WinterFest events moved

Unseasonably warm weather and rain have combined to strip Coronet Peak of snow.
Unseasonably warm weather and rain have combined to strip Coronet Peak of snow.

Queenstown WinterFest events are being bumped to The Remarkables because of a lack of snow at Coronet Peak.

The local skifield closed today and NZSki boss Paul Anderson said they are now taking it day-by-day.

 Treble Cone delays opening day

The decision to move Saturday's Mountain Bikes on Snow, the Skin to the Summit event on Sunday and Thursday's Dog Derby to The Remarkables is to guarantee conditions for those taking part.

"They have good snow over there," Mr Anderson said.

Coronet opened on June 11, but unseasonably warm weather and rain have combined to strip it of snow.

"We haven't been able to push the snow around to the right places," Mr Anderson said. 

He reckoned the forecast for tomorrow didn't look great, but was hoping for a colder spell on Friday.

He was not able to confirm when Coronet would reopen, but believed staff would continue to do some "snow dances".

WinterFest boss Lisa Buckingham said NZSki had come up with a fantastic solution.

"We are really excited - we are going to be taking three events and putting them on The Remarkables."

Meanwhile the warm weather has put paid to Treble Cone Ski Area's plans to open for the season tomorrow.

Chief executive Jackie van der Voort announced yesterday afternoon it had been decided to postpone the start of the season because of unusually warm temperatures.

 

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