January’s winter wonderland
Packing snowballs is an odd activity in the middle of summer. But with 10 centimetres of snow falling on Mt Ruapehu last week, tourists are making the most of it.
Ruapehu Alpine Lifts chief executive Steve McGill said the summer snowfall was a surprise to all the skifield staff.
‘‘It’s like the beginning of winter – but it’s beautiful up here with the snow and blue sky,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s a bit different to all you people out there lying on the beach. Here I am standing in the snow, freezing, so yeah.’’
The Whakapapa skifield lift was operating for visitors throughout the summer, he said.
‘‘On average, we’re doing around 350 people a day, if you average it out over a week.
‘‘Some days we’re getting 700 people up here,’’ McGill said.
’’If you’re a visitor to the area, get in the chairlift and come up to the Knoll Ridge Cafe to enjoy the views and have a meal up here. Or you can book in a guided walk to the Crater Lake,’’
However, the 2016 summer hadn’t been great and wet weather had caused RAL to close on half the days available, he said.
Tourism operators running tours at the Tongariro Alpine Crossing have been feeling the effect of bad weather too.
Jared Thomas from Tongariro Expeditions said Friday was the first operational day that Crossing-guides had had in a while.
‘‘This whole summer’s been a non-event for us,’’ he said.
‘‘As an operator, we have noticed a massive drop-off in numbers.
‘‘Even on the days you are going, travellers are changing their plans to something that’s more reliable and less dependent on weather,’’ he said.
Thomas estimated a 30 per cent drop in business for tourism operators because of bad weather so far.
‘‘You’ve got the accommodation, the shuttle companies, and you’ve got all the other support services that go along with those.
‘‘But you can’t do anything about it. That’s the weather and that’s that.’’
A silver-lining of a quieter season could be that trampers have less impact on 19.4 kilometre Alpine Crossing trail, he said.