KEY POINTS:
Another 24 hours of snow falling on the southern slopes of Mt Ruapehu has seen Turoa's snow base reach a record 5m today.
In mid-August, the snow measuring stake at Turoa had to be extended from its previous maximum of 3.8m to allow continued measurement as the snow kept coming.
The skifield set a record for any ski area in New Zealand when its snow base reached 4.5m.
With the snow stake measuring 4.88m on Monday, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts announced that Turoa would extend its season until November 16.
The Whakapapa side of the mountain currently has a base of 3.77m, the deepest since 1995.
Mt Ruapehu marketing manager Mike Smith said the continuous snowfalls from mid-July to late August had created the record conditions.
Whakapapa plans to close as scheduled at Labour Weekend but will reopen for Christmas skiing from Boxing Day until early January 2009 if sufficient snow remains, Mr Smith said.
Fine weather is forecast for the weekend which will allow skiers to take advantage of spring skiing on the mountain.
- NZPA
