Message #640

[fredm8]

Gary,

The commercial ski fields in NZ tend to operate from mid/late June through to late September. Depends on snow and staff, as the staff plan on being here for 3 -4 months max, then go North.
The snow is the hard question, as I have skied on Turoa in the first week of Dec, then been on a plane to Aspen 4 weeks later 
Last year the snow had gone by now and the fields were closed.
On http://www.snow.co.nz only the North Island fields are open now, and Mt Ruapehu will close Oct 29.
There is typically snow on the Southern Alps (think Lord of the Rings Mountains) all year round, but really only skied on through the winter.

We have an indoor ski field 20 mins north of Auckland on the side of a hill, called snowplanet. So we can ski 365 days a year. We are spoiled too.
http://www.snowplanet.co.nz

Take care, enjoy the snow when you get there.

Douglas