Turoa builds quad

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 534, 3 May 1994, Page 17 (Supplement)

Turoa builds quad

jm rlift should be in place. A fieavy-lift helicopter arrived at the skifield JfMonday 2 May and at the time th t Snow Bulletin went to print, was waiting forfuitable weather to fly the towers into place. |1 ' • * With the huge carrying capacity of the logging I helicopter, the towers were to be flown in comI pletely assembled, saving valuable time. PreviI ously, towers have been flown into place in secI tions. Turoa's new quad chairlift will mean 400 hecI tares of new patrolled and groomed runs, accordI ing to a press release issued last month. Turoa Ski Resort is installing the new quad I chairlift in time for the 1994 ski season, following I the granting of a Resource Management consent. I The Ruapehu District Council approved the conI sent mid-March . 'Preparatory earthworks' started I several weeks earlier. Starting on The Terrace to the east of The I Movenpick chair (the drive station is just west of I the Frozen Waterfall gully), the new lift will rise I 150m finishing near the top of The Giant chairlift. I Standing at the drive station area and looking I directly at the frozen waterfall, the lift line runs up ■ the mountain to the left. "It will increase our patrolled skiable terrain to I over 400 hectares," said Angus Grimwade, genB1 ; — .. : - —

jsaeral manaia- whole new area of slffirc^OTi^e&stern slopes of ffo&i&sort including The Triangle, Hafflfe^^w^anda newB&gkyiei/ intermediate run 'YeemflC" "" Previously the Trianglewas..not groomelTaftd.. out of the patrol area, so people w^ho^^ditjj^to contend with a wide variety of snow conditionSr***" plus be wary of being out of the patrol area. Access Turn to Page 2

I\iroa builds new quad

FROMPAGEONE to the Triangle and Hamilton' s Face will be from the new chair and from the High Noon T Bar, with the new lift providing better service for skiers coming off the bottom of those runs. Mountain manager Grant McMaster said a snow bridge would be built up by groomers across the Frozen

Waterfall gully, when snow conditions allowed, to provide easy access back from the Triangle. Until now, skiers using the Triangle were out of the patrolled area and had to 'bomb it' down the gully to gain enough height to ski out. The new lift will be the highest chairlift in Australa-

sia, finishing at an elevation of 2075m. "That's significant in terms of very poor snow years," said Mr Grimwade, "It means that in those lean years, when the lower slopes which tend to be beginner and intermediate terrain can become marginal, Turoa will still be able to offer a great variety of be-

ginner and intermediate skiing." Driven by a 150kw motor the Doppelmayr chairlift will cost over $2 million to install and will be able to carry 2209 skiers per hour. That will increase Turoa' s total lift capacity by more than 20 per cent to over 12,600 skiers per hour. "The higher lift capacity will help to reduce the length of lift queues in our peak times," said Mr Grimwade, "meaning less waiting and more skiing." Last year was a record year for Turoa with more than 168,000 skiers taking to the slopes. "Four good years in a

row has allowed the company to consolidate," said Mr Grimwade, "and we are now in a position to look towards a bright future. "The new lift is the first step and we have also invested in an extra three Kassbohrer snow-groom-ing machines, taking our total fleet to six." "The additional machines will provide more consistent snow-grooming giving skiers and snowboarders more of the longer, wider, smoother slopes that Turoa is renowned for." Turoa will open for the season in mid to late June, depending on snow conditions.