New Zealand resorts get the goods

After a short dry spell in July resorts across New Zealand’s south island have seen significant snow fall this week, including a whopping 60cm (that’s two feet) at Mt Olympus overnight.

The fresh blanket of snow across the south island will bring a smile to locals and visitors alike this weekend with some significant snowfall, especially in New Zealand’s Canterbury region.

Topping the list of new snow is Mt Olympus with 60cm of fresh snow and the resort being forced to close on Friday. If weather permits it should be some pristine powder conditions on the weekend.

Nearby Canterbury resorts such as Craigieburn(50cm), Temple Basin(30cm), Broken River(30cm), and Cheesman(50cm) also saw some heavy snowfall. Mount Hutt received 15cm of new snow overnight.

Further down south Treble Cone in Wanaka received a healthy 20cm of fresh overnight and nearby resort Cardrona saw 8cm of the white powder.

In Queenstown, The Remarkables received over 40cm of snow in the last 7 days of which 33cm was received in the last 36 hours, while Coronet Peak was also blanketed by over 28 cm of snow in the last 36 hours.

According to a release by the resort Coronet Peak’s First Tracks (where the ski area opens an hour earlier for the truly dedicated) proved popular this week as people chased the fresh snow.

Avalanche reports for the whole south island remain on high and backcountry skiing and boarding is not recommended.

To stay on top of the weather in New Zealand be sure to check out Snow.co.nz’s full reports and forecasts.

Photo credit : Mo Rush

Posted by Brendon on July 24th, 2009 in Broken River and Coronet Peak and Mt Hutt and Mt Olympus and New Zealand and Temple Basin and The Remarkables and Treble Cone

Brendon @cherrypow

Hi, I'm Brendon, editor and one of the co-founders of CherryPow. When work isn't calling I'm planning the next snow adventure and writing about it.