With Queenstown skifields due to open next Saturday, a magnificent dump of white gold wouldn’t go astray.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t look to be coming in the next week or so.
A MetService forecaster tells Mountain Scene there’s no real sign of snow until the second half of this week, but even that doesn’t look ‘‘massive’’.
Coronet Peak ski area manager Nigel Kerr says thanks to a recent polar blast, his crew was able to fire up the snowguns for five consecutive days, starting last weekend, describing it as a ‘‘really good shake-down’’.
‘‘It’s early season, but it’s been really positive, we’ve made quite a lot of snow, particularly up top, and we’ve had a really good opportunity to get the snowmaking crew working well and check through all the guns, pumps and everything, you name it.’’
NZSki boss Paul Anderson says their focus is on Coronet at the moment, due to its lower altitude.
‘‘We know when it does snow it’s going to hang in there at Remarks a bit longer.’’
Meantime, he confirms a team from Doppelmayr is at The Remarks at the moment commissioning the new six-seater Shadow Basin chair — load testing is expected to take place this week, which is the last stage before it’s certified and handed over to NZSki.
‘‘It is exciting.
‘‘The change in terrain up the top is going to be pretty incredible, I’m looking forward to seeing people’s reactions when they get to the top and see how Shadow Basin has changed, for the better.’’
At this stage, both The Remarks and Coronet are scheduled to open June 15.
