First week of school holidays brings people back to Mt Ruapehu slopes thanks to early season snow

People have returned to Mt Ruapehu's ski fields after years of financial struggles left the operator in liquidation.

The first week of the school holidays saw the return of both snow and people to the slopes of Mt Ruapehu, with the mountain’s embattled ski fields getting a strong response from the public.

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL), the operator of Tūroa and Whakapa ski fields, went into liquidation in June this year, with its debt ballooning from $45 million last year to $81.6m, as a report revealed in June.

Despite this, the company will operate the fields for this year’s ski season after receiving a $5m loan from the Government.

RAL chief executive officer Jono Dean said while it was difficult to say what the rest of the season would entail, he was pleased with the snowfall early in the season.

“We’re certainly happy and encouraged by the snow on the ground, so, all in all, pretty good,” he said.

The shift to an El Nino climate driver had definitely helped the ski fields, with conditions in a steady cycle between southeast and southwest winds and temperatures steadily trending down, ideal for producing snow on both fields.

The response from the public over the first week of the school holidays had also made for a good start to the season, Dean said.

“There’s lots and lots of people in the region, around Ohakune and the townships around the mountain, so that’s really promising for us; even if they can’t get up for a snow experience, still being around and utilising the community facilities is great too.”

While the lower areas of both ski fields were open for business, most of the upper-mountain facilities were yet to open.

However, Dean said this was normal for this early in the season, with the jagged volcanic terrain of Ruapehu taking some time to fill with enough snow to make it safe for people.

“We do tend to progressively open terrain and facilities through the month of July in a typical season, so this is no different,” he said.

RAL was hoping to have a few more facilities on Tūroa opened by the weekend, while the upper mountain on the Whakapapa side was likely to start to open up the week after.

For the second week of the school holidays, he expected the area to remain busy as many accommodation providers in Ruapehu and nearby areas, such as Taupō, were full.

“We’re anticipating that we’ll see some good demand again in this second week of the school holidays like we experienced in the first.”

While it was difficult to predict how the rest of the season would turn out, the early indications of snowfall had been promising and it was anticipated the season could last for around 120 days.

Season passes went on sale on July 3 and, while Dean did not disclose how many had been sold, he said the company was pleased with sales.

As of 5pm on Monday, July 10, there was only a week left for people to purchase a season pass, and he implored people to not leave it too late to get one.

People can purchase a season pass via Mt Ruapehu’s website.

Life passes would remain active and usable for the 2023 season.

Currently, there are three parties interested in taking over ski field operations - Te Araki Tā Tumu Te Heuheu on behalf of Tūwharetoa, Whakapapa Holdings and Pure Tūroa.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.