The weather gods turned on the best possible mountain snow storm yesterday and snow was continuing to fall in the area last night.
Fields are set to open at least two weeks earlier than last year.
Cardrona will open today after it received another 15cm-18cm overnight Thursday, on top of 32cm received earlier in the week.
More snowfalls have been forecast across the region until about Wednesday next week.
At Cardona, staff were planning to open the beginners’ area today, base area cafes, the Snow Sports School, and some terrain park features. McDougall's Chondola was set to open later next week.
Treble Cone mountain manager Ewan Mackie said the storm was setting the mountain up "beautifully" for opening on June 25.
The Snow Farm is expected to open on July 1 and reported good falls yesterday.
Nordic Skiing Area on the Pisa Range had received at least 14cm of snow yesterday afternoon, on top of 29cm received earlier in the week.
The Snow Farm is scheduled to open on July 1.
Coronet Peak enjoyed plenty of snow yesterday and with more snow expected has pushed its opening date up one day and will open on Thursday.
Over at the Remarkables, 27cm of snow had fallen on Thursday night and next Saturday was looking likely for opening day.
The weather also led to six trucks becoming stuck at the Lindis Pass summit about 2.15am, due to the weather, including one truck which jack-knifed.
Police from Cromwell, Kurow and Oamaru attended.
A vehicle also crashed in Crown Range Rd at 1.10pm, with "slippery roads" contributing to the accident.
MetService has issued a raft of snow warnings for the South which include a road snow warning for Dunedin's Northern Motorway.
The warnings from the forecaster, issued about noon, say snow may briefly affect the motorway about noon today, and 1cm-3cm could settle near the summit. Lesser amounts were possible to near sea level.
Road snow warnings are also in place for the Lindis Pass (State Highway 8), Haast Pass (SH6), the Crown Range Rd and the Milford Rd (SH94).
Both the Milford Rd and the Crown Range Rd were closed on Thursday night owing to snow. The Crown Range Rd had reopened but chains must be carried, the Queenstown Lakes District Council said.
The Milford Rd remained closed.
There is also a heavy snow warning for Fiordland overnight and today, and heavy snow watches for parts of Central Otago, the Queenstown Lakes District, Clutha and Southland today.
