Thank you, snow gods!
Queenstown finally had a decent winter snow dump over the weekend, just in time for the school holidays.
More than 2,500 skiers and snowboarders were up at The Remarkables on Sunday, while Coronet Peak was also able to open, and Cardrona Alpine Resort put up the 'sold out' signs for the first time.
RealNZ-run ski field Cardrona, half way to Wānaka over the Crown Range, has introduced a cap of the number of people on the mountain this winter, along with dynamic pricing. It sold out of chairlift day passes on Sunday (2 July) and its website shows there are none available until Friday.
All Queenstown ski fields are likely to have a busy week, as the New Zealand school holidays coincides with the Australian holidays.
NZSki's The Remarkables ski field area manager Ross Lawrence says it's great the snow has arrived, adding 17cms to the mountain over the weekend.
"It's the busiest time of the year but great to the families coming out and enjoying themselves," Lawrence says on Sunday.
"Coronet is up and running again, which has spread the load, because the last few days were pretty busy up here at The Remarks for sure.
"We've had a south-westerly airflow, we're in the cloud and it's snowing off and on, and it's very cold, -6deg or -7deg, which is great for snow making."
Six of the seven chairlifts at The Remarks were open first thing Monday as the Lakes Weekly went to press, while 5/8 were open at Coronet, but Cardrona was closed due to strong winds, and Treble Cone remains closed.
- Check out the snow reports everyday on The Queenstown App
