Warning for Mt Ruapehu

Just as the Mt Ruapehu ski season finally gets under way, climbers are being warned about a risk of avalanches at its peak.

The Mountain Safety Council (MSC) announced all three peaks in the Tongariro National Park – Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro – were at a considerable risk of an avalanche on Tuesday July 19.

MSC spokesperson, Nick Kingstone, said the avalanche warning will be persistent throughout the ski season and that they are just raising awareness now.

At the moment, out of a rating of five on a danger scale, Tongariro is currently sitting at three which is classified as being at a considerable risk of avalanche and conditions are dangerous.

It was reported earlier in the week that wild weather had buried weak snow layers beneath the latest dump and avalanches could be triggered.

While the warning is in place and will most likely be for the remainder of the ski season Kingstone said the avalanche advisory was primarily for the back-country users and climbers venturing into those areas should know everything they need to know before going ahead.

‘‘Just making sure you understand the forecast, the equipment you have and the training is important,’’ he said.

Although these warnings are in place and although the ski fields can be affected by avalanches, they will remain open and Kingstone said the team at both ski fields are always monitoring the avalanche risk and will continue to do so throughout the season.

Mt Ruapehu’s opening day went seamlessly on both the Whakapapa and Turoa skifields, apart from eager snow bunnies causing bumper-to-bumper traffic on the roads leading up to the skifields on July 16.

The upper mountain opened on July 11 last year, and the delay on a decent snowfall this year had left season pass holders on standby.

In the early part of the week, Turoa skifield received 20cm of new snow and now has a snow base of 93cm. Whakapapa received 15cm of new snow and has a snow base of 117cm.

The weather forecast for the weekend shows rain with heavy falls, followed by showers. Snow lowering to 900 metres.