Heavy snowfalls beckon skiers

By ANNE BESTON

Huge dumpings of snow on Mt Ruapehu have got ski staff working furiously to get fields ready for this weekend.

Ruapehu Alpine Lifts spokesman Mark Street said it was still unclear which facilities would be open because the snow was still falling last night.

"Who knows what we will end up with; it just keeps on coming," he said.



Mr Street said the largest snowfall in the shortest period of time in the past 15 years had fallen on the mountain over the past five days leading to hopes of a bumper season.



He said the company hoped that by tomorrow Turoa would be skiable "top to bottom."

More than 1.10m of snow has fallen on the mountain since last weekend. Whakapapa now has a snow base of 1.74m and Turoa 1.35m.

Whakapapa Village and the Grand Chateau were covered in a scenic blanket of white, he said.

The Ruapehu skifields have suffered since the mid-1990s because of low snow falls and volcanic eruptions on the mountain. It is hoped this season will make up for the bad ones of the past.