29 June 2012
Mt Ruapehu All Set For School Holidays With Snow And Good Weather Forecast
Turoa and Whakapapa near 1m snow base;
Top to bottom snow coverage
Ngā Wai Heke chair lift blessing

Mt Ruapehu is looking forward to the upcoming school holidays with fresh new snow allowing more trails to open on both Turoa and Whakapapa Ski Areas this weekend.

More than 60cm of snow at both Turoa and Whakapapa have fallen in the last few days. Groomers are working around the clock preparing the upper mountain trails in time for the school holidays.

Mt Ruapehu General Manager, Dave Mazey says the beginner slopes on both sides of the mountain are loaded with snow, and it is expected that upper trails will open within the week.

“Both Happy Valley at Whakapapa and Turoa’s Alpine Meadow beginner areas are looking great for the holidays, and are the perfect place for families to come and either learn to board or ski, or just enjoy time in the snow,” says Mazey.

“We are still working hard preparing the upper trails, but on Whakapapa we expect the Rockgarden Chair, The Valley T-bar, and limited trails under the Waterfall Express Chair to be open for Saturday. The Waterfall T-bar will hopefully be open for Sunday.

“Over on Turoa it is likely the Giant Chair, Movenpick Chair, Parklane Chair and the Wintergarden Platter will open for Saturday. What’s really exciting is that the Highnoon Express Chair is expected to open for the first week of the school holidays, so by next week we should have top to bottom skiing.”

In addition, Turoa’s newest facility the Ngā Wai Heke chairlift will be blessed by the Ngati Rangi and Uenuku on Sunday. Following this blessing the lift will operate as soon as there is sufficient snow on the trails in this South East Basin terrain.

During the second week of the school holidays, Mt Ruapehu will again be holding its annual Mini-X Games on 10th and 11th July. Held at Whakapapa, the Mini-X Games is the largest freestyle ski and snowboard competition of its kind in New Zealand where kids, aged between 5-12 years (and of all abilities), show their stuff in a competition just for them.

Visit www.mtruapehu.com for more information

ENDS

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