Early snow falls welcomed

Press, 1 June 1989, Page 30

Early snow falls welcomed

A week in which snow fell in the streets of Christchurch, Methven and Queenstown among other towns could hardly be a better time for an annual ski-ing feature.

When the white stuff was deposited unexpectedly in Christchurch about the same time last year, it was annoyingly misleading. There was no ski-ing in Canterbury until Mount Hutt opened on June 22, and it had to close again for a time later, while Porter Heights did not get under way until well into August. But everything points to a much better year for skiers in 1989. Mount Hutt seems to have returned to its once traditional May openings (the earliest start is May 7 back in 1977) and already has a substantial base.

As well Mount Dobson, near Fairlie, has plenty of snow and will open for Queen’s Birthday weekend — its earliest start by nearly three weeks.

Other fields are closer to opening after this week’s falls (though Cardrona, for instance, will stick to its already announced end-of-June start) and the weather patterns and colder ground temperatures bode well for a good season.

Some ski-fields did surprisingly well last season, but for many it was the second bad snow year in a row. Both Mount Hutt and Porter Heights have made commitments to snowmaking, while Treble Cone has relocated its bottom T-bar.

A New Zealand Ski Council report reveals

that the 1988 season produced a total of 626,000 skier days (lift tickets sold), a 12 per cent decrease on the previous season, and more significantly, 25 per cent down on 1986.

Among the most significant developments this year are the extra number of ski-ing areas to choose from. To the South Island’s existing 20 skifields have been added Mount Lyford, a pilot ski area (and ice-skating facility) near Waiau, and the Nordic Ski Area in the Pisa Range. The developer of the Pisa crosscountry field, John Lee, describes it as “a new product on the New Zealand ski-ing market.”

Other moves include the creation of several new ski trails at Coronet Peak, the increasing in-

capacity of the Sugar Bowl quad chairlift at The Remarkables and the electrification of the Treble Cone ski area.

At Whakapapa on North Island’s Mount Ruapehu a new quad has been installed and a whopping 25 per cent more terrain opened up with the relocation of the West Ridge T-bar to a higher level. The T-bar will now carry skiers to 2200 metres.

Skiers will be thankful that lift tickets have only increased in price by a dollar or two and in some cases stayed the same, but the $4O mark has been reached at five ski areas. Club ski-ing comes as cheap as $l5, the charge of a non-member at Temple Basin in Arthur’s Pass National Park. The New Zealand Ski Council’s report (in

association with the Ski Areas Association) to the Tourism Council has more interesting statistical titbits: there are about 100 ski and rental retail outlets and 55 wholesalers, importers and manufacturers dealing in ski hardware, clothing and accessories in New Zealand; about 15,000 pairs of ski boots and 10,000 sets of skis and bindings are sold each year; and the size of the domestic ski market is between four and seven per cent of the population — between 132,000 and 231,000. According to the Ski Council the industry should aspire to get one million skier days (the record is 835,000), generating revenue just under quarter of a billion dollars.