The manager of Coronet Peak ski area is "pretty confident'' it will be open for the start of the school holidays this Saturday.
Ross Copland said snow-making resumed on Monday night after two days of warm temperatures on the mountain.
Provided temperatures remained as cold as forecast, the ski area's snowmaking system would operate at full capacity, pumping 30 million litres of water a day through 217 snow guns.
Staff were being rostered on and off to share the work available, but he could not say how many hours a week they were working on average.
If Coronet Peak was unable to open by the weekend, sister skifield the Remarkables would "cope really well'' with the increased number of visitors, Mr Copland said.
Owner NZSki had "huge flexibility'' to move resources between the two fields, such as ski instructors, rental equipment and passenger transport.
The reverse had occurred two years ago when Coronet Peak was the only field in the region to open on schedule and the Remarkables had not opened until early July.
The Remarkables manager Ross Lawrence said visitor numbers during the past week had reached or exceeded the field's "considered capacity'' of 3500, hitting 4000 on Monday.
That number could go higher when the school holidays started, he said.
To cope with demand, he had about 150 staff from Coronet Peak and additional food and beverage outlets had been set up.
Treble Cone Ski Area near Wanaka, due to open two weeks ago, remains closed because of a lack of snow. The field is snowmaking at night.
Long-range forecasts are the first significant snowfalls will not happen until next Wednesday.
The Snow Farm on the Pisa Rangehas also postponed its opening day. Much of the range lacks snow.
Cardrona Alpine Resort has kept operating since it opened on June 11 and yesterday had a summit snow depth of 45cm.
