Cable now in place on new Mt Ruapehu gondola

The new cable for Mt Ruapehu's Sky Waka is now in place. Photo / Supplied

Another major milestone has been reached in the construction of Mt Ruapehu's Sky Waka Gondola.

The cable that the cabins sit on, has been spliced and is now in place. The splice is the process of weaving the ends of the cable together once the cable is at the right length.

"Splicing is a specialist job and the cable splicer who worked on the Sky Waka has completed an apprenticeship on smaller lifts across 20 years to be qualified to splice the cable on a lift of this size," Whakapapa general manager Jono Dean said in a statement.

The first gondola cabins were on the line at both the return and drive stations and the Leitner crew was completing the alignment of both stations.

With winter here the construction team was still working hard and trying to keep warm in the cold conditions and snow on site.

The second to last concrete pour was completed a couple of days ago, the next step was installing the building cladding, building the ski ramp and finishing electrical work.

The Sky Waka was scheduled to open at the end of the month. It will travel 1.8km through one of the North Island's most rugged and spectacular landscapes past waterfalls and snow-laden peaks.