Still freshies to be had!

Wow, it seems like forever since we last had no fresh snow overnight. Not that we're complaining about all the snow; but we're actually quite relieved to have had none last night! It's allowed us to open the lifts right away this morning with no digging out and the patrollers are relieved that it's not Groundhog Day all over again so they will get to do something other than avalanche control today!

There's plenty of people up here making the most of it and plenty of powder off trail for them to enjoy. If you're not able to get up here over the next few days you'll still be able to enjoy the powder later on - you've just got to know where to go! Our Backcountry Guides, Mike and Hans, know all the secret powder stashes and know how to stay safe in the backcountry so a Ruapehu Backcountry Adventure is definitely the best way to make the most of the biggest base ever on Ruapehu.

Biggest Snow Base in History

It's official! Turoa now has the biggest snow base in the history of commercial skiing in New Zealand. The snow stake at 2000m above sea level officially measures 455cm's this morning. We are now wondering where it might all end up. Whakapapa is also entering record territory at 350cm's, which is the most since 1994.  Ok enough is enough, just blue skies now please.

Check out these snow graphs! Click on them to enlarge.

 

Digging, Digging, Digging

 

WOW there sure is a lot of snow up here!!  Finally this hefty snow storm seems to have eased and we are beginning to realize just how much digging out needs to be done.  The LBC at Whakapapa has about 2m of snow on its roof and behind the building the snow is level with the roof! 

At Turoa we have finally managed to get the Operations Crew up to the base area after massive snow drifts made the road impassable to anything other than Cats.  Our team have started the dig out of the decade with a large number of buildings completely buried, for example the High Flyer drive station (pics below) and return station.  Ski Patrol at Whakapapa and Turoa are working as fast as possible to reduce the avalanche danger so the crew can access the lifts and get them dug out and turning. 

Hopefully we’ll be back in business and riding powder before we know it!

SO MUCH SNOW IT’S OUT OF CONTROL!!

 

Well this is just getting silly!!  The heavy snow that has fallen on the Mt Ruapehu over the last 48 hours has caused all sorts of issues.  At Turoa all but essential staff members have been asked to stay at home today due to the gigantic snow drifts on the upper section of the Mountain Rd.  The dedicated crew that made it up first thing this morning required Cat transportation from Massey Flat to the base area.  At Whakapapa the Clubbies have been warned that the Avalanche Danger around the Ski Area is HIGH.  The forecast is for more snow over the next few days which means when the weather FINALLY clears next week our team is going to be totally “snowed under” with work!!  Our Patrollers will have the immense task of Avalanche Control whilst everyone else will be digging, digging, digging!!      

3m party time!!!

Woooohooo! It's officially time for a 3m party! Whakapapa is at 305cm and Turoa's highly likely to be over the 3m mark too. We've just had so much snow there that no one's been able to get to the snow stake yet!

It seriously dumped here last night. Check out this pic taken this morning from inside the customer services office at Whakapapa. The snow is halfway up the window!

Just for a change...

 

…. it’s snowing!!  Both ski areas have received a good dumping overnight and we are soooooo close to the big 3 metre mark it is unbelievable!!  The forecast is for more snow over the next week.  When the weather clears their will be freshies for all which is a great reason to brush up on you Avalanche Awareness skills.  The AMI Avalanche Awareness weekend is now going to be held on August 30^th at Whakapapa and 31^st at Turoa.     

The snow just keeps coming!

We've had another 10cm of fresh overnight and there's more snow predicted throughout this week. You won't want to miss the powder day when this weather clears so make sure you're signed up to Bluebird Alerts to get forewarning of the best day to head up!

3 metres this week?

Looks like another snowy week ahead after a great weekend. Today's conditions are near perfect with cold, crisp conditions and a dusting of fresh snow on top. The big question now is whether we'll hit 3 metres this week. Our pick is we will and then some!

YEEEEEEAAAAAH!!!

Today is the first bluebird Saturday we've had so far this season and it is a spectacular one!!

You just won't believe how much snow we have up here. The steps down to the Alpine Meadow have been buried and new trails have been created where they never existed before. We've had fresh snow overnight so there is pow to be found - just get up here now before it gets tracked out!

The Nitro Elan Jib Nats setup is looking amazing! The comp starts at 3pm with warm-up from 2pm. If you can't get up here for the pow today, get up this afternoon to check out NZ's top jibbers in action while listening to our live international DJ and hanging out on the Alpine Cafe deck.

BLUEBIRD – beep beep!!

Yahoo, yippee, woohoo, hurrah!!   We have bluebird conditions at both Turoa and Whakapapa!!  This is a day not to be missed.  The weather forecast is starting to improve for this weekend so fingers crossed the meteorologists have it right so all you skiers and riders can get up here and enjoy our 2.5m bases!