Ruapehu skifields smothered!

Ruapehu Bulletin, 31 August 1990, Page 7

Ruapehu skifields smothered!

"It's as good as the good old days" is what many long-time Whakapapa skiers are saying about the snow cover on the field after the latest dump put Whakapapa's snow base depth at 228 centimetres.

Whakapapa marketing manager Scott Lee said the depth was the most since the snow stake was shifted in 1982. For comparison to pre-

vious years he has the comments like the above from people who have skied Whakapapa for decades. He said this time of the season in

1983 there was just 25cm of base and last year, just 94 cm. "There are a lot of very, very happy skiers around." All lifts at Whakapapa are operating, including the Staircase T Bar, said Mr Lee. He said the Staircase doesn't usually operate because of lack of snow and its age, but they are running it this year for the race teams to relieve possible queue privileges problem on other lifts. Despite 5000 skiers visiting the field on mid-week days queues are not great because all lifts are operating. Mr Lee said the first week of the holidays were disappointing with bad weather but at the same time it was those storms that brought the good snow. During the holidays Whakapapa has had entertainment for children (big and little) from magicians, clowns, musicians, Cookie Bear, jugglers and competi-

tions such as snow castle building and treasure hunts. Meanwhile on the other side of the mountain Turoa is also enjoying great skiing with the best cover since the early days. The Wintergarden area is smooth right across with none of the stream gullies that have been so familiar in recent years. All lifts were finally operating this week, spreading skiers out and causing few large queues on most days. Last Saturday's 40-50 centimetre snow dump caused problems for Turoa and they stayed shut on Sunday, though Whakapapa enjoyed a similar fall but managed to prepare the field in time for skiers. "Skifield staff worked through the night to clear roads and compact the snow on the upper slopes with snow falling constantly," said marketing manager Nancy Van der Laan "They were struggling to keep ahead of the drifting especially on

the mountain road that was closed today (Sunday)." The massive amount of snow caused problems on Monday also, with members of the public denied access to the High Noon T Bar slopes because of delays in ski patrol avalanche control work. The public were finally allowed onto the lift about an hour before the field closed. The rest of the week has seen great skiing all day on trail with avalanche hazards off trail keeping most skiers on the groomed runs. Most off trail skiing has been heavy and crusty but some have enjoyed supreme skiing in pockets on powder off trail. Turoa's younger visitors have been enjoying the holiday "Skiwee" programme, with visits by the Yeti, games, competitions and snow castle building. The programme also lets parents off the hook to enjoy a few runs on their own.

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These winter holiday visitors were quick to cheer for the camera when the subject of snow cover came up! Behind them is the Turoa Wintergarden with an abundance of the white fun stuff.