Say Cheese And Grab Dem Skis!

This winter, a small South Island ski field has been experiencing bumper snowfalls not seen in years.
Mt Cheeseman is a club ski field near the town of Springfield in Canterbury - but you don't have to be a member to ski there. It's open to the public, and is the closest club ski area to Christchurch - just 90mins (100km) drive.
It's two accommodation lodges, the Snowline Lodge and the Forest Lodge, were fully booked for the school holidays, and about 700 guests enjoyed pristine snow conditions last weekend.
The large flow of guests - some of whom usually frequent other Canterbury ski fields

Location, location, location...

such as Porters, Craigieburn and Mt Hutt - has not been seen since 2011. Marketing manager Ana Haase: "We haven't had much snow the last couple of seasons, but we don't really talk about those now. This year is great!"
Mt Cheeseman has been open for business since late June, and will stay open until the end of September if favourable conditions persist. The week before opening day, it had some fantastic snow...and it's just kept snowing.
Snow enthusiasts have also been enjoying sub-zero temperatures at the mountain's base, where an open-air ice rink recently hosted curlers from the West Coast and inter-ski field ice hockey comps.