Snowfall means early opening for Mt Dobson

Press, 1 June 1989, Page 38

Snowfall means early opening for Mt Dobson

Before this week’s big snowfall which will enable Mount Dobson to open over Queen’s Birthday week-end the company was talking of hopes for a normal season starting in early July. Those hopes had been encouraged by previous falls amounting to 40cm and to that has now been added 45cm of new snow and the opening thus advanced by some weeks.

“Normal” is the operative word after Mount Dobson (the closest field to Timaru and Dunedin) had suffered two bad seasons with the lack of snow. In the 1987 ski season the field, near Fairlie, was open for a mere five days and the 1988 one did not really compensate with its 32-day duration. It did not open until late July and closed again for a time in early August. Despite the two bad years the operator of the field, Peter Foote, has battled through and is geared up for a bumper 1989 ski season. Although funds have been short some 1 extensive slope grooming over the summer should ensure skiers the best ski runs yet on Dobson. The expansive learners-in-termediate slope has been included in the grooming. It

is arguably the largest learner slope in Canterbury and is becoming renowned for its wide, open spaces and the advantage of long traverses.

For the more experienced intermediate to advanced skier there is the challenges of the ski runs to the left and right of the unloading area of the T-bar top station, 2030 metres above sea level. Then there are the powder delights of the vast West Valley, these runs linking up with the access platter lift which takes skiers back to the base of the T-bar. Mount Dobson will again be offering a scholarship to school children to encourage and increase the child’s ski-ing ability. Dobson celebrates 10 years of operation this year and development of the area has been steady rather than spectacular. The operators say further development will only occur when interest rates drop and the company has recovered from the struggle of the last two disastrous seasons.

® Mount Dobson, 26km from Fairlie, T-bar, platter lift, access platter lift, verticle drop 415 metres. Adult lift charge: $3O. Road toll: $5 per car. Hours: 9.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Two snow-groomers.