Cardrona Alpine Resort will be the first of Wanaka's four fields to open tomorrow, with the learner's area, McDougall's Quad and Whitestar Express all operating.
"We've got good man-made snow conditions on the trails and limited off-piste skiing and riding," Cardrona sales and marketing manager Nadia Ellis said.
"The operations team are working hard over in Captain's Basin and we're hoping to get that open early next week.
"Valley View is going to take a bit longer. We usually open in stages unless we get a really big snowfall."
Installation of a new automated ticketing system is the big improvement for Cardrona this year.
Manual scanning of passes at chairlift gates has been replaced with RFID (radio frequency identification) technology.
Staff at the Snow Farm cross-country skifield on the Pisa Range had hoped to open the field yesterday, but general manager Jo Lynch said although the field had a good base and frozen ground, "a bit more snow" was needed.
The Pisa Alpine Charitable Trust has taken over the cross-country skifield from John and Mary Lee.
A key focus for the new management this season was getting to know the business and ensuring the skifield was "available for the community to use it in any way they can", Mrs Lynch said.
New programmes at Snow Farm this year will target fitness, mothers and night-skiing, with head lamps or under a full moon.
Three key improvements have been implemented for 2012 at Treble Cone, which opens on June 28.
The first is a revamp of the ski area's trail map to include areas not previously charted and a new trail-grading scale showing the diversity of terrain on the 550ha mountain.
The new run grading is in line with international standards of green, blue, red and black to give more differentiation.
The Easy Rider trail has been reshaped to make the run wider and less steep, and a new Jazz Fun Park for children has been added in the Saddle Basin.
Marketing manager Nigel Kerr said Treble Cone had enjoyed a "really good run" with snowmaking lately, although there was still a shortage of natural snow in the Home Basin.
"But it's building up and the ground's frozen. We're pretty confident that things are well on track."
Snow Park NZ on the Pisa Range will open next Monday.
