TUROA NEWS

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 42, 10 April 1984, Page 3

TUROA NEWS

Turoa Skifields General Manager, Mr A.D.R. Wright, is currently in Europe attending a course on Tourist and Sports Development Programmes for Mountain . Resorts. The course is run by a French Government agency called ACTIM which is an agency for technical, industrial and economic co-operation. The course is held once every two years and the number of participants is limited to 20 by selection. He will be studying French techniques used in the development and operation of mountain resorts, and will be viewing equipment exhibited at the International Mountain Development exhibition in Grenoble. Throughout the course Mr Wright will be visiting major alpine sites and skifields which have been developed and various mountain resorts with • istinctive features and the lost recent tourist facilities.

The experience and knowledge gained by Mr Wright while in Europe will be invaluable in keeping Turoa in tune with latest overseas developments and will add to the substantial pool of knowledge already accrued by a company which can easily lay claim to being one of New Zealand's foremost and most up-to-date skifields. The course runs from 3 April to 19 April this year. Mr Wright is one of two participants from New Zealand. ★ ★ Turoa Ski Academy Director, Mr John Ball, recently arrived back in Ohakune after a successful coaching term, in California with the New Zealand Race Development Team. He was enthused and encouraged by the calibre of the young racers and believes that the time spent in training in the United States will prove itself duringthe 1984 winter. Based at Squaw Valley

with the team of 6 New Zealanders for a seven week period, John was able to provide the young racers with over ,40 days of intensive, 'on-snow' training. They competed in the Rondele Race Series ( an elite ski race competition), with some degree of success. John will now be busy organising and promoting the Turoa Ski School and, with the addition of a Race Programme for 1984, will really provide a very comprehensive and excellent ski school programme for the coming season. * ★ ★ On a sadder note, Turoa lost one of its more highly respected past employees in a recent avalanche at Aspen Highlands in Colorado. Tom Snyder, a ski patrolman at Aspen Highlands was killed during avalanche control work along with two fellow patrollers. Tom worked at Turoa in 1978 and was a popular figure both on the ski patrol and amongst the whole mountain staff. An extremely competent patrolman who was highly regarded for his knowledge and experience of avalanche study and control, Tom's death surely highlights the unpredictable moods of the mountains.