Ruapehu reborn from the ashes

By COLIN MOORE

Mt Ruapehu has emerged from the ashes of its 1995 and 1996 eruptions and the lean snow years that followed as the largest snow sports area this side of the equator.

The statistics of the North Island's super alpine resort are monstrous and its potential is enormous. It has two ski areas covering 1000 ha, which have been gouged and groomed by volcanic activity, to excite skiers and snowboarders, three distinct villages to stay in and a wide range of off-mountain activities.

Just a few winters ago Mt Ruapehu was on its knees as a serious winter resort, its customers heading south to more reliable snow or north to the tropics for a warm winter holiday.

But the boost North Island skiing received from the 1980s development of the Turoa field and a series of bumper snow years has been repeated with the amalgamation of Turoa and Whakapapa. It makes the central North Island's volcanic plateau not just a place to visit for the occasional ski weekend, but a serious contender as a winter holiday destination.

For North Islanders the Mt Ruapehu region rivals Wanaka or Queenstown, with the added advantage that you can drive there in the family car and not have to hire a vehicle when you arrive.

The Whakapapa and Turoa fields are essentially the same, at least for this season. The main change is the cost of choice: for $54 a day - or less if you were canny enough to buy a season pass in April - you can ski and board at either field, or both on the same day if you want.

And it's not just the money - there is a mindset to it as well. The incentive to go to Mt Ruapehu just got twice as big, whether you take advantage of it or not.

That has not been lost on Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, which is at last an appropriate name for the company set up in 1953 to run the first chairlift at Whakapapa. The company has retained the individual names for the two resorts but has rebranded the operation as a single entity.

The brand and a new logo will be carried through to new staff uniforms common to both fields and a new livery on equipment. Lift passes for the fields are identical and interchangeable.

RAL's general manager, Dave Mazey, says the merger of Whakapapa and Turoa has had enormous support from the surrounding communities and business people.

"Our aim is to promote Mt Ruapehu as one mountain, two resorts," says Mazey. "We are emphasising that with the local community and our staff, and we are confident our customers will buy into it. Everything will be so much easier, even just checking out a single website."

Not everything will be in place in the first year. RAL can't groom a cat-track in the snow between the two fields without a change in the Tongariro National Park management plan, and any change is at least 12 months away. But it intends this season to run a guided service between the two fields, with shuttle buses between Whakapapa and Turoa twice a day.

The merger has not left time or money for much else, but Mazey says there have been minor improvements in the snowmaking systems at both fields and a large number of rental skis and snowboards have been replaced.

The Mt Ruapehu and Taupo District Councils have backed the super winter resort by underwriting a $175,000 campaign to market the Central Plateau destination in New Zealand and Australia. The campaign is funded by businesses from Ohakune to Taupo and includes a comprehensive website Ruapehu NZ

Mt Ruapehu