Mt Ruapehu ski fields gear up for the new season

By CATHRIN SCHAER




There are no new luxury cafes towering over the hillside. Nor are there any fancy new high-speed lifts or helicopter landing pads. Indeed, the changes made on Mt Ruapehu in preparation for this winter may not be visible to the average eye. But they will certainly make a difference to the average skier.

In terms of the skifield's budgets, most major has been the installation of new snow-making guns on the Turoa skifield. The snow-making system has been extended up to the Wintergarden area which "will provide top to bottom skiing from season's beginning to end", says marketing manager Mike Smith optimistically.

It will also mean, better use can be made of the terrain underneath the Park Lane chairlift favoured by beginners and intermediates.

"It's a great area for skiers and riders of that kind of ability but until this season there have not been that many trails for them to use." The new snow-making equipment should change all that.

Another bonus for beginners will be the learners' terrain park. "We trialled a beginners' terrain park in the Rockgarden at Whakapapa last season and it was really popular," Smith says. "So we're putting in a full-time one this year."

These facilities are for those skiers and boarders who have always wanted to try those kinky skateboarder-style tricks, such as jumping, spinning or sliding along a rail, but who have been slightly intimidated by the death-defying size of the jumps and obstacles in the terrain park on the upper slopes.

This smaller park should provide an excellent place to learn a few tricks before graduating.

Along similar lines, work is being done on the half pipes at both Turoa and Whakapapa.

This year, riders will find a half pipe where the old Hutt Flat towrope used to be on the Whakapapa side. The pipe at Turoa will be moved so that park management no longer has to dig it out anew every time the snow falls.

But that's just what's happening on the volcano during the day. This year skifield management has come up with yet another cunning way to extend their business: night skiing.

Nocturnal snowsports will take place on selected weekends and during holidays, Smith explains.

The whole field will close at 4pm then reopen for night skiing at 6pm. Until around 9pm, skiers and boarders of all abilities will be able to make their way around the Rockgarden area at Whakapapa under artificial lighting.

As anyone who has ever tried night skiing before knows - for example, in Queenstown - it's a completely novel and fun experience.

Because of the changes in lighting, you feel like you're rushing around faster than you are. Happily, once you tire of that, refreshments will also be served on the mountain.

You will find there's nothing quite like a gluhwein on a chilly, star-spangled winter evening while up on the mountainside.

Meanwhile, down the hill it seems that, after a few flat years due to bad snow, weather and the volcano's startling propensity to erupt, the township of Ohakune is booming once again.

A new cafe called Mountain Rocks provides yet another coffee option in a place where the eateries are always crowded.

And a new fashion clothing store is opening, demonstrating the increasingly cosmopolitan nature of the North Island's version of Queenstown.

Also worth noting in Ohakune is the Rocky Mountain Chalet development. With more than 40 standalone alpine-style chalets next to the main township, this new development will apparently offer the biggest number of beds in the district - good to hear if you've ever been one of those skiers who organises an impromptu jaunt to the mountain only to find you have to sleep in the car.

The chalets will operate along similar lines to developments elsewhere in the world - they are privately owned but will be managed so that when the owners are not present, the beds are available to renters.

In light of all of the above, perhaps it's no surprise then that Smith thinks it will be a good season.

He is not worried about the infamous lahar due to creep out of the crater lake some time soon - geologists say it won't come anywhere near the skifield.

So now he, and the field's several hundred staff, are just hoping the weather colludes with the mountain this year. "Well, we're observing autumn temperatures that seem to be considerably cooler," Smith enthuses. "This is my sixth season and I haven't seen it this cold this early. Everyone I've talked to thinks we're four to six weeks ahead in cold weather."

All of which bodes well for the end-of-June opening dates. Turoa opens June 18 and Whakapapa opens June 25.

Information about the fields is on www.mtruapehu.com

The basic ski lift pass for an adult this season will cost $68 a day, $41 for a half day and $275 for five days for both fields.

* Next Tuesday Travel will look at what the South Island ski fields have done to prepare for the new season.