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Queenstown's Coronet Peak ski area counts down to opening with new snow

Tuesday 28 May 2013, 9:06PM

By NZSki

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Coronet Peak mascots Shred (L) and Spike (R ) celebrate new snow with ski area manager Ross Copland.
Coronet Peak mascots Shred (L) and Spike (R ) celebrate new snow with ski area manager Ross Copland. Credit: NZSki
Snow gun blasting near the Coronet Peak base building.
Snow gun blasting near the Coronet Peak base building. Credit: NZSki
Nice day for lunch on the deck at The Remarkables – (L to R) staff Mo Rush Jill Leake, Tanya Papandrea, Masa Oda and Will Curnow.
Nice day for lunch on the deck at The Remarkables – (L to R) staff Mo Rush Jill Leake, Tanya Papandrea, Masa Oda and Will Curnow. Credit: NZSki

QUEENSTOWN

Staff at Queenstown’s Coronet Peak ski area are buzzing with excitement following two days of snowfalls and perfect snowmaking conditions.

A strong cold southerly has dumped more than 20cm of thick white powder on ‘The Peak’ over the past 48 hours, topped up by snow guns running at maximum capacity piling additional white gold onto main trails.

A beaming Coronet Peak ski area manager Ross Copland said the build-up “simply couldn’t be better” with just 11 days to go until the mountain’s scheduled opening on Saturday June 8.

“We’ve all been stoked with the two really good falls we’ve had already this month so the snow over the past two days, covering the mountain from top to bottom, really is the icing on the cake,” he said.

Queenstown and Wakatipu Basin residents who saw snow guns lighting up the night sky as temperatures plummeted to minus 9C overnight were even more thrilled to open curtains this morning to snow down to town level.

Today’s (Tuesday May 28) snowfall of around 15cm since the early hours of the morning is still being topped up as heavy snow continues to fall throughout the day.

“Officially it’s still autumn but I think everyone would agree that winter’s definitely arrived with a vengeance,” said Mr Copland.

“Our first intake of staff are busy training and you can feel the excitement in the air.”

Over at The Remarkables ski area, 30cm of snow has fallen at the base building and the access road is closed for the day.

Coronet Peak is scheduled to open for the 2013 season on June 8, Canterbury’s Mt Hutt on June 15 and The Remarkables on June 22.