Mt. Hutt, a ski area on New Zealand’s South Island, picked up so much snow over the last week that they we were able to reopen for one day of skiing and riding in the middle of the summer!
For context, an equivalent scenario here in the US would be if it dumped enough snow to build a 12-inch (30cm) base at Whitefish Mountain, MT in the middle of August…!
(Both Whitefish and Mt. Hutt top out around 6,800′ above sea level)
The resort was slammed with a series of freak summer snowstorms throughout last week.
Check out the rime ice and snow buildup on a chairlift at Mt. Hutt back on February 22nd:
The resort actually had to postpone their one day of skiing and riding because the rime ice and snow was taking too long to clear, but open they did.
Check out the video below by a Mt. Hutt employee explaining the decision to postpone the ski day, and what to expect on February 26th:
The rime ice and snow was eventually cleared, and it looks like a bunch of people showed up for a summer ski day at Mt. Hutt on the 26th.
It appears that the resort had a couple of groomed trails open (not too shabby for the middle of the summer), and that all lift ticket proceeds went to a charity.
Check out some of the best photos of the day posted to Mt. Hutt’s Facebook page. Looks like some mountain biker’s got after it too:
What an awesome day that must have been.
I’m keeping all of my digits crossed that a freak snowstorm allows a ski resort to reopen in the middle of August this summer.
It can be anywhere. I’ll pack by bags, hop on the first flight, and be absolutely stoked to enjoy lift-served skiing in the middle of summer.
A boy can dream.
Kudos to Mt. Hutt and Mother Nature for making the impossible, possible! I really enjoyed seeing the stoke.
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All Photos Credit: Mt. Hutt Ski Area