Overall Rating

Mt Hutt

Mt Hutt3/514
Mt Hutt3 out of 5 based on 14 reviews
  • Recommend
    79%
  • Would Revisit
    64%

Mt Hutt - Reviews

Mt Hutt - Reviews

Ski

Tigger
30/08/2022
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Intermediate
  • Rider Age
    12-17
  • Admin Rating
    1

Ski

Tigger
30/08/2022
Is really good would recommend it.
See our video here

Reasonable skiing

Paul
23/02/2021
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    August
  • Admin Rating
    3

Reasonable skiing

Paul
23/02/2021
Mount Hutt has reasonable skiing.It is a good option for beginners or intermediates, albeit not the greatest. The ski area has superior facilities to other options within the Christchurch radius. Specifically, it has chairlifts; not rope-tows or t-bars.

The lifts are truly differential. Indeed, if you are looking for infrastructure then Canterbury's ski options are slim. Would I revisit Mount Hutt? No. I would recommend the Otago ski areas instead.
See our video here

Awesome... but watch the snow

14/07/2020

Oscar

Powder Puppy
Powder Puppy

Oscar

Powder Puppy
Powder Puppy
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    12-17
  • Month Visited:
    July
  • Admin Rating
    3

Awesome... but watch the snow

14/07/2020
For people who want a more family friendly resort with a good range of terrain and awesome views, Mt Hutt is almost perfect. However, this particular trip was plagued by icy weather and the typical nz 'melt 'n freeze' cycle. It was also pretty busy because of school holidays. Below the snowline, Methven has a nice laid back atmosphere.

In general, for more adventurous skiers, you'd probably do better to head to one of the Club Fields to the west.
See our video here

Good snow

Louis
22/02/2018
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    12-17
  • Month Visited:
    October

Good snow

Louis
22/02/2018
Very good amount of snow. Not a huge amount of runs for intemidiate riders. Got slightly bored after 4 days.
See our video here

Oversold

Crunky
02/10/2017
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    36-50
  • Month Visited:
    July
  • Admin Rating
    4

Oversold

Crunky
02/10/2017
$300 for a season pass sounds like a bargain doesn't it? Well the entire population of Christchurch would tend to agree and with no limit on season passes if it is the weekend and there is a hint of sunshine, prepare to queue. Actually if it is really nice prepare to be turned away if you rock up late because the hill is "Full". It seems Mt Hutt suffers from a lack of competition, especially in the high speed chair stakes, the 6 person Summit 6 is the only high speed chair within day trip of Christchurch and it probably handles 80% of the traffic on this mountain. It does make bumping into friends easy though. The only other lift of note is the Tower Triple, an embarrassingly slow chair. With all levels being dumped at the top by the highly efficient chair there are limited ways down for the beginner but the more advanced have more choices. Staff were excellent at maximising the limited infrastructure they had, you rarely saw a 6 person chair without 6 people on it. The South Face and Tower were standout areas for the advanced rider with some fun chutes. Ski Patrol was excellent and the hill tried hard to keep things gradually opening up so there was always something to look forward to. The social media team seems to hype things a little. We headed to the mountain a couple of days after a dump with post on how "The Virgin Mile Will Be Open Today, Fresh Powder!!!" The problem is the hill the day before had done nothing to stop people dropping straight off the chair onto the main run (Fascination) dropping 5 metres then cutting a hard left all the way across the Virgin Mile face then dropping a line. The end result isn't Virgin. When the Virgin Mile actually open the face below was a chopped up mess of hundreds of tracks poaching the lines. More like Madonnas "Like A Virgin"...
Unfortunately Porters Hill et al in the nearby Canterbury Highlands offers good terrain and snow, if you willing to work really, really hard for it. If you want to sit on a chair that doesn't go at a snails pace and you're a Powderhound you're probably best to keep driving to some of the resorts around Queenstown area.

If you're living in Christchurch it's OK (although I'd prefer Porters) otherwise keep driving.
See our video here

Great skiing, when it's open

Tom
25/09/2017
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Month Visited:
    August
  • Admin Rating
    4

Great skiing, when it's open

Tom
25/09/2017
We visited Mt Hutt for 2 days mid-week at the end of August 2017. They had been having an amazing snow season and the snowbase was over 3m! We purposely visited during the week to try and avoid the large hoards that descend from Christchurch on the weekends. However of the 5 days that we stayed in Methven for, Hutt was only open for 2.

The access road is a well maintained dirt road, suitable for any vehicle, and is very tame compared with some of the crazier club field access roads. Parking was very convenient in the top car park as it wasn’t too busy. Our group was a mix of advanced, intermediate and beginners and Hutt catered to us all really well. Myself and the advanced skiers lapped the 6 seater chair (which is delightfully fast!) whilst the beginners could lap the slower quad chair and we would all meet up at the base of both lifts. The grooming team do an amazing job and you can get some serious carving turns done under the wide blue runs that run under the 6 seater.

Because of the excellent snow base, the entire mountain was open and it was great fun to explore. Some aspects were quite icy first thing in the morning, but as the sun came out they softened nicely. One of the days we visited was perfect bluebird and the views across the fields to the ocean were amazing. The weather did come in pretty hard on our other day and it was a white out for a few hours, not fun at all! As there is only one base area it can get busy, even mid-week and there were always lines for food and drinks.

Overall a great mountain for a few days, that caters well to all ability levels. However don’t always expect it to be open, there were days when all the other club fields were open but Hutt was closed. Definitely hire your own wheels so you have maximum flexibility.
See our video here

Great for four days

Liz Wells
23/07/2017
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Intermediate
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Month Visited:
    June
  • Admin Rating
    3

Great for four days

Liz Wells
23/07/2017
At the top of Summit Six/Virgin Mile
Top of Summit Six/Upper Fascination
Had a great five days skiing in late June-early July with husband and two teenage kids. Four days would have been enough as not all runs were open. Quad is very slow and Summit Six is really fast. Fascination-Broadway is a beautiful long run. Views are amazing, and it's an unpretentious and relaxed place to ski. Car park is very close to the bottom of the lifts. Handy for gear changes/food. We hired a 4WD and needed to put chains on it on one day only.
See our video here

Mt Hutt

Ross mcGuire
03/03/2014
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Skier
  • Rider Level
    Expert
  • Rider Age
    51-70
  • Admin Rating
    4

Mt Hutt

Ross mcGuire
03/03/2014
Mt Hutt has a maritime climate so snow quality varies enormously.

Having said that for an NZ ski area it offers a very satisfying skiing/boarding experience. It gets more snow more often than other south island resorts, it is streets ahead of other Canterbury ski fields in terms of facilities, accessibility, snow quality and length of season.

The runs are not of extreme length but longish and the terrain can be mellow or palm sweating steep and exposed.

Mt Hutt is fun, an adventure for beginners thro' experts and has a lot more to offer than you can immediately see.

Methven the town that supports Mt Hutt is a quaint country town with enough hotels, lodges, bars, pubs and restaurants to keep a traveller happy for at least a few weeks.
Mt Hutt is also in a lovely part of the world with terrific scenery and wonderful light.

I have had many trips to Mt Hutt over the years and whilst you can be unlucky with the conditions it rarely disappoints.
See our video here

Great ski field

Andrew Hawthorne
20/06/2013
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Snowboarder
  • Rider Level
    Intermediate
  • Rider Age
    18-35

Great ski field

Andrew Hawthorne
20/06/2013
This a great mountain for skiing and snowboarding. So far this season there is over 2 meters of snow on the mountain.
See our video here

Overrated and crowded

Dom
09/10/2012
  • Recommend
  • Would Revisit
  • Rider Type
    Telemarker
  • Rider Level
    Advanced
  • Rider Age
    18-35
  • Admin Rating
    4

Overrated and crowded

Dom
09/10/2012
Avoid like the plague on weekends and school holidays. Like any other NZ Ski operation this place can be expensive and crowded and you are not likely to get any of the fresh stuff due to the crowds. That being said the terrain can be alright but the lift setup makes the place a bit confusing to navigate around.

Fairly short runs and the high probability of shut roads, shut lifts shut everything due to wind (with many tales of people being stranded by the side of the road or in the base building not being unheard of). Definitely not my favourite mountain and I think the proximity to Christchurch and the advertising have made this place the place it now is.

For my money and time I would suggest people either keep driving or do the smart thing and head into Arthur's Pass. Porter's is a smaller but much better option for beginners who do not want to be crowded and hassled by more advanced skiers. Plus it's a lot cheaper because value Mt Hutt is not.
See our video here
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