The South Island of New Zealand is getting hit by a massive winter storm with blizzard-type conditions. Snow is falling from top to bottom with “HUGE wind drifts”, and more on the way.
According to Cardrona website, the snow depth, measured by a “laser sensor” (how cool is that), at the base area is already at 3 feet.
With all this new snow the resort is gunning for an opening just a few hours from now.
“We’ve got the most snow we’ve seen on the road in a looong time and a lot of setup work to do (that has been hindered by this much snow falling), so we will be CLOSED tomorrow to give us much-needed time to get everything cleared. The good news? Those First Chair tees are likely to be up for grabs on Tuesday – we’re aiming to have McDougall’s open and the team are working hard on getting Whitestar open later on in the week. Thanks for your snow dances…!!”
Meanwhile down the road @ Treble Cone Ski Area the ski hill is reporting 300cm (9 FEET) of snow and claiming it is “quite possibly the biggest storm we’ve seen in 20 years”.
“Well this storm has been incredible! We have received an almighty level of snow. This will take us some time to get on top of, as right now we can’t even get to the resort with over 1m on the road. There is significant avalanche hazard everywhere that has to be assessed and managed, especially as the wind turns southerly and strengthens. Plenty to do! We’re due to open for the winter season of ’22 on the 25th June and what an opening it’s going to be!!”
