Whakapapa remains positive for a '96 season

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 643, 2 July 1996, Page 3

Whakapapa remains positive for a '96 season

Management and staff at Whakapapa remain optimistic that they will open for the 1996 ski season despite Ruapehu' s eruption. Since the eruption a clean up crew of 60 workers have been hosing down buildings and facilities and sweeping up ash deposited by the eruption. Excavators and groomers have been used to scrape ash off the snow and prepare loading and unloading areas. Ash-covered snow in Happy Valley has been pushed into gullies and the ash has been washed from surrounding areas to minimise future contamination. Once the clean up is complete Ruapehu Alpine Lifts management estimate they need 1-1.5 metres of snow to cover the contaminated snow sufficiently to open. "We will have to remain patient over the next couple of weeks as the snow pack builds. The worst thing we can do is mix the old snow with the new as this will compound our problem later in the season," said Scott Lee, marketing manager for Whakapapa. "In a normal snow year we would expect up to two metres of snow in July. We are still very optimistic this will happen and we will open this year," he added. Whakapapa management have targeted 19 July as opening for the Happy Valley beginners' facilities and 2 August for the

upper mountain. They were to open their Centennial and W aterfall Express Chairlifts for sightseeing on Saturday 29 June. A heart-warming side to the eruption has been the hundreds of faxes, cards and flo wers sent to the staff and management at Whakapapa, from skiers and industry friends. "It really helped to buoy us as the repercussions of the eruption hit home," said Scott Lee. "We are over the uncertainty now, we have a strategic plan and a time frame to work to. Everyone has a task to do and we're looking toward to opening."