New Zealand's 2016 ski season is under way with first runs at Queenstown's Coronet Peak and Wanaka's Cardrona ski fields.
About 300 keen skiers and snowboarders queued for the first chairlifts up NZSki's Coronet Peak this morning.
They were joined by hundreds more throughout the morning, as predicted gales failed to materialise.
Instead, those up the mountain were treated to clear skies, light winds and relatively warm conditions - about 3degC.
Snow conditions were firm on the main runs to open, The M1, Big Easy and Beginners area, with packed and groomed snow.
Elsewhere it was icy and there was little coverage off-piste.
Wakatipu High School pupils Oliver Hill, Simon Morganty and Ben Evans, all 16 and from Arrowtown, were first on the chairlift.
They'd slept on the mountain overnight, arriving at 9pm.
Hill said: "It was pretty cold. We tried to sleep on the chairlift but that didn't go so well.
"We're looking forward to the season."
Hill and his friends instead bunked down in sleeping bags outside NZSki's base building. It's the second year he's been first on.
NZSki's Coronet Peak ski field manager Ross Copland cracked open a bottle of champagne at the Coronet Express ski lift to mark the occasion.
"We put so much effort into it, we start seven months of prep, so to finally be here, good conditions and a great crowd is amazing."
Queenstown experienced heavy snowfall about three weeks ago. Along with Coronet's snow guns, that's allowed groomers to create runs with a minimum snow base of 20cms and maximum of 50cms.
But the last few days have proved challenge, with a weather front bringing rain.
"We have, we were able to track quite a lot of that snow that came early, on the main trails, so we've been able to get past this quite dodgy weather period.
"With snow coming down to 600 metres tomorrow, we should get away with it."
The wind is expected to pick up this afternoon, with snow forecast for tomorrow.
