NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said conditions at The Remarkables and Coronet Peak had not degenerated over the past 10 days, despite no further natural snowfall.
That was largely because the mountains were not being skied on.
Even if skifields had been open, the weather had been too warm to make snow.
Mr Anderson said the company’s "best-case scenario" was for chairlifts to be running again on September 4, leaving Coronet Peak with about three weeks left in its season and The Remarkables another six.
NZSki had been an early qualifier for the wage subsidy, given the company’s revenue at present was "zero", which had alleviated anxiety for seasonal staff.
"Usually, if they don’t work, they don’t get paid.
"But the wage subsidy scheme has allowed us to provide that certainty to them."
However, Mr Anderson was hopeful a move back down to Alert Level 2 for the majority of New Zealand would be swift.
On the other side of the range, Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone Ski Area general manager Laura Hedley said the snow was "still there" and they were gearing up to open at Alert Level 2.
Under Alert Level 4 there was no public access, the gates to both skifields were locked and only one maintenance staff member was allowed to check the infrastructure every few days.
She said when the South Island dropped to Alert Level 3, teams would be sent up to the skifields to start preparing the mountain to open under Alert Level 2.
That included grooming the slopes, maintenance base operations, cleaning and adequate signage and systems for social distancing in the food and beverage areas.
Ms Hedley said 950 people were employed across the two mountains, many of whom were seasonal workers and the bulk were under 30 years old.
She said the company had "kept everyone on" and was applying for the wage subsidy.
Team leaders were in regular contact with their staff through an internal communications platform and they had also organised several online quiz nights.
Ms Hedley had worked at Cardrona Alpine Resort for more than 14 years and was the former director of people and performance (human resources) before stepping into the role of general manager on August 2.
She said although the lockdown had made it a "a bit of a baptism by fire", she was looking forward to reopening.
"I went through this last year as part of the leadership team and although it is not ideal, and definitely not what we want, we’ll be back," she said.
