Snow falls on cue; thousands hit slopes
SNOW enthusiasts had a ‘‘blue bird’’ day across Queenstown Lakes skifields yesterday as hundreds lined up to hit the slopes.
Cardrona Alpine Resort recorded 23cm of ‘‘new snow’’ in 48 hours to yesterday and another 5cm is forecast for today, communications executive Jen Houltham said.
Treble Cone general manager Toby Arnott said guests were waiting in line on the mountain when staff turned up yesterday morning.
More than 1500 people hit the slopes, so ski area management closed the access road to uphill traffic to help with car parking and traffic management, while free shuttle buses operated from the bottom of the access road to the base building.
Over the hill in Queenstown, skiers and snowboarders formed queues outside NZSki’s Snow Centre on Brecon St to make the most of fresh snow, timed perfectly for the school holidays.
Coronet Peak got 11cm of snow on Monday and had a base yesterday of between 30cm and 85cm, while the Remarkables got 15cm on Monday, taking its base to between 90cm and 120cm.
By 8.15am yesterday, queues for buses heading to both mountains had stretched from the centre along almost the entire length of Brecon St and, in the other direction, along Camp St to the intersection with Shotover St.