Skiers hit Mt Hutt slopes for first time this winter
Supplied
Skiers are hitting the slopes at Canterbury's Mt Hutt for the first time this winter after the ski area was forced to postpone its opening day.
Mt Hutt was supposed to open its doors for ski season on Friday, but morning rainfall caused the snowpack to become unstable.
On its website Mt Hutt said crews were out all night laying down new cord and preparing the area for the public for Saturday morning.
People were advised to avoid some off-trail areas which still had a high slide risk.
Manager James Urquhart said they were grateful to finally be able to open.
"It's a relief to see everyone be back skiing and riding. It's a great buzz at the moment."
He said more than 1500 people were at Mt Hutt on Saturday morning braving the -3C temperatures.
He said those queuing outside in their cars on Friday were not there when they opened the gates at 7am.
"They must've got sick of waiting and went home, the poor ones yesterday. I do feel bad for them."
One of their chairlifts had to be de-iced and they were still sorting out a few kinks.
"There's a few out there riding, but we've got a lot of people hanging around waiting for that lift to get going. We've been up since 4am trying to get it done, but it's taking some time to thaw things out and we need the sun to make it easier for us.
"We're still trialling a lot of systems and staff are trying to get used to their roles. Considering the conditions we've had in the last few days, it's going well."
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