New Zealand's 2025 Season Fully Underway
New Zealand's 2025 Season Fully Underway
Published : 14-Jun-2025 06:39
New Zealand's 2025 season is underway with Cardrona (pictured), Coronet Peak, Mt Hutt and The Remarkables opening earlier today.
These are not the first to open for 2025 with the Stratford Ski Club opening their Manganui ski field last weekend before rain stopped play and Whakapapa has had a snow play area maintained by all-weather snowmaking open at weekends too, however they are the first to fully open daily for the season.
Mt Hutt opened with an impressive 125cm base and 80% of its terrain open, a much higher percentage than any other southern hemisphere ski area yet open.
However there was a final twist in its aim to be the first in the country to open. Having had to abandon its plans to open early on may 31st then June 7th due to too little then too much snow, it had to cancel its plans to open on its original date, Friday 13th, after dangerous avalanche conditions above its access road led to a third delay decision. So it eventually opened a day later than planned, today.
By Saturday though, weather conditions couldn't have been more perfect – a beautiful sunrise above the clouds, with cold temperatures and no wind.
At Cardrona the snowmaking guns were on full blast and bragging rights were up for grabs for the 2025 First Chair t-shirt winners, with some of them lining up at the bottom of the Cardrona access road from 1am this morning. When the road opened at 5.30am, it was all on, and the six winners finished with a foot race to the McDougall's Chondola lift line to claim their spot on the first chairlift ride for the season.
Eager skiers and snowboarders scored their first turns on McDougall's, and some of the country's smallest worked out their very first turns in the Beginners' Area.
"It's incredible to kick off the 2025 season and see so many happy people out there having fun this morning," says Cardrona and Treble Cone Chief Mountains Officer, Laura Hedley.
"To have so much terrain open with mostly man-made snow is a testament to our Terrain and Snow team who have put in weeks of hard work to get us here."
Opening Day at Cardrona is a culmination of a summer of the biggest set of resort developments in modern New Zealand ski area history, including the new Soho Basin and Soho Express, which sees it now become the country's largest ski area.
There's also a new base building with atrium, retail and dining, a t-bar to service world-class training facilities, sealing the bottom section of the access road, and snowmaking and carparking upgrades.
The Cardrona team proudly launched their new Cardrona Corner retail shop, atrium space and courtyard today.
The ski area will officially bless and hold the opening ceremony for the Soho Express chair and 150ha of new terrain on June 28th.
More terrain and lifts will open as snow conditions allow.
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