Mt Hutt Ski Area, Canterbury, New Zealand

The customer

Mt Hutt Ski Area is nestled high inside the Eastern rim of the Southern Alps in New Zealand's South Island, and receives some of the deepest, lightest, driest powder in Australasia. It boasts the longest season in the Southern Hemisphere, and skiers and snowboarders come from around the world to master its slopes.

The challenge

Each winter, Mt Hutt attracts hoards of skiers and snowboarders to its slopes. Ski area staff are run off their feet from dawn until dusk, ensuring the smooth running of ski area operations and the safety of those using the slopes.

Reliable communications on the mountain is vital to Mt Hutt Ski Area - staff at all levels need to communicate clearly and frequently, from lift operators to maintenance personnel to ski patrol staff. Not only that, the equipment staff use must be able to withstand the harshest of temperatures and weather conditions

The solution

When it comes to keeping in touch on the mountain and communicating back to the Methven base, Mt Hutt Ski Area staff use Tait portable radios and Tait mobile radios fitted to ski area vehicles.

The radios operate on 16 different channels for voice communications. Ski area staff from various departments communicate frequently to keep informed about road conditions, snow conditions, weather reports, maintenance issues and safety issues - and relay this information to ski area users to maximise their experience.

Staff need radios with a long battery life to get them through a full day on the mountain - and Tait portables deliver. The radios feature an economy mode to reduce power consumption, and are built rugged to withstand the harsh conditions of everyday life on the mountain.

The Tait portables have been specially customised for ski area staff - rather than a standard six-inch aerial, the radios were built with a three-inch aerial so staff could carry the radios comfortably in a chest harness.