Spring snowfall causes minor issues

Twin lambs feed beside State Highway 87 near Clarkes Junction following a snowfall which hit...
Twin lambs feed beside State Highway 87 near Clarkes Junction following a snowfall which hit higher parts of Otago, including the Wakatipu. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery.
Max Frew (12, right) makes the most of a morning off school with friend Sam Little (11) yesterday...
Max Frew (12, right) makes the most of a morning off school with friend Sam Little (11) yesterday morning. Arrowtown Primary School was closed until 11.45am. Photo: Louise Scott.
Arrowtown is covered in snow yesterday morning. Photo: Mandy Cooper.
Arrowtown is covered in snow yesterday morning. Photo: Mandy Cooper.
Snow on the Crown Range yesterday. Photo: Mark Price.
Snow on the Crown Range yesterday. Photo: Mark Price.

After months of teasing, Mother Nature finally delivered yesterday.

For the first time this year Wakatipu residents  woke to a blanket of snow, which caused some minor issues.

Roads had to be cleared across an area comprising Arrowtown, Dalefield, Lower Shotover, Malaghans Rd and State Highway 6 through Kawarau Gorge.

Chains were required on the Crown Range road until about 9am, when the Queenstown Lakes District Council declared all roads in the district to be free of snow and open.

Schools across the resort had a delayed start time of 11.45am, with buses on a three-hour delay, while early flights at Queenstown Airport were also affected.

Two morning flights into Queenstown, from Christchurch and Invercargill, were cancelled because of poor visibility. The corresponding outward flights were also cancelled.

The Remarkables skifield welcomed 60cm of powder by 6.30am but was unable to open yesterday. 

NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said the field  would be open today and promised conditions would be "epic".

A total of 45cm of snow had fallen at Coronet Peak by yesterday morning — and it continued to fall during the day.

First tracks were cancelled to enable grooming and avalanche assessment, and the persistent heavy snow combined with high winds caused some issues, particularly in the four car parks, Mr Anderson said.

As quickly as staff  cleared the parks of snow they  filled up again, preventing vehicles from travelling up the access road, he said.

Three car parks were cleared by about 10am, with the fourth cleared half an hour later.

Eager skiers and snowboarders were forced to wait on the road for about an hour.

Queenstown police made the decision to close the road, primarily out of concern for traffic backing up along Malaghans Rd.

Mr Anderson said chairlifts did not start operating until about 10.30am, largely due to the high winds which had also caused "massive" wind drifts.

"There’s a metre, a metre and a-half wind drifts in places [but] the snow’s very light and dry; it’s beautiful.

"We’ve got some cold temperatures in the next few days so the snow in the next few days is going to be sensational.

"This snowfall is super timely — it’s just fantastic."

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