Cardrona Alpine Resort is reporting a 25cm natural snow base with intensive snow-making under way, and Coronet Peak between 20cm and 60cm on its trails and a variable base off-piste, two days ahead of their opening on Friday.
Treble Cone, which opens on Saturday, has a base of 30cm, while the Remarkables, which opens on July 4 just in time for the school holidays, has a base of up to 35cm.
Cardrona Snow Farm opened on Saturday.
Manager Sam Lee said it was possibly its biggest opening day, in terms of the number of people, in the cross-country skifield’s 31-year history.
The local support had been so great it made it feel like the Covid-19 lockdown never happened, he said.
Lake Wanaka Tourism’s winter ski campaign "The Mountains Are Waiting" has had more than a million hits since it launched on May 22 and campaign manager Gizelle Regan said the increase of traffic from Auckland to its website was up 1500%.
Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone communications executive Jen Houltham said despite catering to domestic tourists only due to the border restrictions, bookings were "very positive" for both skifields.
Cardrona’s Main Basin would open from 8.30am on Friday.
Treble Cone opens on Saturday with the six-seater chairlift operating and the Easy Rider slopes open.
More than 500 new and returning staff would be working across both resorts.
On the other side of the range, 240 staff were inducted at Coronet Peak on Monday.
Another 150 staff will start on July 1, contracted for the school holidays, which begin on July 4.
For the first time, staff would move between the two NZSki fields.
Coronet Peak communications and media relations manager Libby Baron said 55cm of natural snowfall had provided a great base across the mountain and the on-trail had been topped up by snowmaking.
Metservice reports not much natural snow is likely to fall on the Queenstown Lakes district skifields in the next few days.
