When it comes to putting bottoms on seats six-to-eight-seat chairlifts will be the way of the future at Mt Ruapehu's two skifields.
Moving skiers uphill quickly and making snow were the keys to handling increased customer numbers, said Ruapehu Alpine Lifts general manager Dave Mazey yesterday.
Speaking in Taupo at an eventto mark the 50th anniversary of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the company that began with a single-seat chairlift in 1953, he said that the Whakapapa and Turoa ski areas could cater for double the present numbers.
"It's just a matter of infrastructure and facilities," he said.
The company's plans included three more chairlifts at Whakapapa and four at Turoa.
"We expect that over the next five to 30 years all the upper mountain T-bars will disappear and be replaced by six-to-eight- seater chairlifts."
A chairlift's speed and how quickly it moved skiers up the mountain was determined by how rapidly it could be loaded.
Lifts such as the Waterfall Express chairlift at Whakapapa moved at 5m a second and slowed to 0.7m a second at the terminals.
One advantage of big chairlifts was that they were heavier and did not swing as much in the wind, which meant fewer days would be lost.
He said the big lifts could cost between $6 million and $8 million.
Although Mt Ruapehu had complex weather patterns - including serious problems with ice - the key to the future would be managing the snow, he said.
Most ski areas did not rely solely on natural snow cover any more.
Instead, they made snow, trucked snow in from other areas on the mountain and groomed it extensively.
Mr Mazey said the future for Ruapehu Alpine Lifts was "absolutely secure" despite some unprofitable years in the past decade.
