Early Snow in New Zealand - 45cm and Counting at Mt Hutt

With winter wrapping up in the Northern Hemisphere, anyone looking to keep the eternal winter dream alive is liking debating where to head this summer. New Zealand? Argentina? Chile? And so on.

Well it may be too early to judge, but New Zealand has some odds already stacked in it's favour. Some keen skiers and riders dug out their gear and hiked up to the top of Canterbury’s Mt Hutt over the weekend to enjoy some extra early linesn to start off the 2009 season.

Snowfall on Thursday and Friday last week and continued cold temperatures has resulted in a 45cm base at the high country ski resort.

James McKenzie, Assistant Ski Area Manager for Mt Hutt, said there were a number of keen skiers making the most of the early snow over the weekend.

“We’ve got some awesome powder at the moment so it’s great to see locals hitting the slopes and having some fun so early in the season,” he said.

Mt Hutt is scheduled to open on June 13. We'll see what the snow decides to do before then!