Conditions Report
The South Island of New Zealand was hit with massive amounts of snow in May. Early season ski touring was on with many backcountry areas skiable that normally wouldn’t have enough snow until August. The season got off to a great start.
Snow in May melts away however and warmer temperatures over the past few weeks have unfortunately seen the snowline rise daily. Hopefully next week will see more snow and all resorts will be open.
Cardrona opened last Saturday and has great early season coverage, about 70% of the resort and trails are open and the skiing has been great. Captains Basin is really well filled in and keeps accumulating wind blown snow every night. The parks are gradually getting built up with 2 of the intermediate jumps finished a few days ago and new rail features being added daily. The parks crew keep working hard maintaining features throughout the day and working to add more. The large jump line should be finished next week sometime.
Coronet peak also opened last Saturday. Their elevation is significantly lower and they have been much more affected by warmer temperatures, about 25% of their runs are currently open. The Remarkables opened this weekend and received a few centimeters of fresh snow, all chairlifts are running. Treble Cone is scheduled to open on Thursday and all the locals are eagerly waiting.
