Coronet Peak saw some real race action on Friday, when the main recreational run on the mountain - the M1 - was transformed into an ultra-fast downhill race course for the 23rd New Zealand Ski Masters, which attracted a strong field, including former Winter Olympians.
Spring conditions throughout the past weeks meant the snow had a frozen and crusty surface for the dawn race.
As the sun came up, the racers had already done their warm-up runs, and they had the main run to themselves.
Other visitors to the ski area were using the Greengates, Rocky Gully and Big Easy areas for the first hours.
The downhill race ran from the top to the bottom of Coronet Peak, and is the only downhill race in the Masters series.
The 51 competitors, all aged over 30 years, only had one run on the course.
The oldest racer was Paul Bush (81).
One of the veteran competitors was Walter Unterberger (73), who has been competing in the Masters races since 1993.
After the race he said it was "a good day for racing".
"The snow conditions were fine for racing. Firm under foot, with a bit of loose snow on top. And the weather was good as well," he said.
Unterberger won the overall masters title in 2009.
In yesterday's downhill race he came in fastest in his age group, and was placed 19th overall in the men's group.
The fastest of the men was Simon Gilroy in 1min 3.27sec, and former Winter Olympian Fiona Stevens led the women's field in 1min 4.69sec.
In the afternoon the slalom race was held at Rocky Gully.
Today the Masters can be seen in action for the giant slalom.
- Henrietta Kjaer took the photos on the mountain; the after-race function pictures are by Tracey Roxburgh. Prints available from otagoimages.co.nz.
