Top To Bottom Skiing At Mt Ruapehu

For immediate release
21 July 2005

TOP TO BOTTOM SKIING AT MT RUAPEHU

-- Turoa snow base at 1.3m with more snow today and fine weather forecast --

Mt Ruapehu has had a positive start to the 2005 season with decent snowfalls for the busy school holiday period -- both Turoa and Whakapapa ski areas now have an upper mountain snow base of more than 1m.

Mike Smith, Mt Ruapehu Marketing Manager, says there's now top to bottom skiing on both sides of the mountain, with snow falling down to 800m today and fine conditions forecast over the next few days.

"Turoa currently has the biggest snow base out of all New Zealand skifields at 1.3m, and we're expecting more snow on the mountain today," says Mr Smith. "The Jumbo T Bar is scheduled to open during the weekend which means all Turoa's ski lifts will be operating and, on Whakapapa, we're opening the Knoll Ridge T Bar for the weekend, with more lift openings coming soon."

Mr Smith states that, as a result of the busy holiday period and quality snowfall, by the end of this week Mt Ruapehu will be operating at a level close to the bumper 2004 season.

"In the three weeks we were open before the school holidays, we'd already had more than 25,000 visits to the mountain and we were only closed for one day," says Mr Smith. "We're looking forward to the rest of the season, after enjoying a solid start."

The developments Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (operators of Mt Ruapehu) made on the mountain over the summer period are also paying off. Mr Smith says that Whakapapa has benefited greatly from the additional snowmaking facilities, and the additional 600 carpark spaces at Turoa have provided for excellent traffic flow over the busy school holiday period.

www.mtruapehu.com

ENDS

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