New Zealand has had a rough start to their ski season. Mt. Hutt opened back on June 10th but had to close for an extended period due to heavy rain and warm weather. They’ve since reopened, but minimal natural snowfall has led to a scant snowpack. In fact, Mt. Hutt has only received 37 centimeters of snow so far this winter, which amounts to nearly 15 inches of snow. As a New Englander, I can relate to the struggle.
There are a variety of new technology that is helping Mt. Hutt out during these challenging times. According to the Otago Daily Times, NZSki invested NZ$2 million in snowmaking upgrades at Mt. Hutt over the past two years.
In addition, their snow groomers have SNOWsat technology. This allows them to measure snowpack, and fill up areas that show bare patches. In the video below, they describe how this has helped them up during the 2023 season.
“’We would definitely not be open without the combination of snowmaking and grooming.’
We know, it’s been a rough season so far. When our snowguns are running full force we can produce up to 8 tons of snow every minute, this combined with our SnowSat technology has meant we are able to operate with only minimal natural snowfall so far this season. Using SnowSat technology we are able to provide an average on trail snow depth and base area snow depth to within 4cm accuracy…”
Conditions have slowly improved over at Mt. Hutt due to snowmaking and some small snow storms, it’s starting to feel more like winter. Something that I’ve learned from living in a snow-adverse climate is this: good things come for those who wait. There is some snow possible on Wednesday and Thursday.
Image/Video Credits: Mt. Hutt
