Not every New Zealand ski resort is having a successful season. A rain storm in August diminished snow packs at many ski areas, including at the ski resorts of Mt. Ruapehu (Whakapapa and Turoa). Over on the South Island, Rainbow Ski Area has had an up-and-down season.
Stuff reports that the ski area started the season with six days of excellent snowfall. Then came a four-day August rain storm that destroyed the snowpack. Since then, they’ve used snowmaking to remain open. While the photo above is muddied by a snowmaking cloud, you can tell how minimal the snowpack is. They have decided to close for the season this Sunday.
Thomas Harry, who is the Mountain Manager of Rainbow Ski Area, described their winter season to Stuff:
“It’s a bit of a shame, we had a terrific couple of months leading up to the great rain, but this is the way the snow business goes at times, and we had to close for a number of reasons… It’s been a real shame to get this huge event [August storm], but not just for us, for the whole region. People are going to be cleaning up for a long time. It sucks.
Typically at this time of year the temperatures are increasing, we are moving into spring, and you are relying on stockpiles from June, July, and August, to carry through to the end date.
And looking just at the way the weather pattern has been going, and how thin now the snowpack is mid-mountain, it’s not a problem we can snow-make our way out of it. We are learning [a] new pattern, it’s a northerly dominant weather system which brings a warmer year than normal. It does make it tough to operate.”
Here’s hoping the Rainbow Ski Area has better luck next year.
Image Credits: Rainbow Ski Area
This article was originally published by Unofficialnetworks.com. Read the original article here.
