(Picture: Schoolkids at Coronet Peak enjoying today’s fresh spring snow by Brandon Stanley)
There’s still a month or more of the 2015 season to go for many New Zealand resorts but one at least says the snowfall this year has been so good they’ve passed their all time snowfall record.
The latest Southerly blast brings snow conditions to record levels at Queenstown’s Coronet Peak. Today’s snowfall (Friday September 11) brings the total for the 2015 season to over three metres, surpassing the previous 2010 record.
NZSki CEO Paul Anderson says visitors to Coronet Peak and The Remarkables, as well as Queenstown locals, are looking to the skies for continued perfect spring conditions extending right through to the end of the season.
“This is the winter that just keeps on giving! We’re thrilled that the awesome conditions our guests have enjoyed throughout the season are continuing and we’d love to get as many people up the mountains to enjoy our record snow,” he said, “Spring often offers the best skiing conditions of the season, and this year promises to be the most epic!”
Skiers and riders have been able to access the whole of Coronet Peak for the majority of the season, with continued fresh snowfalls making for great off-piste and on-trail skiing in snow that as recently as this week was described as “light, dry, winter powder”.
Ski area manager Ross Copland describes current conditions as the best seen in years. With September historically a good snow month, he believes things could get even better.
“We couldn’t have wished for a better start to our spring season,” he says. “We’ve just broken the 2010 record and we’re only 11 days into September.”
Things were looking great this season from the outset, with early snow in May and June starting the season well ahead of recent years. Since then, the mountain’s been blessed with consistent top-ups.
The good snow news extends over to The Remarkables, where thanks to exceptional snow cover to lower levels this season and continued ‘top ups’, the boundary of Homeward Run has been extended out to the Outward Bound ridgeline, more than 1.5km down the access road.
“This encompasses another 13ha of terrain across wandering, rolling faces and gullies ending up on the access road right at our new Number 4 car park,” says ski area manager Ross Lawrence.
“Guests continue to be wowed by the extensive inclusion of terrain that naturally leads them back to the shuttle for another round trip experiencing picture perfect ‘back country’ conditions within the ski area boundary.”
Long-term Queenstown local John Knight, owner of Outside Sports, describes the town as “really buzzing” after a season of snowfalls.
“Conditions up Coronet Peak and The Remarkables have been fantastic, and from the start of spring we’ve had some of the best powder skiing I’ve ever experienced,” he says.
“It’s looking like it will be the best September snow conditions in years!”
