Whakapapa skiers snowed in – but loving it

Dozens of skiers were stuck on Mt Ruapehu after blizzard conditions on Saturday night brought a 20 centimetre-plus dumping of snow.

The dumping could see those who dropped in for a weekend ski stuck on the mountain for some days.

However, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts commercial executive manager Simon Dickson said it would be wrong to say those huddled inside the numerous ski club cabins high on the Whakapapa skifields were trapped on the mountain by the ‘‘fierce conditions’’.

Convoys of snow-grooming trucks were dispatched to the clubrooms on Sunday morning to get those who needed to get off the mountain back to their cars in the skifield’s main car park.

Twenty to 35 people had indicated they had to get away, however many had elected to stay up the mountain and hopefully take advantage of the fresh snowfall.

‘‘A lot of people have said they want to stay the night again tonight [Sunday], which is fine.

‘‘It is certainly a driving blizzard right now . . . with some really fierce conditions. The good news is that the winds are supposed to be easing this [Sunday] afternoon, although the next couple of days are still described as marginal, thanks to this unseasonably cold weather, which is coming through on the front of what is shaping up to be an El Nino summer weather pattern.’’