Host venues Cardrona Alpine Resort, the Snow Farm and Coronet Peak all received 5cm on Sunday night and their new white coats had a twofold effect, Winter Games NZ chief executive Arthur Klap said.
Firstly, it boosts the ''mental state'' of the spectators and more than 750 athletes, as the ''look and the feel of the place is like a winter destination''.
The other bonus is for the photographers and film crews shooting footage over the 11-day games.
''It dresses up the mountains,'' Mr Klap said.
Treble Cone skifield received a snow top-up of 5cm on Sunday night, adding to the 10cm from Saturday, while
the Remarkables had 10cm on Sunday.
Mr Klap said the ''biggest development to test us'' will be having the live webcast on the Winter Games website, plus, for the first time, free-to-air domestic coverage of Winter Games NZ with daily highlights packages and live news links on TV3.
The live timing and scoring meant that people anywhere in the world could follow the events as they took place.
Many athletes will still be arriving this week and the calibre of those competing was ''absolutely out of this world'', Mr Klap said.
''We have Olympic champions, world champions and national heroes from all major winter sports nations, including the entire men's and women's snowboard halfpipe podiums from Vancouver 2010.''
The first event takes place on Thursday morning from 9am at the Snow Farm, where Nordic ski stars compete in the FIS Australia/New Zealand Cup Cross-Country Skiing Sprint. The opening ceremony is in Queenstown's Earnslaw Park on Thursday at 5.30pm.
