Yesterday the Remarkables called time on the 2018 season, having extended it by a week following recent heavy snowfalls in the Wakatipu.
Many embraced the "Hawaiian" theme, with grass skirts, leis and the odd flotation device spotted on the mountain as skiers and boarders made the most of their last runs for the year.
Ski area manager Ross Lawrence labelled it the best season in more than a decade.
"We’ve had the best season in my history of being here, in the last 11 years, as far as patronage goes and snow cover’s been very good.
"It hasn’t been a big snow year, but the snow has come on a regular basis and it’s been cold so it’s stayed in good nick.
"Everything has been a highlight of the season for me [and] we’ve really appreciated the winter we’ve had."
Mr Lawrence said the biggest challenge for the skifield remained encouraging people to "ride share".
"When you have a powder day, when you might get 20cm to 40cm fresh snow and it’s a Saturday, everyone turns out all at once.
"Having them be considerate of others would certainly save us a lot of trouble with parking people up here.
"We’ve managed to park just over 1000 vehicles up here, but when you’ve got 4000 people wanting to go skiing, you’ve got to make sure there’s [room] for everybody."
Summer developments would include completing the learner’s area, which started at the end of last summer, to add another conveyor and open up about 6000sqm of beginner novice terrain.
"In here [the base building] the facilities have coped really well and we’re always looking into the future as to how we can expand, so watch this space on that one, I can’t tell you anything on that.
"We’re waiting with baited breath."
Mt Hutt, also owned by NZSki, closed yesterday as well. Meanwhile, Cardrona Alpine Resort, owned by Real Journeys, remains open for another week — its final day for 2018 will be Sunday.
