NZ ready to open for snow business
Winter arrived in the South Island over the holiday weekend, leaving its mark with snow-clad hills and treacherous roads.
The Southern Alps were coated with snow down to low levels, providing a scenic vista as the skies cleared when a southerly front moved away early yesterday.
The front brought freezing temperatures to much of the South Island, as well as snow and hailstorms throughout the weekend.
Temperatures stayed low yesterday, with a maximum of just 8deg in Christchurch.
In Queenstown, temperatures ranged between -1deg and 6deg, while in Dunedin, where icy conditions closed the Northern Motorway for a short time, they ranged between 1deg and 10deg.
For the first time this winter, snow settled near the summit of Banks Peninsula. At Mount Hutt, 120 new staff from all over the world had induction training as the field prepares to open this weekend.
Mount Hutt manager Dave Wilson said snow had been falling since noon yesterday and the field was planning to open on Saturday.
“This is probably the best start to the season I’ve seen in my six years here,” he said.
Coronet Peak also planned to open on Saturday.
Graham Muldoon
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