It’s touch and go, but Queenstown’s Coronet Peak will open — at least partly — tomorrow as planned.
But NZSki is waiting until today to make a call on whether it’ll open The Remarkables on Saturday.
Chief executive Paul Anderson says the Magic Carpet and Meadows Express will open at Coronet tomorrow, from 9am, while Coronet Express will open for sightseeing only.
Inversion layers have been causing problems up the hills, meaning the temperature in the valley is colder than on the skifields, which has stymied snowmaking so far.
While it’s been hard going, Anderson says they’ve still managed to get a ‘‘bit of success’’, but not enough to get Coronet Express running.
‘‘We just don’t have enough snow at the top of the mountain to get skiing up there [yet].
‘‘We’ve got our heads down taking every opportunity we can to get snow made.’’
Coronet ski area manager Nigel Kerr concedes conditions on the mountain ‘‘could be better, but we’ll deal with the hand we’ve been dealt’’.
‘‘There have been years we haven’t got open [on time], so this is a better plan.
‘‘It’s not ideal, but at least we’ll be spinning something and that’ll start things ticking in town, albeit slowly, and that’s part of what it’s all about.’’
Over at The Remarks, it’s a similar story, Anderson says.
‘‘We need to decide whether we can get chairlifts operating [for Saturday].’’
Looking ahead, the forecast isn’t showing any signs of a much-needed delivery of white gold right now, with ‘‘much of the same’’ as the Whakatipu has experienced over the past week predicted.
‘‘It’s going to be a slower start than we’d like [but] this is probably a more normal opening,’’ Anderson says.
‘First on the Chair’ glory’s still up for grabs at Coronet tomorrow morning, but it’ll be on Meadows Express this year.
