Snowlines: Mountain gives up its ghosts

By COLIN MOORE

Ruapehu has felt the bite of skis ever since William Mead and Bernard Drake took a mail-order pair of wooden boards to the Whakapapa slopes in 1913. You'll find that history reflected on a mountain map and ski trail guide.

Drive up the Bruce Rd to the Whakapapa skifield and give thanks to a Rangitaiki sheepfarmer, R.C. Bruce, who had a keen interest in conservation. Bruce met part of the cost of the road, which was built by relief workers and prison labour during the 1930s Depression.

If it has been snowing overnight you might be asked to put on tyre chains down at Scoria Flat. These gentle and often snow-free slopes were the first general skiing area at Whakapapa and overlooking them was Salt Hut. The hut, built in 1931, was named after William Salt, a Wanganui bridging contractor and mountaineer who was president of Ruapehu Ski Club. The hut is no longer standing but Salt Hut Ridge to the west of the Rockgarden marks Salt's memory.

The Iwikau Village, the collection of buildings at the top of the Bruce Rd, is named after Iwikau Te Heuheu who succeeded his brother, Te Heuheu Tukino, the benefactor of Tongariro National Park, as paramount chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa. Iwikau died in 1863.

In the Happy Valley beginners' area you will find Mitchell's Slopes, named after Tom Mitchell, an Australian Olympic skier who competed in the New Zealand ski championships in 1932.

Olaf's Valley, to the east of the Rockgarden chairlift, is named after Olaf Pedersen, a guide at the chateau in the 1930s who was a daring ski jumper. His favourite jumping spot was at the top of the valley and is still called Olaf's Jump.

Hut Flat was the site of the Ruapehu Ski Club hut. The club's first hut was built in 1923. The club built a second hut at Hut Flat in 1936.

AA Ridge, west of the Waterfall Express chair, used to have an Automobile Association sign at its base that carried the warning: "Do not proceed without a guide".

The ridge is bisected by the steep chute of McKenzie's Mistake, which got its name after R.A. McKenzie, captain of the New Zealand team to the 1952 winter Olympics wiped out and nearly fell over the bluff.

The Cinder Track platter lift on the slopes below the Knoll Ridge cafe owes its name to early club members. The gentle slopes are on the main climbing route and are covered in fine, loose scoria.

Walter Haensli, a Swiss ski instructor who was a driving force in establishing Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, is remembered by Haensli Face, the steep slope above the waterfall T-bar.

Early ski racing left many names on the slopes. Murphy's Schuss, the slopes east of the West Ridge chair, are named after John Murphy, who won the 1937 club downhill championship.

Tennents Valley, which is west of the Rockgarden chair, is named after Steve Tennent, a New Zealand amateur downhill champion. And the Yankee Slalom, the steep slope at the head of Tennents, got its name from the 1937 slalom championship that was won by an American team.

In the 1932 downhill champs racers used to stop for a breather at a roped-off spot when heading back to Salt Hut. You'll now find the spot, west of the Yankee Slalom, named on topographical maps.

Finally, the ski patrol shack at the top of the Knoll Ridge T-bar is the Halliday Depot, named after David Halliday, a ski patroller who died nearby while on duty.

* colinmoore@xtra.co.nz