‘Dry run’ for new $1.2M chairlift

Press, 19 April 1982, Page 1

‘Dry run’ for new $1.2M chairlift

Hundreds of Canterbury people had their first expert-; ence of ski-ing in April when the Mount Hutt field opened, at the week-end, a month ahead of schedule. Trying one of the tripleseats in the new $1.2 million chairlift which will be opened on May 9 are an instructor from the ’ Mount Hutt ski school and Tim Style (centre) and Guy Yeoman (right). The new lift will be tested in the next few days. On Saturday, 270 tickets were sold, and a similar number of skiers were present yesterday. Skiers enjoyed spring snow conditions in spite of the season on a packed base of about 16cm, and the temperatures were pleasant. Most of the ski-field’s facilities were working, although only the lower lifts were in action. The cafeteria offered limited refreshments, and even a ski instructor or two were available to assist skiers. The operations manager, Mr Philip Witton, said it was quite “exciting” to be skiing at this time of year. Staff had had to be sufficiently “geared up” to get lifts and the other facilities ready for skiers in a matter of two or three days. Mount Hutt’s earliest previous opening day was May 7, in 1977, but the week-, ’end was regarded as a “special, one-off occasion” and not the official start to the 1982 season. The situation will be reviewed later in the week. A further snowfall would probably be required for the field to open next week-end.