Fantastic Ski Season OpeningAn overnight snowfall, cold temperatures and blue skies made for a “fantastic” season opening at Queenstown's Coronet Peak ski area on Saturday. Around 200 hardy skiers and boarders lined up for the official start of the season at the ski area's Coronet Express Quad, with the first having arrived at 4.30am in a snowstorm. “We've received about 20cm of natural snow in the build-up to opening but we've been able to open with a 35cm average base thanks to machine snow and some nice top ups including the 5cm that fell at 4am this morning,” said Coronet Peak ski area manager Hamish McCrostie.“Conditions are fantastic and people are just blown away with what we've been able to provide, reaping the rewards of the largest, fully-automated high tech snowmaking system in the Southern Hemisphere. NZSki CEO James Coddington said it was a “very proud moment” to see a huge team effort result in Coronet Peak and Canterbury's Mt Hutt open on the same day on schedule. Mt Hutt ski area celebrated the launch of its 2012 season with smiles all round as skiers and snowboarders gave it ‘10 out of 10' for on-trail snow conditions. The much anticipated first day on the slopes, which attracted approximately 1,400 skiers and boarders keen to enjoy the 65cm of snow blanketing the mountain following this week's snowstorm, was celebrated with bubbles provided by Queenstown's Amisfield winery. Accommodation at Pounamu Apartments are just 20mins from the nearest Ski Field, Coronet Peak.
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