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Mt Hutt

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Elevations:

Top:
 2086 meters
 6844 feet
Base:
 1403 meters
 4603 feet
Vertical:
 683 meters
 2241 feet
Average Annual Snow Fall:
 350 cm
 140 inches

Number of Lifts:

5 lifts:
  1 heli(s)
  1 six seater(s)
  1 quad chair(s)
  1 triple chair(s)
  1 Margic Carpet(s)

Contact details:

Ph: 64 3 302 8811
Snow Ph: 64 3 308 5074
Fax: 64 3 442 4637
Email: Click here
Website: Click here
Map: Click here
Report: Click here

 

Resort Rundown

Mt Hutt is one of New Zealand's most well developed resorts and lies about one hour's drive south-west of Christchurch. Mt Hutt has one of the largest verticals in New Zealand and some of the best powder bowls in the country. However, it often experiences some very harsh weather conditions. During these times it is impossible to reach the resort as the road passes over an extremely exposed and dangerous ridge.

Mt Hutt has invested heavily into snow-making which pumps out tons of snow onto the main trails as required. Although it does have an extensive snow-making system, Mt Hutt receives some of the heaviest snowfalls amongst all the resorts in the South Island. One of the major benefits of the snow-making is that it allows Mt Hutt to be the first Title open for winter in the Southern Hemisphere. It consistently opens in mid May. Further, the snow-making system feeds snow into the Mt Hutt pipe.

Mt Hutt has a small base lodge and amenities area, which has a cafeteria and restaurant. They also offer an extensive ski and snowboard school and a Burton Tech Centre where you can demo all the latest Burton gear. Similar to other New Zealand resorts the lift system at Mt Hutt is relatively antiquated. All lifts are either fixed grip or t-bars.

Terrain

Mt Hutt Trail Map

Freeriding:

Mt Hutt is a huge mountain offering some of New Zealand's best freeriding terrain. There are long steeps and big rocks. As Mt Hutt receives some of New Zealand's biggest dumps the powder riding here can be amazing. Everything is on offer at Mt Hutt, ranging from long powder runs to lengthy groomed runs. There are also plenty of big cliffs and easily accessible backcountry for those willing to hike. Also, a heli-boarding service operates from the resort and enables you to purchase single ride runs.

Early Morning: Most of Hutt is in the shade in the mornings so the snow can take a little while to soften up on hardpack days. To avoid the ice early in the day, head up to the summit and traverse to skier's left. It is not only the first to be exposed to the sun, but it is steep and fun for freeriding.

Bad Weather: When the wind is strong, stick to the runs below the car park. Your best bet is to ride the triple chair to the mid station. If it's a complete white-out, then you may as well head back down to one of the cool pubs in Methven. If you still want to ride, try the pipe.

Beginners: Head straight for the double chair which accesses a long, gentle green run. For the more adventurous beginners try the little hits scattered all over this run.

Avoiding crowds: On busy days, go straight for the Triple Chair. The Quad Chair leaves straight out of the base of Mt Hutt, thus gets extremely busy. During school holidays and weekends be prepared to wait at least 15 to 20 minutes at the Quad Chair.

Freestyle:

Halfpipes: Mt Hutt was not one of the first resorts in New Zealand to embrace snowboarding, but the mountain has seen a major a transformation in recent years. Mt Hutt now offers one of the best pipes in New Zealand. Earthworks have ensured that the Mt Hutt pipe can be ready early on in the season. The resort has employed a crew of riders to shape and maintain the pipe. The beauty of the Hutt pipe is that it is far less crowded than the pipes at Cardrona. Further, unlike Cardrona, when the pipe isn't going off, there is plenty of brilliant freeriding available. However, the major drawback of the Hutt pipe is that it is shaped with a blade rather than with a proper shaping machine like a "Pipe Dragon". Therefore, the condition of the pipe is not guaranteed and often it can be down right terrible.

However, Coronet's Pipe Magician is sometimes to moved to Mt Hutt to cut the pipe.  When this happens the Mt Hutt pipe is probably one of the best in the country.  You just need to know when the Pipe Magician is coming to Mt Hutt.

Half Pipe Rating: 7.5 out of 10 (definitely worth a visit)

Snowboard Parks: Unfortunately there is not much on offer at Mt Hutt. Whilst the pipe is usually great, the park is average and you're better off building your own kickers.

Snow and Weather at Mt Hutt

Mt Hutt tends to get some of the most amount of powder out of all the NZ resorts. The resort gets constant bombardment from Eastern drizzle and western storms which can close the mountain for days. In fact, if you plan a trip to Mt Hutt, don't be surprised if the resort is shut due to poor weather, too much wind or too much snow (this is happening less and less with upgrades of avelanche controls on the mountaing).  A good aspect of this is that powder is plentiful at Hutt. However, due to its wet nature, it can turn to ice pretty quickly.

Current snow and weather conditions at Mt Hutt

Snow and weather in New Zealand in general

Although known as the land of the long white cloud, you'll find that most of the days you ride in NZ will be sunny because the clouds often stick to the taller peaks which surround the resorts.

The temperature in the South Island of NZ is relatively temperate, meaning there aren't any real extremes in temperature as can be experienced in Europe and the USA. However, the wind seems to be a real issue at NZ mountains. This may explain why many of the resorts like TC and Mt Hutt only have T-Bars that access the summit, or don't have any summit lifts at all, like the "Remarkable's". Nonetheless, the terrain can be worth the pain in most circumstances.

Also, don't expect the regular 2 foot dumps that you often get in Europe and USA. Often you will wake up to find a fresh half to one foot of powder but overall the best powder is found with a Heli. Compared to Australia or summer camps on the glaciers in the northern hemisphere, NZ is awesome and the powder is plentiful, and drier.

Accommodation.

Mt Hutt is about a 30 to 40 minute drive from Methven. In the past 3 trips, we have visited Hutt only a couple of times due to its unpredictable weather and snow conditions. A couple of times we were not allowed on the mountain due to massive snowfalls and avalanche risk.

For information on where to stay near Mt Hutt, click below:

Methven - Accommodation etc

For more information on where to stay near Mt Hutt, call:

• travel.com.au  on 1 800 556 (or (61) (800) 677 669 from outside Australia)
• New Zealand Tourist Board on (64) (3) 365 0296 (this is a New Zealand telephone number - therefore an international call from outside NZ)
• For Australians, call the New Zealand Tourism Board office in Sydney on
  (02) 9247 5222

Night Life.

There is no night life at Mt Hutt, see Methven.

Snowboard Shops.

There are no snowboard shops at Mt Hutt, see Methven.

Getting There.

By Air:  Fly into Christchurch International Airport and take ground transprtation to the resort.

By Car from Christchurch:  Take highways 72 and 73 through Windwhistle until you reach the Mt Hutt turn off.  Or, Take Highway 1 towards Ashburton and turn off on Highway 77 to Methven.  Foolow the signs from Methven.

The best way to organise a snowboard  trip to New Zealand is use a reputable travel agent who knows the mountains in NZ.  We use and recommend travel.com.au for all your snowboard travel needs.  They offer an efficient, knowledgeable service with super competitive prices.  Contact them by email on board@travel.com.au or by phone on  1 800 556.

Thanks.

Many thanks go to Duncan Smith, Dave Jackson, Ross and all of the staff at Mt Hutt for making our stay a welcome one.

Last updated on 18 January 2038.

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Date	Name	Comments
16 Aug 2007	Anonymous	There is now a 6-seat express lift to the summit making getting up to the top a lot quicker. From there you can access most of the resort's terrain.

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