New Zealand's Mt. Cheeseman Closes Abruptly After Brutal Rainstorm

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The back half of New Zealand's ski season is proving to be a mixed bag.

While Cardrona recently announced plans to extend winter after ample late-season snowfall, Mt. Cheeseman ski area is closing down following a stretch of mild weather and rain. 

Those uncooperative conditions depleted Mt. Cheeseman's snowpack to the point that "we do not have a learners area, lift load area or lower T Bar line," the ski area wrote in a social media post.

"We realistically now need a substantial snowfall to bring things back to life and whilst there is some potential snow forecast perhaps later in the weekend / early next week there is too much uncertainty moving forward," the post continued.

Mt. Cheeseman added that despite a forecast that could bring snow, it needs to secure the wins it had in the past few weeks and not erode its finances.

The ski area thanked the visitors, staff, volunteers, contractors, and club members who supported Mt. Cheeseman throughout the season.

The ski area called this winter "another short one" but wrote that it was "so much more positive than last year and some great times and fun memories made."

Last winter proved challenging for Mt. Cheeseman. In late August 2025, the ski area announced that barring "some miracle" delivered by the snow gods, it was throwing in the towel . A few weeks later, though, a miracle did, indeed, arrive, and Mt. Cheeseman spun its lifts for a few days before summer set in.

In its recent announcement, though, Mt. Cheeseman didn't say that it would reopen this year if snow turned up.

Further south, at some of New Zealand's other ski hotspots, local skiers got better news. Cardrona pushed back its closing day until October 18, making for another month and a half of skiing, while The Press reported that NZ Ski, the operators of Coronet Peak, The Remarkables, and Mt. Hutt, may also consider extensions, with plans to review conditions towards the end of September.

Still, there have been some other weather-related bumps. Amid a recent storm that brought plenty of snow, Cardrona also dealt with "a varying freezing level left us with some… variable snow conditions to say the least," according to a social media post.

Treble Cone, meanwhile, dealt with a temporary closure as rain poured down on an already heavy snowpack.

Related: Indy Pass Unveils New Ski Areas for the 2026-27 Season

This story was originally published by Powder on Sep 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Powder as a Preferred Source by clicking here.