Avalanche to cut visitor numbers
Damage caused by a massive avalanche at the Tu¯roa skifield will deal a blow to Ruapehu’s snow business, but how much depends on the state of a ski-lift cable.
On Monday, Tu¯roa skifield staff had to scurry for cover as an avalanche swept over a ski-lift building, carried off a large snowgrooming machine and bending a large tower supporting the High Noon chair lift by 45 degrees.
Both Whakapapa and Tu¯roa skifields were closed through Monday, and High Noon remains closed. But the full extent of damage won’t be known until next week after a team of experts inspects the lift cable, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts chief executive Ross Copland said.
Tu¯roa is a month and a week into a four-month ski season closing on October 22.
There had been bumper snow and a higher number of school holiday visitors than usual. The lift’s closure and the impact from shuttles being taken off the road following a fatal bus crash near the skifield on July 29 would decrease numbers, but it was not clear how much, he said.
Ski shop salesman and former instructor Cris Hatton-carr said the lift provided access to about one-third of the higher and more challenging areas on Tu¯roa.
‘‘There are frustrations – that’s quite a considerable area taken out.’’
In the early 1990s, Hatton-carr was caught in a ‘‘small’’ avalanche on Whakapapa.
‘‘My stomach dropped for about the first 5 metres, and then all your training kicks in and you try to stay afloat as much as possible, kicking and stroking with your arms.’’
He thinks he was tumbled about 30m, and it was only luck that he was churned to the edge, where he was left buried to his chest, with a kneecap dislocated, before he managed to dig himself out ‘‘slowly and painfully’’.
Ruapehu mayor Don Cameron said businesses in the area were resilient. The district’s economy had diversified, and now had 430 kilometres of bike trails.
‘‘Our summer numbers now exceed our winter numbers,’’ Cameron said. ‘‘When people come down to go skiing, you often see bikes on the back of the car too.’’