Bad winter, great spring?

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 454, 22 September 1992, Page 3 (Supplement)

Bad winter, great spring?

Despite the run of bad weather, spring skiing at Mt Ruapehu is looking to be excellent. While the lower slopes will slush up in the warmer weather, higher up usually stays firm, providing excellent skiing.

Warm weather and blue skies are attractive to some people, but not many, as the locals are well aware. Many don't bother to ski in winter, waiting for the spring when the y can ski without queues. "Sure, the snow might be better in mid-winter, but if you can ski eight runs in an hour compared to eight runs a day, I know what I prefer," said one keen local. Almost every winter the ski fields on Mt Ruapehu have closed through lack of customers, not lack of snow, and with the huge snow bases on the slopes now, it should be possible to ski until Christmas, both sides of the mountain. There was one year in the early 80s when Turoa stayed open until about 20 November. A lot of locals have asked why don't the ski fields open weekends from early November, seeing as the critical midweek days are usually almost people-less, but it seems the great spring skiing secret is just too much of a secret, and people in the cities think it's just too warm for their to be snow still up there.