Big chill brings great skiing

Mount Ruapehu is expecting an influx of skiers this week as the latest storm cycle clears, leaving behind an additional metre of fresh snow.

After two big snow falls, yesterday and over the weekend, the upper mountain bases are sitting at a healthy 181cm (Turoa) and 212cm (Whakapapa).


Mount Ruapehu is set for some great skiing this week. Photos: Supplied.

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts chief executive Dave Mazey says more than 15cm of fresh snow fell in 24 hours since Tuesday at Turoa and 10cm at Whakapapa, this is on top of the metre which fell over the last four to five days.


Both Turoa and Whakapapa ski fields have had a good dumping of snow.

'It's great to see the mountain now fully covered with snow, especially with clear days forecast this weekend at Turoa and Whakapapa,” says Dave.

'Turoa opened with light south east winds and blue skies this morning. Most facilities including the freestyle terrain parks are now open.

'We hope to open the Nga Wai Heke just after midday, once de-icing and avalanche control work has been completed.

'At Whakapapa, Happy Valley and the Rangatira Express are open today, with the upper mountain on-hold due to strong winds and de-icing.”

Dave says the latest snowfall has provided a lot of snow to work with and will provide some superb skiing and riding for visitors to the mountain.

'The grooming fleet will be will working around the clock to get more trails and park features open over the coming days,” says Dave.

For real-time snow progress, live webcams at both Whakapapa and Turoa show up-to-the minute updates. For more information, visit www.mtruapehu.com.

1 comment

snow

Posted on 04-08-2016 13:18 | By dumbkof2

it would be interesting to know how many of these people are on benefits


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