The Snow Farm on the Pisa Range finally opened last week after more than a month's delay caused by lack of snow. Reporter Jono Edwards talks to the field's new general manager, Nikki Holmes, about running the expansive ski area.
Heavy snow fell over the Snow Farm on the Pisa Range on Saturday.
"It's a good day,'' Nikki Holmes said, "Snow is always a good day''.
The Snow Farm only opened just over a week ago after it was originally scheduled to start welcoming visitors in mid-June.
"That's why we try not to set an exact opening date. We don't have snow-making equipment up here and Mother Nature will do what she will do.''
Mrs Holmes assumed the general manager role in April and this winter she is leading a team of 10.
The skifield offers two types of cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing and tobogganing on its 55km of trails.
International athletes also used the field to train for events such as biathlon, she said.
"What makes it unique is that a 4-year-old can ski on the same track as a world champion. If you can walk, you can cross-country ski.''
Most of the skifield's winter staff were international seasonal workers, she said.
"It was tough initially finding them accommodation, but we managed. Similarly it was hard for them us opening so late. We did as much preparation stuff as we could to get them some kind of income, but there's only so much you can do.''
Mrs Holmes and her husband Jonathan moved to the area five years ago from Wellington to "get away from the corporate world''.
She had numerous government jobs in her 17 years in the capital, including as a business manager for KiwiSaver during its launch and as general manager of marketing and communications at the Department of Conservation.
Before that she worked in the British army.
"That was my first life.''
She and her husband now live with their two Alaskan malamutes at Hawea Flat.
She often takes the dogs skiing with her, being pulled along by them in a sport called skijoring.
"That's another great thing about this place. Anyone can take their dogs out there.''
Since 2012, the area has been run by the Pisa Alpine Charitable Trust.
Mrs Holmes' plan is to get more people venturing up the skifield road during summer and autumn by introducing more sporting events and further encouraging activities such as yoga retreats.
Apart from the freedom of being on the open trails, she loved the community feel of the Snow Farm, she said.
"I love being apart of it because of its ethos and culture. Getting to know all the seasonal workers and locals. It has a family feel.''
