Watch: More than 1,500 hit Mt Hutt’s slopes on opening day

12th June 2018 By Staff Reporter | news@tourismticker.com | @tourismticker

More than 1,500 skiers and snowboarders hit the slope on Friday for the opening day of Mt Hutt’s season.

The Canterbury ski field was the first in the region to open and had all of its lifts running for the first time in more than 20 years.

“With the best opening snow base in years and a sunny day with light breezes, we couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the 2018 winter season,” said Mt Hutt ski area manager James McKenzie.

Mt Hutt, which is owned by NZSki, had effectively doubled its snowmaking capacity for 2018, said McKenzie.

“We can now operate snow guns on the upper and lower sections of the mountain simultaneously. In the past we had to focus snowmaking on specific areas of the upper mountain due to pumping limitations.”

NZSki’s Remarkables ski field at Queenstown opened its gates on Thursday – the first ski field in the South Island to start its season.