Some had been lining up since 6am for the 9am opening of the two lower chairlifts, for the sought after "first on the lift" T-shirts.
All who had made their way up the mountain for opening day were rewarded with a beautiful sunny day with hardly any wind and relatively warm temperatures, after a night with light rain.
Assistant ski area manager Ed Bezett said the snow base had held up nicely despite the rain, allowing all lifts and all terrain - excluding the halfpipe and tubing park, but including the three terrain parks and the Homeward Run shuttle - to operate from day one.
"It is great to be able to open all the terrain so early in the season. Now we just need a little more snow to cover some of the bigger features in the terrain parks," he said.
The snow base was around 60cm near the base building and 80cm around the top of the lifts. The snow was plentiful on most of the groomed tracks on the rocky slopes at the Remarkables, though because of rain overnight and the above-zero temperatures it was a bit spring-like - firm and crusty in the morning and soft in the afternoon.
A lot of people had made it up the mountain for opening day, filling both of the top carparks and keeping the buses busy. Yet, with all lifts running the skiers and boarders spread out nicely, so the lift queues were minimal.
A lot of the more experienced visitors headed up to the Shadow Basin, which also opens up to off-piste skiing.
People were seen hiking up to the higher ridges for runs down the steep chutes above Lake Alta, whereas others took the hike up to the lookout point above the Shadow Basin chairlift, where there are spectacular views down over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu.
The Remarkables is popular among the younger crowd and those who enjoy the terrain parks, which cater for different levels of ability, and can be watched from the chairlifts.
A new feature this year is an activity trail with a map, which encourages children to explore the ski area looking for special features like little jumps and tunnels.
The 25-year anniversary was celebrated with a "locals' day" yesterday, where local residents were offered an afternoon of free access to the slopes, sausage sizzle and entertainment. Ski area manager Ross Lawrence said the anniversary would be celebrated with more events later in the season.
