Industry News
Mount Hutt, New Zealand, will start winter operations this Saturday, June 10, 2023. After some early snowfalls, the resort announced a season opening for Friday, June 9, 2023, which was pushed back by a day to this Saturday. Each year Mount Hutt aims to be the first resort in Oceania to open by beating the Australian resorts by a day, but yesterday the Mt Hutt resort announced that the opener had to be pushed back by one day.
The plan is to open Summit 6, Nor’west Express, and both carpets and to have Learners areas, HW72, Broadway, and Hoods Hollow groomed on the mid-mountain and Morning Glory and Chair Bowl on the upper mountain.
Like Australia, New Zealand experienced some early season snowfalls in May, but recent temperature rises eroded the fragile early season cover again.
With temperatures falling again recently, and some natural snowfalls, the resort has been preparing for the 2023 season, aided by a NZD 1.2 million (USD 0.73 million) investment in their snowmaking infrastructure over the summer. Mt Hutt now possesses 14 state-of-the-art TechnoAlpin fan guns, enabling them to make snow all the way down Highway 72 and in the Base Area and Beginners Area.
Mount Hutt is located on New Zealand’s South Island, approximately 90 minutes from Christchurch. The resort extends from 1,403m (4,603ft) to a top elevation of 2,086m (6,843ft) and offers skiing on 365 hectares (902 acres) of ski area, serviced by three high-speed chairlifts and two surface lifts. Mount Hutt is one of the largest ski areas in New Zealand and has been voted New Zealand’s best ski resort at the World Ski Awards for eight years running.
This year Mount Hutt will celebrate its 50th anniversary.
