You know it's been a good day on the mountain when you're at the airport, still in all your ski gear, running to make the check-in.

That's how it was after a glorious morning on Mt Hutt, which had seemed scarcely possible the day before. The wind was blowing at 150kmh and every skifield for miles around was shut.

Mt Hutt is the most commercial and user-friendly of the Canterbury fields, with good learner slopes and a six-person chairlift that successfully disperses the crowds that can gather at the bottom on a good day. The snow is good and the views can be spectacular. From the top of the chair, you can look out one way across the plains to the sea and on the other side to the Southern Alps.

The range of smaller fields varies from those with T-bars, rental facilities and cafes to those where you have to trek quite some distance from the car park to a rope tow or two.

Porters, formerly known as Porter Heights, is a lovely field at the more accessible end of the scale, and the closest to Christchurch. It has about half a dozen T-bars that offer some fantastic skiing, including the Big Mama slope, which claims to be the longest vertical run in the southern hemisphere.

Even with some fiercely gusting winds that brought an early end to the day, it was a field I'd love to go back to. The access road is good, there's a smart new cafe and, at the bottom of the road, there's a fully catered lodge.

If you can't decide between the smaller fields, try the Chill pass, which gives you access to 12 of them, from the family- friendly Mt Lyford in the Kaikouras to Ohau in the south, with its views of Mt Cook. The Chillout website gives full details of individual and family deals.

Accommodation for the Canterbury fields is centred mainly around Methven. But for those who want breathtaking views and a little apres-ski pampering, there's the Terrace Downs resort, only about an hour from Christchurch.

Source: PATRICK PIERCY - The Dominion Post