure on Thursday, on PlanetSKI.
They survived the overnight ordeal
Still looks grim outside
The weather though had now eased off and the access road is open to traffic though the resort is still shut.
The temperature has risen to +6ºC and it is now raining.
"Guests made themselves as comfortable as possible and were well fed by the Mt Hutt food and beverage crew who cooked dinner and breakfast," says a statement from the resort.
"We are confident we will get all the guests off the mountain today as the winds are forecast to ease. My Hutt continues to be closed as our priority is to get everyone down the access road and home safely," it continues.
Vehicles with chains and 4 wheel drive are advised.
It was a long. Long night.
Cars had to be abandoned and some had windows broken by the high wind and other damage.
Questions though are being asked about why the weather was not predicted and the resort closed earlier.
People were stuck up the mountain for 22 hours.
The resort has said that the forecasters simply got the severity of the wind wrong and that everyone will be given a refund.
Many people though priaised the work of staff and the resort it acted in the interests of safety and made the right decions, according to this report in the New Zealand Herald newspaper.
The resort has been in the media spotlight this season as 3 people have died on the slopes and a 4th person has died in a road accident on the access road.
People have also been caught in avalanches.
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