Mt. Cheeseman, NZ, Throws In The Towel on The 2025 Ski Season

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Aug 25, 2025 5:24 PM ET

While areas of the southern hemisphere have welcomed recent late season storms, some parts of New Zealand are hurting this ski season.

Following the news that Temple Basin ski area in the Southern Alps wouldn't open their rope tows this season (unless a mega storm allowed them to), another New Zealand ski area has announced that the 2025 ski season is a wash.

Mt. Cheeseman announced on August 24, 2025, that despite recent storms, they still didn't have enough snow to safely operate the mountain this winter. Even with a bit more snow in the forecast, Mt. Cheeseman chose to make the difficult call that without certainty, they cannot move forward with the 2025 season. "Due to limited snow, prudent financial management and staff certainty, we now need to preserve and look ahead to winter 2026 and also our 100th birthday in 2029," read the ski area's social media announcement.

The ski area currently has an upper mountain base of 40cm, a lower mountain base of 5cm and has not seen more snowfall since the 8cm that fell on August 19th.

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Mt. Cheeseman did note that if a miracle storm came through, they would asses any options to open in some capacity, but they're not sure quite what that would look like yet.

Despite the closure, Mt. Cheeseman's Snowline Lodge will remain open for group bookings now through the upcoming summer and is a prime spot for backcountry groups, group vacations, weddings, etc.

Mt. Cheeseman is actively working through next steps for member and season pass holders and those who have purchased Grab One deals, and pre-season lift ticket, and asks the public to bear with them as they figure things out with limited labour resources. The mountain promises to be in touch with their guests by early September with more information.

The ski area thanks the public for their patience and understanding and says they're 'truly gutted to have to make this decision.'

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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