The predicted cold front arrived but, despite the hopes of Southern Alpine Recreation and Coronet Peak staff, it did not deliver the weather they had hoped for on the ski area's opening day of the 2008 season.
Heavy rain overnight on Friday, which continued on Saturday morning, saturated the snow pack at the base of the mountain, making it unskiable.
Compounding the problems were the high winds which whipped around the mountain, making it unsafe to operate the chairlifts.
It was a disappointing start for the many who had travelled to Queenstown especially for the opening day, but those who travelled up the mountain still made the most of their time, having snowball fights and enjoying the facilities in the rebuilt base building.
Ski area manager Hamish McCrostie said the snow guns were started on Saturday afternoon and continued to make snow overnight, with a natural snowfall of between 3cm and 5cm making a great addition.
When those impatient to get up the mountains woke yesterday to a clear and calm day, it was all action with "thousands" lining up for their first proper run of the season, Mr McCrostie said.
Reaction to the base building and conditions on the mountain had been "awesome".
