Staff were the majority of customers when the new Base bar opened at 8am and it was nearly an hour after the McDougall's chondola started operating before members of the public stepped aboard.
Cardrona general manager Bridget Legnavsky said the timing of the recent wintry weather was not ideal for attracting visitors but a good snow base was needed before the slopes could be groomed for skiing and snowboarding.
"You can't plan the weather. It would be lovely to have a sunny day but we need snow more than sun right now," she said.
Other new facilities Cardrona has opened this year include a new guest ticketing service at the front of the base building and a new retail shop."Our focus this year was all about trying to get better flow and more space for the guests," Ms Legnavsky said.
"It has been a big project for us but it feels really good."
By the end of Saturday more than 200 people had visited Cardrona to enjoy the fresh soft snow and free tobogganing and take a ride on the gondola to walk to the five new hand-carved pou at the top of the mountain.
"It's so good to be open, it's so good for it to be cold and, with lots of snow coming down and the snow-making we're doing, we're going to have some runs open really soon," Ms Legnavsky said.
