Tiiroa man "here 'till the party's over"

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 599, 15 August 1995, Page 17 (Supplement)

Tiiroa man "here 'till the party's over"

One of Turoa's lifts maintenance crew mem bers, Jon King, celebrated 1 0 years' service at the start of the 1995 ski season, making him the longest continuous serving staff . member on the southern slopes of Ruapehu. He arrived from England in 1975 and worked a season at Whakapapa before heading to S.ydney to work for a railways construction gang. He met his partner, Janie, in Australia and the pair moved to Janie' s home town of Ohakune. Apart from a season working for the Department of Conservation on the mountain road crew, he has worked on Turoa ever since. As Turoa's advertising for staff says, mountain staff have to be able to withstand the harsh alpine environment, and Jon proved that. He tells of how he started work on the mountain during a long-lasting early winter storm. "We were clinging onto towers in a howling blizzard deicing every day for about two weeks and you could hardly see your hand in front of your face," he reminisces, "so it was a long time before I got to see what this side of the mountain looked like." He seems to relish the harsh mountain climate, his voice lifting in tone when he recounts stories of hazards and atrocious weather.

He says he likes the changes in season andlooks forward to each one for different reasons. "Summer is very quiet up on the mountain, in autumn you're gearing up for the coming season, in winter Turoa is a tourist resort and spring is a time to recover," A story to highlight what its like in summer involves another long-time Turoa worker who was working alone on the field one time. He was riding up the chairlift when for some reason it stopped. With no one to restart it, he had to get himself off the chair. Having no ropes, he decided to lower himself down using his overalls and other bits of clothing. Having done that he walked back down the mountain wearing not much at all (lucky it was summer), restarted the lift and retrieved his clothes. Jon says the other seasons are important to him. A lot of guy s burn out because they work back to back northern and southem winters and the transient lifestyle gets to them. He says staying put has allowed him to pace himself. It' s also allowed him to set up a home with Janie and their two children. A winter day's work for Jon starts at 6am when they head up the hill in the dark, and it' s typically a 1 0-hour day. Maintenance work includes the inevitable de-icing, usually whether the ski field is going to open or not. Ice half a metre thick on every part of a lift, including the cable, is typical. If the cables are not de-iced they can be badly damaged, even snapping, under weight. Jon has seen towers bent over with the weight of ice. De-icing is a simple job — all you do is climb the tower and whack the ice with a yeti stick (pick handle). The important bit is to dodge the ice as it falls past you. "It's fairly exciting," understates Jon. "It's all happening in 30 knots or more of wind in poor visibility . Y ou have to love the rough days to stay in the job." Many of the lifts' safety devices revolve around handling ice build up and avoiding the cable derailing from the batteries of wheels on the towers. "Doppelmayr use Ruapehu as a testing ground for their equipment because we have the worst icing problem in the world." "In Europe their idea of de-icing is getting a broom and brushing off the snow." Over the past 1 0 years he' s seen a lot of people come and go "but the mountain goes on the same". Jon says he'll stay on the maintenance crew as long as he can. Tll be here until the party's over."