Figures released to the Otago Daily Times by ACC this week reveal Otago claimants accounted for almost a third of the national cost, making the sport one of the most expensive in the region.
The Queenstown Lakes District and its six skifields accounted for the lion's share of claims, with ACC costs totalling $4,035,498 for the 2007-08 financial year.
Ruapehu District, with its twin skifields of Whakapapa and Turoa, was the country's most expensive ACC region for snow sports injuries, costing $4,592,867.
Injured skifield visitors have also kept the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter busy since the 2008 season began, with 11 callouts to the Queenstown Lakes region to retrieve 14 snow sports patients from the mountains.
ACC was unable to provide definitive information about how many international visitors to the Queenstown Lakes district's skifields were claiming injury compensation for their treatment costs.
Spokeswoman Stephanie Julian said the department did not keep statistics on where injured claimants came from, only where they made their claims.
Anecdotally, Queenstown Lakes medical centres and physiotherapists have reported that international visitors - particularly Australians - were seeking ACC-funded treatment for skifield injuries.
Ms Julian said ACC was a no-fault scheme available to everyone and anyone in New Zealand who was injured while participating in sporting activity.
St John representatives from Queenstown and Wanaka said it was still too early to say whether the 2008 season was shaping up to be bigger than usual - injury-wise - for snow sports participants.
Ambulance call-outs to district skifields for July are down on last year's figures.
Queenstown St John area executive officer Lynn Cain said the station had 122 July callouts compared with 178 last year.
Wanaka St John paramedic Rod Walker said he thought the abundant snow on skifields had meant fewer serious injuries for snow sports enthusiasts - the deep snow was cushioning falls.
About 68 ACC-funded ambulance callouts were made in Wanaka this July, compared with 86 the year before.
Callouts to Wanaka skifields were down, but this could just mean more people were finding their own way down the mountain to seek treatment at medical centres, Mr Walker said.
The average cost of a snow sports entitlement claim for 2007/08 was $1106. snow sports is ranked in the ACC's top five most expensive sports, behind rugby, football, netball, and motorsport.
ACC injury prevention programme manager Katie Holmes said the department took the issue of snow sport injuries seriously.
Skifield patrons could prevent injuries by wearing protective items, such as wrist-guards, and maintaining their equipment, she said.
Injured skiers made up about 60% of new ACC entitlement claims - mainly for knee injuries - while snowboarding injuries accounted for the remaining 40%, often for treatment of shoulder and arm-related knocks.
Costs increased from the 2006-07 financial year, when $14 million was spent on 11,633 new snow sport injury claims.
More than $8 million of the total was for 1212 entitlement claims classified by ACC as moderate to severe injuries.
The serious nature of the injuries was indicated by the large cost for the relatively small number of claims, Ms Julian said.
