‘Last chance saloon’ for Whakapapa Skifield
Fate of the ski fields hangs in the balance
Taupō mayor David Trewavas is urging those with an interest in Whakapapa Skifield to work together on a solution. Cabinet agreed this week to another $7 million in financial support for Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL), but Regional Development Minister Shane Jones insists it is the last bailout.
The government this week also pledged $3.05 million in equity and loan funding to enable the sale of the Tūroa skifield assets to Pure Tūroa Ltd (PTL), a company owned by property developer Cam Robertson and businessman Greg Hickman.
Without a buyer on the horizon for Whakapapa and with the government reluctant to keep forking out money to keep it running, the future of the skifield was now up in the air.
Complicating matters was the amount of debt that came with the Whakapapa side of the mountain, which included about $14 million in bonds issued to various parties to build the Sky Waka gondola.
The $25 million Sky Waka is New Zealand’s longest gondola and was built as an additional tourist attraction, ferrying sightseers to the Knoll Ridge Chalet, which is a three storey restaurant perched 2020m above sea level.
The Taupō District Council was one of those to invest in the Sky Waka, purchasing $1 million in bonds via the council-owned TEL Fund in 2019. Tūwharetoa Māori Trust Board was by far the largest investor, with $9.5 million in bonds and at least one other iwi organisation has also invested.
Given that the Tongariro National Park settlement process was underway with iwi in the area, and the estimated $100 million cost to the Government to dismantle the skifield infrastructure on both sides of the mountain, it still made sense for the Government to be involved in a solution, Trewavas said.
“The message is I encourage all parties to work together. We cannot do it without the Crown. They cannot operate the largest ski field in New Zealand without some sort of Crown investment and a lot of communities rely on it so thank you, once again, to the Government for helping out but this is the last chance saloon really.”
For the last 17 months the insolvent, not-for-profit operator RAL has been kept afloat with $20m of taxpayer money.
Jones said the latest move would provide more certainty for Tū roa, but said the Government could not indefinitely sustain the ski fields.
“That is why Cabinet is signalling a clear end-point. If no acceptable commercially led solution can be
found within the next year, there will be no additional government funding for RAL’s Whakapapa ski operations.”
Jones said the 2024 ski season would be able to go ahead on both sides of Mount Ruapehu, which contributes significantly to the central North Island economy.
“Snow tourism is a large employer in the region, supporting an estimated 880 fulltime-equivalent jobs and a regional visitor spend of about $100m each year,” he said.
The agreement for the Government
to provide PTL with $3.05m to buy Tūroa’s skifield assets relies on the company obtaining a concession from the Department of Conservation.
“The concession process for Tū roa skifield is under way. If the concession is granted, PTL will operate Tūroa skifield commercially,” Conservation Minister Tama Potaka said.
In February, receivers and liquidators for RAL faced an urgent application from a group of people owed money by the operator.
The skifields have been subject to insolvency processes since October 2022.
One of the largest creditors is Crown Regional Holdings, which was owed about $42m.
Ruapehu accommodation and skihire business owner Sam Clarkson told RNZ’s Morning Report this week the latest money was being put in the wrong direction.
Clarkson, who was also part of the Ruapehu Skifields Stakeholders Association, said Government ministers needed to sit down with people who actually knew how to run skifields.
“[RAL] don’t have people running the company who know how to run ski fields. When it got into trouble in came MBIE [the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment], who don’t know how to run ski fields, and have [got] in consultants, who don’t know how to run ski fields.”
Clarkson said the millions spent on bailouts could have been used to forgive the more the government debt.
He said they were willing to wipe the debt for other potential buyers and should do the same for the community ownership model the association put forward.