Mount Hutt ski field blanketed in mid-summer snow

Mount Hutt ski field in Canterbury was blanketed with snow on Monday after a chilly blast blew through.

The general manager of operations for Mount Hutt, James Urquhart, said it was not unusual to get some snow about once a month on the mountain, but often in the summer months, it is just a skiff, or light dusting, of snow.

He said he woke this morning to see about 5cm of powder on the monitoring webcams.

"It's not going to affect us too long, it'll melt pretty quick. It'll be gone probably by this afternoon. Tomorrow we'll be back to bare rock again, which will be great."

He said it was a bit of a rude awakening for the maintenance crew who have their first day back at work up the mountain on Monday.

"They'll be swapping their togs for their puffer jackets," Urquhart said.

However, Urquhart said it was not any sign of how conditions will be this ski season.

"It'd be nice if we could stockpile it and pull it out when you need it but the ski season is a long way off."

Like many others, he hoped the next couple of months deliver some "proper" summer weather - not more snow.

rnz.co.nz