Mt Hutt ski resort in New Zealand has announced that it will open two weeks early on 31 May, becoming the first resort down under to open for the southern 2025 winter.
It will be the earliest opening since 2009 and has been prompted by a huge storm that delivered 120 centimetres of new snow. The original scheduled opening date was 13 June.
The lifts will start turning on weekends only from Saturday 31 May. It means Mt Hutt will now be open for the 'King's Birthday' weekend (from 31 May to 02 June) and on 07 and 08 June on the following weekend.
The resort will be opening daily from 14 June until the scheduled closing day 12 October.