A good dump of snow and sunny skies (above the inversion cloud) made local and visiting skiers happy during the two-week New Zealand school holidays.

Cardrona Treble Cone general manager Laura Hedley said the half metre snowfall just before the school holidays meant every lift was able to be opened across both Cardrona and Treble Cone.

Local skiers told the Wānaka App there were few crowds at either ski field.

One local posted a photo of a half empty car park at Treble Cone on social media, saying “Not busy at the Cone at the moment… 9.20am and a few car parks still available”.

A half empty car park at Treble Cone one morning. PHOTO: Supplied

Laura said while guest numbers weren’t particularly high during the holidays, there were plenty of Australian visitors. 

“We’ve had consistent numbers across the school holidays, and fantastic weather on the mountain – it’s been awesome seeing all our guests being able to choose the day that suited their winter holiday best, instead of that being dictated by weather windows,” she said.

“We’ve welcomed a large number of Australian visitors, and while numbers haven’t spiked hugely like we have seen in previous years, this has had a positive impact on guest experience over the school holidays.”

Snow Farm general manager Sam Lee said the cross country ski area had a very busy two weeks.

“Last weekend [July 13-14] was our busiest weekend ever, and these school holidays will be our busiest on record,” he said.

Record numbers of people took to the Snow Farm to enjoy Nordic skiing and the views above the inversion cloud. PHOTO: Wānaka App

Snow Farm has invested in a new base building this season, which includes a cafe and warm seating area for day visitors who just want to see what happens at the ski area.

“The inversion has helped us greatly over the school holiday period; being up in the sun has fueled the number of people just coming for a coffee and to see what it's all about,” Sam said.

“We have been really lucky to get a great dump of snow and a sustained period of fine weather.”

Sam said the most significant increase in patronage at the ski area so far this year was in cross country skiing and snowshoeing; with a marginal increase in tubing at the Snow Farm’s ‘Fun Zone’.

Fourteen percent of the ski field’s non-season pass visitors during the school holidays were Australian; 30 percent were Queenstown and Wānaka locals; and 50 percent were New Zealanders from outside the region. 

“Snow Farm is really in a sweet spot right now as we have strived to keep our products affordable and encourage more visitors to the council-owned Waiorau Recreation reserve on which we operate. It also helps our mandate as a non-profit to keep cross country skiing as an affordable option,” he said.