Mount Hutt () rises to the west of the
Canterbury Plains
The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and ...
in the
South Island
The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...
of New Zealand, above the braided upper reaches of the
Rakaia River
The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The Rakaia River has a mean flow of and a mean annual seven-day low flow of . In the 1850s, Europ ...
,
and 80 kilometres west of
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
. Its summit is 2190 metres above sea level.
The New Zealand
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the Creative New Zealand, arts, Culture of New Zealand, culture, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, built heritage, Sport Ne ...
gives a translation of "place of the hill" for ''Ōpuke''. Mount Hutt was named by the
Canterbury Association
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), members of parliament, Peerage of the United Kingdom, peers, and Anglicanism, Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The se ...
surveyor
Joseph Thomas for
John Hutt
John Hutt (24 July 1795 – 9 April 1880) was Governor of Western Australia from 1839 to 1846.
Life
Born in London on 24 July 1795, John Hutt was the fourth of 13 children of Richard Hutt of Appley Towers, Ryde, Isle of Wight. He was educate ...
, an early member of the Association.
Ski field
History
A proposal for a ski field on Mount Hutt was floated by the Methven Lions Club in the late 1960s. However, there were concerns that providing an access road would prove too difficult. A local resident and heavy machinery contractor, Doug Hood, proved that a road access could be created when he drove a bulldozer up a ridge in 1971, forming a track that is the basis of the current access road. Financing of a ski field development then began. An Austrian ski instructor, Willy Huber, built a hut on the mountain and took snow measurements to demonstrate that a ski field was viable. A full access road was created by Doug Hood, and by the winter of 1973, there was a rope tow operating on the slopes, with a T-bar in service by 1974. The Mt. Hutt Ski and Alpine Tourist Company was registered in 1972 to raise funds for further development. The constitution of the company stated that at least 75% of the shareholding should be locally-based. Financing of further development of the ski field remained difficult. An Auckland-based company, bought a controlling interest in the company, but was then taken over by Japanese investors through the Victoria USA Company. By 1984, their interests in the Mount Hutt ski field had been bought by the
Mount Cook tourism company, owned by
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...
.
By 2000, Air New Zealand owned three South Island ski areas:
Coronet Peak
Coronet Peak is a commercial skifield in Queenstown, New Zealand located seven kilometres west of Arrowtown, on the southern slopes of the 1,649-metre peak which shares its name. A popular ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere, Coronet Peak ...
,
The Remarkables
The Remarkables () are a mountain range and part of the Remarkables Conservation Area that includes Kawarau/The Remarkables and Tāpuae O’Uenuku/Hector Mountains and Te Papapuni/Nevis River valley. Located on the southeastern shore of Lake W ...
and Mount Hutt - collectively known as nzski.com. In 2002,
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...
sold its NZSki subsidiary for
NZD 27 million to joint venture
Southern Alpine Resort Recreation Limited, comprising
NZSki management,
Millbrook Resort developer
Graham Smolenski
Graham or Graeme may refer to:
People
* Graham (given name), an English-language given name
* Graham (surname), an English-language surname
* Graeme (surname), an English-language surname
* Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer
* Clan ...
,
Tourism Milford Ltd and
Trojan Holdings Ltd.
Operations
The mountain is home to a commercial alpine
ski area
A ski area is the terrain and supporting infrastructure where skiing and other snow sports take place. Such sports include alpine and cross-country skiing, snow boarding, tubing, sledding, etc. Ski areas may stand alone or be part of a ski resort. ...
offering 3.65 square kilometres of skiable terrain and a vertical of 683 metres. The ski field is owned and operated by
NZSki, along with Coronet Peak and The Remarkables in
Queenstown.
It caters for a wide range of skier and snowboarder abilities, with two surface/conveyor lifts, a high-speed six seater chairlift, a high-speed eight seater chairlift and a fixed-grip three seater chairlift. The lift infrastructure provides access to a wide range of beginner, intermediate and advanced runs, access to large off-piste areas and several terrain parks. The most advanced runs on the mountain are through the rock formations at the top of the field known as "The Towers", and the South Face.
The snow season is from June to October. Mount Hutt is known for being the first ski field in the Southern Hemisphere to open at the beginning of each season. On 12 August 2010, winds of up to 200 km/h struck the ski area, resulting in its closure along with the access road, and stranding 1200 people on the mountain overnight, where they were accommodated in the ski-field's base buildings. The road was reopened the following day.
There is no accommodation on the mountain, but visitors can stay in the nearby town of
Methven, a 35-minute drive to the mountain. The larger town of
Ashburton is 55 minutes away. The city of
Christchurch
Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
is one hour 45 minutes drive away.
In 2020, the Zionist Federation of New Zealand lobbied the ski-field to remove a commemorative plaque to one of its founders, Willi Huber, a former member of the
Waffen-SS
The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...
. The Federation also lobbied for the renaming of a ski trail and alpine restaurant that were named after Huber.
NZSki have renamed the ski trail and restaurant.
Awards
The World Ski Awards website has recognised Mount Hutt with the award of New Zealand's Best Ski Resort for ten consecutive years from 2015 to 2024.
Gallery
File:Mt Hutt3.jpg, Mt Hutt ski centre
File:Mt Hutt6.jpg, Top of Summit Six chairlift
File:Mt Hutt, NZ1.jpg, Base of ski area
File:Chairlift Mt Hutt, NZ.jpg, Chairlift over Mount Hutt
File:Mt Hutt4.jpg, Access road to Mount Hutt
File:Southern Alps from Mt Hutt, NZ2.jpg, Southern Alps from summit
File:Mt Hutt pano Stevage.jpg, Ski area from base
Climate
Mount Hutt in the
Koppen-Geiger Classification System, is a Tundra Climate (ET). Mount Hutt features a cold enough temperature for skifields. Below is a climate of Mount Hutt Skifield:
Fauna
During the summer months four species of Alpine grasshoppers can be found within the ski field boundary. They include ''
Sigaus villosus
''Sigaus villosus'' is New Zealand's largest grasshopper. It is only found in the central mountains of the South Island. The genus ''Sigaus'' is Endemism, endemic to New Zealand. Like all of New Zealand sub-alpine and alpine grasshoppers ''Sigau ...
'' which can be found along the ridgelines, ''Brachaspis nivalis'' which lives on the rocky
scree
Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits.
The term ''scree'' is ap ...
, ''
Sigaus australis
''Sigaus australis'' is the most common alpine grasshopper found in New Zealand. It can be found in the southern half of the South Island above the tree line. ''Sigaus australis'' was described in 1897 by Frederick Hutton. Like all of New Zeala ...
'' and ''Paprides nitidus'' which both live in the alpine tussocklands.
Mount Hutt is the
type locality for the endemic moth ''
Orocrambus aethonellus.
''
Conservation areas
There are several conservation areas located on or near Mt Hutt, including the Awa Awa Rata Reserve, Pudding Hill Scenic Reserve, and the Redcliffe Conservation Area.
References
External links
The Mt Hutt ski area websiteThe nzski.com website0800Snow Review on Mt HuttMt Hutt Webcams and Weather Report
{{Ashburton District, New Zealand
Hutt
Hutt