Up To 50cm Of Snowfall in New Zealand

New Zealand’s ski areas are celebrating a big snowfall boost just before the start of meteorological spring, …kind of.

On the upside, resorts reported up to 50cm (20”) of fresh snow, but they also saw gales at times and heavy rain following the snow in some case.

All that has led to slope prep and avalanche safety issues, with some resort access roads also hit by land slips.

“While today wasn’t the absolute perfect pow-day, there was still plenty of fun to be had. All of the snow released throughout the day creating soft landings off trail, and reliable turns on trail. Our base is looking good now, and we can’t wait for the next storm!” a spokesperson for Coronet Peak said.

The country’s largest resort, Cardrona, also reported mixed conditions:

“Conditions were tricky out there - 50cm of fresh snow and a varying freezing level left us with some... variable snow conditions to say the least. It meant we weren't able to get as much open as we'd have liked, with our team focused on lots of digging and avalanche mitigation across the resort. A huge thanks to everyone up the maunga today for your patience. The good news is, it's filled in some gaps and left us with plenty of coverage going into spring and there could be more on the way over the next week.”

However Treble Cone warned it will be closed again tomorrow, Saturday 29 August, stating,

“Our teams continue the work required to make the mountain and access road safe following this storm. Overnight we had heavy rain at across the mountain, on top of an already heavy snowpack. This has created a complex avalanche situation. Patrol has been working hard today, including helicopter avalanche control, and will continue this work tomorrow. Access to the mountain has also been challenging, with several large landslides blocking the road. The reality is that it will take some time to safely clear the road and manage the avalanche risk before we can reopen.”

Broken River said it had been “a wild ride over the last day!” with 40 cm (16”) of new snow falling in the morning, followed by over 40 mm of rain and gale force winds. But they said things are good to go again tomorrow.