South follows North
Wednesday May 13, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

Mount Hutt is aiming to open on May 30th – 2 weeks ahead of schedule and the first time it has opened in May for 10 years.

The resort has had 1.7m of snow in the past 12 days.

“We’ve got awesome snow conditions so have decided to open early for some May skiing, but it’s been a big call to make,” said Dave Wilson, Ski Area Manager for Mt Hutt. “There are huge logistics involved in opening a ski area ahead of schedule.”

Mr Wilson said staff would be working around the clock and people from neighbouring resorts are helping out.

Nearby Coronet Peak looks pretty good too“We need to ensure our suppliers can meet our deadlines, go through all the health and safety checks and ensure we have enough staff.”

The Summit Six Chairlift, the Quad Chair and the Magic Carpet should be operating on May 30th, while the Triple Chair will open in the following weeks if there is enough snow.

Opening early is a good PR exercise, as it stays in people’s minds. The resort says it has had an increase in interest throughout the winter as news of its early opening has spread.

Last weekend Mount Buller, in Australia, opened though it has now shut.  It was 5 weeks ahead of its original opening date.

However, just because there is good snow now of course means little for the rest of the winter. But it is a good start and people in New Zealand, or those heading off there for the winter season, are hoping they may have a winter similar to the record one Europe has just experienced.

"It's amazing to hear the snow is dumping already in NZ. Just 10 days ago I was shreding the powder in Zermatt and as soon as I've hung up my boots reports come in of another epic season starting," says PlanetSKI reporter, Matt Rivers, who will be working as a ski instructor in New Zealand for the season.

"I  plan to be back on snow from mid-June and will be in Mt. Ruapehu - Turoa side for my 3rd season. The only bad news is the South Island is beating us on the snow front at the moment but reports look like it is heading our way. Fingers crossed for another 5m base like we had last year. Bring it on!"

Matt is part of a team of reporters PlanetSKI has in Australia, New Zealand and South America who will be updating us on what is happening in the Southern Hemisphere.

If you want a flavour of what skiing in South America is like then checkout the blogs our content editor, James Cove, sent last season from Argentina and here is a video report from the resort of Bariloche, high up in the Andes. It's quite a place.

We have already written about the good early season snowfalls in Australia and New Zealand here on PlanetSKI.

Additional reporting and information from www.skiinfo.com

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