There is no place for a ‘‘she’ll be right’’ attitude in the mountains, Mt Hutt Skifield manager James McKenzie says.
A case in point had been an incident on Sunday, ending in a helicopter rescue.
A group of skiers ventured beyond the skifield boundary, marked by signs at regular intervals, about noon.
Behind the Virgin Mile run above the Rakaia River, a teenager in the group walked past an ‘‘Extreme Caution Required’’ sign.
‘‘He was trying to throw something off the edge to watch it slide down the mountain, next thing he slid instead.’’
He slid several hundred metres. The Westpac rescue helicopter airlifted him out.
He slid so far down the mountain, it would have been quicker for him to walk out via Blackford Rd, near the river, than walk back up.
He was lucky to sustain only bruises and minor scrapes, McKenzie said.
‘‘This group were fully aware of the hazard, but didn’t respect it.’’
Meanwhile on opening day last Saturday, there was a lot of waiting around, and his feet froze.
But it was all worth it in the end for Methven builder Reilly Duff.
The 21-year-old was among the lucky six skiers first to board Mt Hutt’s Summit Six chairlift when the skifield opened for the 2025 season.
‘‘It felt different because I had never done it before,’’ Duff said.
He and two mates were on their way up the access road as soon as it opened, 6.45am.
They stood with their skis at the Summit Six from 8am, hopeful it would open at its normal time of 9am.
But due to a build-up of ice and snow from a storm the day prior, staff could not open it until 1pm.
Duff toughed out the five hours.
‘‘My heels were frozen,’’ he said.
And, unlike his two friends who had gone into the warmth of the nearby cafe, Duff was there when staff handed out the First-on-the-Chair T-shirts.
Once he started skiing, he found snow conditions to be firm.
‘‘After not skiing for three years, it felt good to be back on the skis,’’ Duff said.
But it was shortlived. His first run for the day was also his last, as he had had a busy afternoon planned and had to get going.
McKenzie said opening weekend was a success with more than 2000 visitors each day but challenging for staff clearing the ice and snow from lifts on Saturday.
A high point was the introduction of new skifield mascot Lambo.
After a competition for mascot suggestions, won by Claire Lin from Christchurch, the skiing lamb in a red and black Swanndri replaced Spike the Kiwi and Shred the Kea.
McKenzie said the mascot role was to be a friendly face for children and others coming to the skifield.
And having a sheep as the new mascot was perfect.
‘‘It’s very quintessentially Canterbury,’’ he said.
