Settled weather gives great Ruapehu skiing

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 7, 15 July 1986, Page 20

Settled weather gives great Ruapehu skiing

Snow fell to low levels adding several inches of i Turoa slopes on Saturday. The freezing conditions caused the upper section of the Ohakune Mountain Road to ice up and the road wa closed to all uphill traffic at 1 1.30am on Saturday. Getting vehicles off the mountain proved to be a bit of a problem in the icy conditions after the lifts closed. Drivers edged c^utiously down the Mountain Road and assistance was provided by Lands and Survey and Turoa Skifield staff on the worst affected sections. The road remained closed to all except four-wheel drive vehicles with chains until 9.30am on Sunday, to allow several truck loads of grit to be spread on the road. This re'sulted in most of the ice breaking up by mid-afternoon. Despite the ice and the generally overcast weather conditions on the mountain over the weekend there was a good turnout of skiers on both Saturday and Sunday taking advantage of the excellent snow conditions on the skifield. The weather will be settled for most of this week as an intense and slowmoving anticyclone moves onto New Zealand. Days should be fine with light westerlies until Thursday, with frosty nghts. By Friday westerlies may be stronger with cloud build up and a few showers. Facilities expected to be operating will be the Park Lane and Giant Chairlifts, two Wintergarden Platters and the two Alpine Meadow Platters. The Jumbo T-bar started operating yesterday and it is hoped that the High Noon T-bar will be going by the end of this week. The field is skiable down to the carpark with good skiing on the trails.

blanketing Ohakune and :resh powder snow to the Whakapapa Whakapapa Skifield is sparking on nearly all cylinders this week with all facilities open except the Staircase T-bar, the National Downhill area, and Pinnacles platter number 2. On Sunday about 7500 people skied at Whakapapa in the best snow conditions at this time of the year for many seasons. According to Scottie Barrie, Skifield supervisor for Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, the opening day 4 July was the earliest since 1979. "We now have a good snow coverage over the entire mountain and all indications are for a good season," he said. A park spokesman said" that there were still job opportunities at Whakapapa such as at the carparks and in the cafeterias at Top o' the Bruce. They would however have to find their own accommodation and transport to Whakapapa Village. The spokesman said that a number of visitors were upset to find that no chains could be hired at the village. It was suggested that this might provide a good opening for a concessionaire. Anyone interested should apply to park headquarters.