Awakino skifield, near Kurow, will not open for business until next month because there is too much snow.
The Waitaki Ski Club had hoped to open the volunteer-run skifield today, but flood damage and snow drifts of up to 4m from last week's snow dump have made the skifield road inaccessible.
Waitaki Ski Club secretary David Campbell said flood damage destroyed several hundred metres of the access road and, although volunteers and a local contractor had spent three days working on it, there was still a lot of work to do.
''Despite the huge effort, there still remains a few more hundred metres of road to rebuild before people can get to the lodge halfway up the mountain road.
''A small group of members ventured above the lodge on Sunday on foot, and found the upper road to be completely snowed over, with a layer of ice beneath.
''There are snowdrifts of 3m to 4m deep in places and they will take some time to clear.''
There was another weekend's worth of work to do on the skifield itself to dig out the main tow and check the avalanche risk, and the skifield would not open until July 6 ''at the earliest'', Mr Campbell said.
Last year, club members faced a long delay before there was enough snow to open the field. It finally opened on August 11 and closed on October 8.
