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New Zealand’s only cross-country ski area Snow Farm is celebrating its busiest season on record as it gears up to open a brand-new base building this month.
Snow Farm will formally open its recently completed base building on Sunday, August 25, with former Prime Minister Helen Clark officially opening the new site. The occasion marks a significant milestone for Snow Farm – the only public, not-for-profit, charitable ski facility in the region – and follows a record-breaking July, with the ski area hosting thousands of skiers over the school holiday period.
Snow Farm general manager Sam Lee says the new base building is a welcome addition, and he is looking forward to celebrating the ski area’s latest achievement with Helen Clark. Clark, a Snow Farm patron and avid cross-country skier, also opened the Musterer’s Hut in 2022.
“After the Musterer’s Hut opened two years ago, we quickly set our sights on the preparation required for this base building,” says Sam.
“It has been a collaborative effort with the community over the past two years, to raise the funds needed to build this new facility, with many people pitching in.”
The overall project cost $750,000 and represents an amalgamation of donations from Otago Community Trust, Central Lakes Trust and private donors.
Construction of the base building began in December 2023 and was signed off on June 20, 2024, with the work completed by local building company Breen Construction.
“The opening ceremony allows us to take a moment to acknowledge the generous contributions and celebrate the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes to make this possible,” Sam says.
The formal event will take place on Sunday, 25 August at 12pm. Kai Tahu kaumatua Darren Rewi from Queenstown will begin the official proceedings with a mihi whakatau and karakia to bless the new base building.
Located between the Snow Fun Zone (a designated snowplay and tubing area) and the starting point for the main cross-country trails, the 180sq m building serves as a central hub for Snow Farm’s operations. The new hub contains basic amenities – rentals, ticketing guest services, micro food and beverage operation and a staffroom.
“It’s fantastic for our guests, who can now look out the window and see the different experiences on offer, while they’re standing at the ticketing desk,” says Sam.
“We have also expanded the carpark to include an additional 50 parking spaces. We reaped the benefits of this immediately and during the July school holidays, there were times when the new carpark was completely full.”
In July, 50 per cent of day visitors were locals, 14 per cent from Australia, 50 per cent for wider New Zealand and, 6 per cent from outside of Australasia.
The cross-country ski area offers an affordable alternative to traditional alpine downhill skiing and hosts more than 15,000 users annually, including community groups, more than 36 school groups from 19 schools from Australasia and the growing Olympic sport of Biathlon.
The new base building is stage one of a five-year project for Snow Farm.
“With the initial building infrastructure now in place, we look forward to collaborating with council to provide additional amenities such as publicly accessible toilets – a vital community asset for the summer months when Snow Farm is closed – and when the Waiorau Reserve huts and trails are still accessible to hikers,” he says.
“Beyond that, we plan to extend the existing base building, to include educational spaces for the growing number of schools from around the South Island, which are travelling to Snow Farm for on-snow lessons and experiences.”
