Three thousand people flocked to Coronet Peak skifield when it opened on Saturday, double the number expected.
The Queenstown ski area is the first in the country to open.
Coronet Peak has 55 centimetres of natural and artificial snow at the top and 25 centimetres at the base.
Mt Hutt, near Methven, and the Remarkables, also at Queenstown, will open on the next two weekends respectively.
The skifield operator NZ Ski says Australian travel agents and airlines have indicated that bookings are already up on last year.