That’s snow business!
New Zealand’s mountain drama has been the backdrop to Dave Mazey’s 30-year career. Kelsey Wilkie reports.
The boss of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts farewells the volatile business of snow tourism after 30 years.
Dave Mazey’s time at Mt Ruapehu has been dramatic. There have been eruptions, an arson attack and water poisoning.
Mt Ruapehu is never boring and that’s part of why Mazey stayed in the job for 30 years. It’s stimulating, he says. He resigned in May but will stay in the job until a replacement is found.
Mazey, 65, got the job in 1986, back when it was called the general manager position. He was a passionate skier, having started at the age of five, so when the opportunity to help run the ski field came up, he jumped at it.
Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) is a different place now, compared to when he started.
‘‘At the beginning it was one of four firms that provided services at Whakapapa. And we just ran some lifts. In the first five years we bought the other businesses out.’’
Purchasing the Happy Valley and Turoa fields were challenging but not the only hurdle.
Over that period nature has delivered some amazing experiences with volcanic eruptions keeping it interesting.
In 1995 Mazey had left work early after his son had been injured while skiing.
He was half way to the hospital when he got a call from his other son on the slopes. Mazey was told that the mountain had blown. Then the phone went dead. That’s when he panicked.
He returned to the mountain instead of going to the hospital.
‘‘We went skiing when the mountain was erupting around us.’’
Another eruption a year later was far more complex and customers lost confidence.
But it was the 2013 diesel spill that proved to be one of the most challenging events.
Diesel spilled from a tank on Turoa skifield, entering a stormwater drain feeding the Makotuku River catchment and poisoning the water supply in the central North Island town of Raetihi.
The town’s drinking water supply was cut off for 21 days.
RAL was fined $300,000 after pleading guilty to charges brought by Horizons Regional Council and WorkSafe NZ.
‘‘That damaged our Mana as a company.
‘‘We contaminated this place and we took some days to realise that it had happened.
‘‘Did that tarnish our image? Absolutely. Should it have tarnished our image? Yes, it should.’’
The company’s relationship with iwi was hurt, but Mazey said it has slowly been rebuilt.
The number of winter visitors to Mt Ruapehu continues to trend downwards, according to RAL’s annual report.
But Mazey is expecting a boost in numbers after the company invested $7.5m on a new chairlift last year.
We went skiing when the mountain was erupting around us.