Mother Nature and man-made snow are working together to set up an excellent start to the ski season.
Coronet Peak ski area manager Ross Copland said 2cm of snow fell on Sunday night and there were light flurries still falling at mid-afternoon yesterday, freshening a base of between 20cm and 50cm.
''The conditions are beautiful - dry, cold wintery snow out there. It was -8degC at the top of the mountain this morning,'' Mr Copland said.
About 4000 people skied and boarded at Coronet Peak during the weekend and 900 more took to the slopes yesterday.
Its sister field, The Remarkables, is scheduled to open on Saturday - a day after the Queenstown Winter Festival opening party.
''From Winter Festival, that's when we start to see those big numbers of Aussies coming across and it basically builds from there to school holidays,'' he said.
