Mt Ruapehu closed after blizzard traps 30 people

Dozens of people have been evacuated from Mt Ruapehu after getting trapped when blizzard conditions hit.

The mountain was closed yesterday and 30 people were stuck at lodges and huts, including the Whakapapa Lodge and the Massey University Alpine Club.

Staff from Ruapehu Alpine Lifts spent much of the day convoying people down the mountain.

‘‘It has been a bit of a delay because of the snow fall . . . we’re in the process of convoying people down,’’ a spokesperson said.

Marketing manager Anna Mclaren said conditions had made for a slow rescue.

‘‘It’s been blizzard conditions up there and a number of the clubbies from the lodges were caught up there and we’ve just been convoying them down throughout the day on the hour. The ops crew arrived at work this morning and realised that there had been heavy snow fall overnight and it was still coming in.’’

The Massey University group were up the Turoa side and others were at Whakapapa.

Bruce and Old Station roads are closed.

‘‘The Whakapapa base is now at over two metres and Turoa is nearly at 2 metres.

‘‘We expect once the storm cycle clears we’re going to have some epic skiing and boarding.’’

Massey University Alpine Club student Charlie Watson Jones said visibility was poor and the winds were ‘‘quite bad’’.