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Mt Hutt resort snow
Lat Long: 43.51° S 171.54° E
Ski New Zealand

Mt Hutt Resort Reviews

Weather Forecast for Mt Hutt at 1743 m altitude

Issued: 11 pm 27 Apr 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Mt Hutt: 0.4 cm on Sat 9th

Visitor reviews for Mt Hutt Ski Resort

Mt Hutt Ratings

Overall: 3.6. Based on 44 votes and 19 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 4.0

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Mt Hutt is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 3.8

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Mt Hutt has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.8

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.5

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 4.1

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Mt Hutt

Public Transport: 3.7

  • There are no buses or taxis to Mt Hutt
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 3.7

  • No places to stay in/near Mt Hutt
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.7

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 3.3

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Mt Hutt

Ski in/Ski out: 2.6

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.9

  • There are no child care facilities at Mt Hutt
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 4.6

  • Mt Hutt relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 4.7

  • There are no snow groomers at Mt Hutt
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Mt Hutt are groomed daily

Shelter: 2.9

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Mt Hutt is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 3.1

  • If snow conditions are poor at Mt Hutt, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 4.4

  • Mt Hutt usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.5

  • The staff at Mt Hutt are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Mt Hutt are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.1

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 4.3

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.2

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.0

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.3

  • No intermediate terrain at Mt Hutt
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.3

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 3.9

  • Not even a kicker at Mt Hutt
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 2.4

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Mt Hutt
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 2.1

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Mt Hutt has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.3

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 3.6

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.0

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 2.3

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 2.7

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 2.5

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 3.4

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.6

  • Overall, Mt Hutt is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 3.5

  • Overall, Mt Hutt is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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May 07, 2009
Rossini
Mount Hutt will not appeal to all, but will supply a satisfying days skiing/riding to most. The best part of this mountain is its lack of pretension and the relaxed rural atmosphere. On snow it offers great off-piste (lots of special spots if you know where to go) and the chance of true steep and deep. On-piste the grooming is good to very good on runs where what you see is what you get, the terrain parks are well looked after. Being a small field by Noth American/European or even Australian standards it still offers pretty good good facilities. The cafes whilst not 5 star are comfortable and reasonable for a ski field. The ski school and rental people are friendly and capable. The crew, who keep the mountain and access road safe, should have their blood bottled. The Mount Hutt experience is just that. Not just a snow sports destination but a great place to enjoy a different pace and life for a while. Ripping up some wind blown or corn snow or real powder is definitely on the cards but...one sometimes has to be philosophical down Mount Hutt way.
September 01, 2008
Andrew A from Ski New Zealand New Zealand
To call Mt Hutt 'sheltered from most winds' is a plain lie. Rossini and Bdalza's reviews are more consistent with what I (pass holder for 8 years) have experienced at Mt Hutt. On a powder day it can be great and the snow is always as well presented as conditions allow. The field does struggle with prevailing weather, especially wind, snow and low-vis which close the road regularly. Lift icing has been a BIG problem this year, so check which lifts are actually operating on 'open' days. New 6-lift can make the experience a bit one-dimensional as everyone goes up and down the same way, if the triple is not open. [Comment by editor: the content of this review that was directed to an individual has now been removed]
June 19, 2007
C. Sinclair Stewart
The only possible thing better than Mt Hutt is winning the lottery. It's that good. My first day up the mountain was, with out a doubt, the best day of my entire life. I rode my first black diamond, drank my first beer, and even met my soul mate, Martha. Hi martha. Will you marry me? Please say yes, or I'll have nothing else to live for, aside from the beauty of Mt Hutt and all of its employees, particularly the snow makers. Those snow makers might even be better than winning the lottery. Overall I'd say that Mt Hutt is like a totem pole. No, wait, it's more like a guitar amplifier that you can turn up to 11. Most of the time it's at 10, but every now and then you choose to turn it to 11 because 11 is louder and better, like Mt Hutt. Hi mom. C. Sinclair Stewart
September 17, 2006
big al mcneil
I have just got back to Oz from what could only be described as the most fantastic ski trip I have had. I would rate myself as an intermediate skier, however, I got out of my comfort zone on Mt Hutt doing black runs on some of the best snow in years. Staying at Mt Hutt lodge on the Rakaia river just made it even better, when my friend and I landed a rainbow trout each. thank NZ.
July 10, 2006
Andrew from Ski New Zealand New Zealand
Mount Hutt, consistently talked about as being the best ski field in New Zealand. With three chair lifts, this mountain is made very accessible and has the best lift accessed back coutry New Zealand can offer. The new 6 seater chair lift has done wonders for this field, when the queues are large (very rare even in holidays) this chair can get rid of large queues in a matter of miniutes, taking you up 500m vertical in just 4 miniutes! The quad from the base area offers awesome intermediate skiing and the trip (below carpark) offers double black diamond skiing and enables you to ski the towers and South face, massive powder runs. This mountain has awesome snow, dry powder and perfect groomed slopes, bumps and steep terrain. Green run from the top gives beginners a huge 10 miniute ride! Combine these with fast efficeint lifts, cold temps and shelter from most winds, dry snow, grromed slopes, steep powder runs and a huge field and you have in my opinion the best mountin in New Zealand! Just a short 1hr 30min drive to the top of the mountain from the city of Christchurch makes it a very accessible field offering beautiful scenery, nothing beats the view from the top looking over the back from the top of the mountain where some of the Lord of the Rings was filmed! Go to Hutt, you wont be dissapointed!
March 24, 2006
Richard from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
Driving up to this place scared the hell outa me, the drop was huge and it didn't feel right. That said, when I got to the top I was welcomed by a awesome base camp with friendly helpful staff. Unfortunatley this was one of the worst ski seasons for down south so there was not the best possible off-piste but on-piste was awesome and the view was teriffic. Definately recommended and I hope to go back one day.... ohh yeah, wouldn't be the same without the Kia in the carpark that tried to eat my boot laces =]
May 06, 2005
Rossini
Mt Hutt is not everyones cup of tea, the best of the skiing/snowboarding is off piste, the snow can be wind affected and the ski field closed due to high winds. However the seasons are long the snow usually abundant and when Hutt is "on" it is really on with great consistent virtical and great snow quality. (the wind blown snow has to be experienced to be believed).If you are into the backcountry you dont have to search to far to drop off into some untracked seclusion,plus there is heliskiing/ snowboarding from the car park. Methven the nearby town is a laid back rural centre with plenty of bars restaurants and accommodation. Mt Hutt is as good as any commercial field in NZ and better for my money than most
October 04, 2004
Bdazla from Ski New Zealand New Zealand
commercial in flavour, somewhat limited in terrain, and often wind effected, Hutt is one of the less inspiring of NZ fields. Best feature is the proximity to Christchurch (1.45 hrs), which unfortunately can also lead to large crowds on weekends. Good view like all NZ fields. Reasonable back country to explore if so desired, but unfortunately no longer offer a single ride ticket on the lifts.
January 27, 2004
Andy Hacker from Ski United Kingdom United Kingdom
The best bit about this place is the drive up!! A 1000 ft drop off to the side, unprotected! Also the 'helping hand' you get from the ski patrol if you get stuck on the road. Picture a massive 4x4 nudging you up the icy road from behind!! Very cool Skiing area is limited on piste but the off piste rocks, esp if you can afford to hire a helicopter or snow cat for the day