Mt Hutt Ski Area - Methven

Management should change this from a ski field to a comedy club because the jokes here are endless.. If there is enough snow, conditions are fine (for NZ). Staff were pretty friendly and the coffee was amazing. The amenities and organisation at Mt Hutt, however, are in dire need of some optimisation. Transport is the biggest problem with this field. Mt Hutt offers no transportation option from the base of the road up to the mountain. If you want to take a bus, its $30 a day per person via a private company and only runs twice. If you have your own car you can drive up.. in theory. If they are requiring you to have chains (even on 4wd vehicles) they will stop you on the road. If you don't have your own you will need to rent chains from Alpine Sports at the Information Booth on the mountain road for $50 PER DAY. The upper carpark is incredibly small and if it fills up you will be diverted to one of two overflow parks further along the road... and then have to be shuttled to the field. Don't expect much when you do get there. There's one restaurant and one cafe (complete with the usual eye watering prices and sub-par food) one changing room, and only three chairlifts (one of which wasn't operating). Runs are narrow and crowded with too many experience levels on too few runs. How this gets voted NZ's best resort is beyond me. TLDR: At $1,400 for a season pass, management could at least give you a ride up the mountain before f ing you this hard.

Very frustrating experience. All cars forced to use chains from bottom carpark including 4WD. The chain hire doesn’t have a lot of stock so a lot of people got stuck here there’s also no shuttle to get up to the mountain No half day passes so with all the faff around you’re still forced to pay $159 for the full day pass. Mt Hutt has a lot of potential but very flawed service offering.

Lots of people on a public holiday. Beginners area good

I've been to Mt Hutt a number of times, and I always have the same feeling of awe, excitement, and astonishment looking at the beauty of the snow-capped mountains around me. It is heavenly and surreal.

Went up on the first weekend Mt Hutt was open. Not too busy but I recommend getting there earlier. Please if you have a 2 wheel drive car, put chains on! There is ice on the upper section of the road and it's incredibly dangerous if you start sliding Visited on: Weekend Wait time No wait Reservation recommended Yes