Read skier and snowboarder-submitted reviews on Mt. Hutt Ski Area that rank the ski resort and mountain town on a scale of one to five stars for attributes such as terrain, nightlife and family friendliness. See how Mt. Hutt Ski Area stacks up in the reviews, on and off the slopes, from skiing and family activities to the après scene. Read up on pros, cons and other comments in reviews left by fellow skiers and riders. Don't forget to submit your own Mt. Hutt Ski Area review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your skiing and resort experience.
Reviews for Mt. Hutt Ski Area
Total (3.4)
A ski resort's overall star rating displayed here is not calculated based on a simple average but takes several factors, including the age of a review, into account.
Over the years has gone from being a great experience to being painful one. It all starts with the new car pooling rules. So the choice is pick up strangers on the way up and let them sit with your kids or take all the gear , meals out of the car with the kids and catch a ride on the shuttle. Once you arrive up on the bus of course there is no place to leave your lunches and extra gear as all the tables are taken by everyone who leaves their stuff on them.
The cost of a trip, shuttles, food and passes has ski rocketed over the years with minimum improvements to services. Not recommended for families
hazareece
Good ski field with good backcountry skiing over on the south face. Bit pricey so if you are planning to sk I there quite a bit I would definitely recommend an early bird season pass. Great beginners area, but where are you supposed to ski when you have come straight off the magic carpet? The field sorely lacks the poma that it always used to have. However, one one in confident going up the summit six there are so many different possibilities.
Abe
You can see the Pacific in the distance beyond the checkerboad of farms of the Cantibury Plains. Terrain is farily steep and it's an open wide bowl with varying pitches across the mountain.
I was there in 1999 but the date visited doesn't allow you to post that.
Everyone I met in New Zealand was friendly, skied 4 places, this was the best.
Matt
As learners, we didn't really get the full Mt. Hutt experience but what we had was great. We got our gear from Big Al's and it was really good stuff. Stayed at Ski Time lodge which was beautiful in the brand new villas, great restaurant and lodge as well.
1st day up there was a white out, we thought nothing of it though, we thought it must be normal. We had our lessons, I was boarding and my GF was skiing, she had a great teacher, very patient and cheerie. Mine was terrible, she was constantly getting frustrated with me and treating me like I was a know it all (shouldn't have said I was a skateboarder), I was just so stoked to have my feet strapped in, must have looked carelessly over excited or something. Anyway, ended up never returning after the lunch break, just figured things out for myself over the remainder of ther day. Oh, and skateboarding will not help u learn - It will impair u if anything...
2nd day was beautiful and clear, we couldn't believe the difference to the previous day. hit the learner slopes some more and made the decision to get on the lift for the first time up to highway 72. BAD IDEA! I couldn't handle it at all, constantly on the breaks. it's quite thin and really busy so as a beginner u wanna stick to the inner edge away from the drop but when I was forced to break on the bs edge I couldn't get it right and ended up wiping out and fracturing my wrist 3/4 of the way down... it sucked. was only wearing a wrist pad on the right hand (my bad hand from years ago) and then do left. The medics up there great. I rented a left wrist pad, strapped up FIRM and gave the learner slope a test which worked out well, so I was able to get back out there and start from square one. I learned well nursing my hand, I couldn't afford to spill again and by being patient and careful, I didn't.
3rd day was beautiful and another great day of learning. No more lifts.
The place was shut for the next 3 days so never made it back again. We thought it would wreak the holiday if we had closures but having a hire car, we decided to adventure around in search for the open resorts which ended up being sooo much fun. NZ is the best place to go on driving adventures so it was a bonus if we found an open resort. Mt. Dobson and Porter Heights were what we found and they were great as well. Methven is very boring so make sure u get a hire car to get to other field when Mt. Hutt shuts, and it definitely will.
We'll definitely go again soon.
Queensland Skier
I was in the Mt (S)Hutt area wanting to ski it one time, but for the couple of days i was there they couldn't open most of the mountain due to wind and weather so I went to other resorts instead that were open.
Just be aware that mt hutt is more vulnerable to weather than other NZ resorts.
Travelled from Australia with family in tow just to see the snow and do the snow thing and it was really just great. I have skied Remarkables and Mt Hotham before (BC - before children) but no-one else in the family had. Avoided school holidays which was a real plus. BYO munchies if you've got a family - it's pretty expensive eating out on top of all the actual skiing cost. Weather great, no queues, kids loved it. Would do it again anytime once a couple of the kids have gone and we don't have to part with so many $. Nighlife - what nightlife! it doesn't exist with young children
Debbie
I am an intermediate skier and found Mt Hutt to be fun and challenging. I enjoyed 3 out of 4 days with sunshine and light snow. 1 day was almost a 'white-out' and you couldn't see 20mtr in front of you. The drive up to Mt Hutt by Bus was thrilling, especially for the 1st time. The bus drivers were 100% experienced. We stayed at "The Lodge" in Methven which was extremely roomy. We had the best bacon & egg toasties at 'Primo e Secundo Cafe' it is worth tracking down and they are open 7am. We hired our equipment from "Big Al's" - Richard was welcoming, friendly & helped us with some of our Japanese for our next trip to Furano, Japan. I will definitely come back to conquer more blue runs.
just got back form mt hutt on the 15th july 2008...read all the forums and the ones from experienced skiers/snowboarders are right...it deserves its nickname of mt shut!
was closed for 33% of out trip and methven is the most boring place on earth especially if you have bored kids i can assure you...we were early in the season but on a 1m base which the locals said was fantastic anytime at least 60% of the mountain, read al the black runs, were like blocks of ice, and with large blocks of ice and rocks everywhere. You end up doing the same few groomed runs until you are bored to death whilst waiting for any powder. we had one day with 5cm powder and it opened up the rest of the mountain and was great. the lifts break down constantly, for periods of up to 90min and the queues of 20 min on the weekend in holidays are standard due to everyone using basically the one lift due to the ice thing i mentioned. if it snow, then great, if and its actually open in which case your lucky, then you should enjoy the experience. Its crap from snowboarding if you dont have some fresh powder. leave it to the locals and head south to queenstown where you can always go skiing and the runs dont bore you to death.
Words can not explain how great my time was spent at New Zealand's Mount Hutt. I arrived two weeks in to the season, and ended up spending 4 days on the slopes during the week. Although affected by weather conditons, the snow was exceptional with a base of around 80cm. Highway 72 was perhaps the most enjoyable run as it gave opportunity to beginners such as myself to get a feel for the sport. The Summit Six chairlift is an exceptional means of transport providing access to the summit in just five minutes. The ride itself up to the summit is great as there are great views of the Canterbury plains behind you. Methven is a very friendly town and we were met with a very warm welcome. I highly recommend other skiers and snowboarders alike to visit Mount Hutt as it exceeds expectations.
We arrived early in the season just 2 days after the lifts opened. We had magic weather, perfect snow and a fantastic welcome from staff. The crew in the service centre spent hrs adjusting equipment and sorting out my board and binding issues (many thanks)
We stayed at the blue pb in Methvan (budget basic but clean and great food) and hired a 4wd from chrischurch. We drove the mountain every day with chains and had no problems. We are not regular snow/mountain drivers.
The summit opened on our last day and we had a ball with the great runs and fast lifts.
Snowboarding instructors were amazing (thanks nicki) as were the ski shop staff.
Dont miss this wonderful place - only 90 min from christchurch or 30 min from Methvan.
(Australian uni students on a budget!)
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