(staff at Coronet Peak ready to go)
At least one ski area will open this weekend in one of the three continents in the southern hemisphere currently gearing up for the 2014 ski season in the southern hemisphere.
Coronet Peak in New Zealand has confirmed it will open this Saturday, June 7th, although another NZ area that had been due to open, Mt Hutt, has postponed due to limited cover and a warm and wet weather forecast.
In Southern Africa the two small areas of Afriski in Lesotho and Tiffindell in South Africa have both officially opened for their 2014 ski season and both are busy snowmaking, aided by a cold front in the region that rolled in on Wednesday bringing natural snow too, but webcam images indicate they may not be able to open before Coronet Peak, although given the marginal conditions in which they do operate, they might. If they leave it until Saturday though, Coronet Peak has the time zone advantage.
In South America no areas have said they’ll open this weekend with most envisaging waiting another fortnight, but this is where there has been heavy snow in the past 48 hours in both Chile and Argentina with accumulations of up to 50cm in 24 hours reported, giving the best bases at present.
In Australia most of the country’s dozen or so ski areas and ski hills will be officially opening for the season this long weekend for the Queen’s birthday bank holiday – the equivalent of the thanksgiving weekend openings in the US each November. However it seems unlikely there’ll be much if any snow cover due to the warm weather reported there.
Coronet Peak Ski area manager Ross Copland said he was “thrilled” to be open on time and with such great snow conditions.
“The May snowfalls and extremely cold temperatures we’ve had over the past two weeks or so mean we’ve got great coverage on-trail,” he said.
“On opening day our Coronet Express quad chair will be up and running, providing access to the main M1, Million Dollar, Wall St, Pro Am and Mid Gully trails. We’ve got a great crew onboard who can’t wait to welcome visitors to the mountain, we’ve got great snow conditions and more cold weather and snow in the forecast, so all in all its shaping up to be a fantastic winter.”
True to tradition, the first four on the Coronet Express lift will receive a ‘First on the Chair’ T-shirt with Central Otago winery Amisfield on board once again to welcome skiers and snowboarders with locally produced bubbles.
“First on the chair is very hotly contested with keen skiers getting up here extra early for bragging rights. It’s a really fun, celebratory day and there’s always a great atmosphere up the mountain,” said Mr Copland.
