Mt Ruapehu opens next week: New booking system to be announced

The Sky Waka gondola drew capacity crowds to Whakapapa in 2019. Photo / Rachel Canning

The stress of not getting a carpark at Whakapapa may be a thing of the past.

The scarcest of commodities is a carpark at the Top Of The Bruce public carpark. Taupō skiers are used to getting up at 5am and others coming from further afield are getting up earlier. Everyone is driving icy central plateau roads in the dark.

But it's going to be a very different season this winter at Whakapapa and Turoa skifields.

Due to Covid-19, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) were unable to carry out essential pre-season work on the skifield facilities. The flow-on effect is fewer ski lifts operating this season and a decision to reduce visitor numbers.

This week RAL revealed ski field numbers will be 4500 a day at Whakapapa and 3700 a day at Turoa. In a normal season both skifields would have a capacity of 5500 per day.

"Due to challenges associated with Covid-19 we've had to make some hard decisions this year to limit our lift facilities," said RAL chief executive officer Jono Dean.

The net result is fewer skiers allowed on the mountain and even greater pressure from the skiing and snowboarding public. Many have bought season passes up to 10 months in advance of the 2020 ski season.

Carparking restrictions are increasing this year, with the Department of Conservation announcing last week that they will be limiting the time vehicles can park at Whakapapa Village to between 15 minutes and a maximum of three hours.

RAL is developing a system to somehow manage expectations around carparking and are hoping to make an announcement next week when the season opens on July 1.

"As in previous seasons, once carparks at Whakapapa Ski Area are full, the Bruce Rd will be closed to private vehicles," said Dean.

Expecting to run at a loss this season, Dean has said Whakapapa and Turoa snow fields will be open because the RAL constitution reflects the need to be of benefit to the community.