Skifield welcomes 100,000th skier with champagne

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 23, 6 November 1984, Page 1

Skifield welcomes 100,000th skier with champagne

The champagne flowed freely on the weekend of 27/28 October as Turoa Skifields welcomed the 100,000th skier this season through the gate. When unsuspecting Julie Proctor of Kelburn,

Wellington, went to put her money across for her lift ticket at 9.10am on the Sunday, she received, in addition to a day's skiing'on the house', a complimentary crate of champagne and a season pass for 1985.

Ngaire Burrows, supervisor of the ticket office for five years, said that this was one of the busiest ski seasons so late in the year that she has experienced. continued on page 3

T uroa enjoys one of best late ski seasons

continued from page 1 In many respects, it makes up f?r the worst Labour' Weekend conditions she has seen on the mountain. "When it's like that, we all just sit around drinking cups of tea until the mountain is officially closed." Donna McGrath and Margaret Haitana have been ticket operators for three years while Jackie Allen is the 'new girl' in the team. They all work at the weekends throughout the season and take time off during the week. "Sometimes people can get very irate if they have to wait for too long, but generally they're all pretty good as they know we are doing the best we can," said Ngaire Burrows. Ihings really start happening at Turoa when Spring arrives. Skiers are packing picnic lunches and going exploring, sun-tan lotion is being liberally applied, and there's a continual stream of people climbing to the summit to take in views of the Crater lake, the skifield and Taupo in the distance. Spokesman for Turoa Skifields, Andy Chapman, said that the 1984 ski season will almost certainly equal

the record season Turoa had in 1982. He also pointed out that there is now a growing degree of professionalism in the area which enabled staff to cope with the influx of large numbers of skiers. He added that, had the season been able to start earlier, the town would have experienced an even greater boom in trading.

His only negative comment was that Ohakune has a desperate need for additional night-life facilities to cater for family groups, as well as adult skiers. Staff on the skifield itself are winding down after a busy season. Many are locals who will return to part time jobs in the summer while others from throughout New Zealand will also be

searching for seasonal occupations elsewhere. Some will be travelling to the northern hemisphere skiing locations in the US, Canada and Japan from which they came. All have their own experiences to look back on. The 1984 season had its fair share of those! Mary Anne Gill