8 hours ago
Mount Ruapehu ski season officially opens this long weekend
Whakapapa ski field, Mt Ruapehu, 2023.
Photo:
Supplied/ Ruapehu Alpine Lifts
Thousands of skiers, snowboarders and sightseers will head up Mount Ruapehu this long weekend, with both skifields now officially open.
This will be Whakapapa's first season under
new operator Whakapapa Holdings
, and chief executive Travis Donoghue said 10,000 people were expected to take advantage of good weather and early snow.
"For us, June is a bonus... particularly with Matariki weekend. Folks tend to start thinking of a winter way, so really start to come out in large numbers from today onwards."
Meanwhile, Tūroa Ski Area was expecting more than 2000 visitors over the long weekend.
Tūroa is also now being run by a new company,
Pure Tūroa
, after Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, which oversaw both skifields, went into insolvency in 2022.
Both Whakapapapa Holdings and Pure Tūroa have been granted 10-year Department of Conservation (DOC) concession to run their respective skifields.
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