Sunday, June 21, 2009

pete's snow report - 16 June

After a short warm period at the end of last week the weather, as you will
no doubt be aware, has become quite cold again.

It snowed here this morning and it has been good and cold here for the
last three days making for great conditions for snowmaking.

Great conditions on the slopes, I'm told, by all levels of skiers and
boarders

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

2cm of new snow

Here is Pete's reportttttttttttt

The best conditions for years. Excellent coverage over the whole mountain (Rocky Gully Lift not yet open) and the snow quality second to none. Plenty of people around on open day and the weather was beautiful. Snowing this morning and the forecast looking better towards the end of the week.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Mt Ruapehu skifield gears up for opening

as reported by the NZ Herald

Snowmaking began at Mt Ruapehu last night as the mountain gears up for its earliest season opening.

Unusually large dumps of snow last month mean the beginners' area on the Turoa skifield - Alpine Meadow - can open to the public on Saturday, two weeks before the scheduled date.

"Last Saturday there were over 100 people here. Anyone would have thought we were open already. They bring their own toboggans, kids build snowmen. It's really cool to see."

The lifts and more advanced slopes at Turoa are expected to open on the original June 20 date, while Ruapehu's other skifield, Whakapapa, is expected to open on June 27.

About 24,500 season passes have been bought, compared with 18,000 last year. About 85 per cent of those were purchased domestically - mostly in the North Island - and about 12 per cent were bought out of Australia.

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