Whakapapa, New Zealand, is Spinning West Ridge Quad For the First Time in 2 Years For the first time in two years, skiers and snowboarders at Whakapapa, New Zealand, can ride the West Ridge Quad chairlift, a milestone for a mountain that has endured bankruptcy, restructuring, and a future that not long ago seemed deeply uncertain. In October 2022 Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL) went into voluntary administration after two years of Covid-related disruptions and a […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | September 12, 2025 0 Comments
High Noon Express Opens This Weekend, Enabling Top-to-Bottom Skiing at Tūroa Ski Area, New Zealand After a slow start to the season, things at Tūroa Ski Area, New Zealand, are finally looking up. The resort was slated to open for skiing on June 28 this season in time for the school holidays, but was only able to open the beginner area at Alpine Meadow. After some decent snowfalls in mid-July, the resort was able to […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | July 22, 2025 0 Comments
Whakapapa Ski Field on Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand, to Reopen Under New Operator After Years of Uncertainty After years of uncertainty and financial instability, the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DoC) has granted a 10-year concession to Whakapapa Holdings Limited (WHL) to operate the Whakapapa ski field on Mt. Ruapehu. The decision marks a pivotal moment for New Zealand’s most prominent North Island ski destination, which has faced serious questions about its long-term viability following the collapse […] Industry News Kiwi Brains | April 30, 2025 0 Comments
Fiery Thrills: 9 Active Volcanoes Where You Can Ski & Snowboard For thrill-seekers and adventurous skiers, you can take your skiing and boarding to a whole new level by going down the slopes of an active volcano. While known for their destructive power, these fiery giants offer some of the most unique ski destinations on Earth. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) defines an active volcano as “a volcano or volcanic field […] Brains Julia Schneemann | February 12, 2025 0 Comments
Kids’ Season Passes Fuel Growth for Whakapapa, New Zealand Whakapapa at Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand is gearing up to welcome an influx of young snow-seekers and first-time skiers to its slopes, following the success of its season pass campaign aimed at children under 10. With thousands of free season passes issued to kids, and approximately 70% of these as new memberships, Whakapapa is signaling a return to growth. Whakapapa Chief Executive Travis Donoghue expressed his enthusiasm saying: “Our free season […] Industry News Kiwi Brains | June 11, 2024 0 Comments
Mt. Ruapehu Ski Area, NZ, Reports Deepest Current Snow Base in the World Ski season is still roughly 100 days away for the northern hemisphere but the southern hemisphere ski zones of South America, Australia, and New Zealand are still right in the thick of theirs. Patagonian ski areas in Argentina and Chile are reporting a below-average winter, with Australia seeing far below-average snowfall for most of its winter as well. But New […] Industry News Kiwi Brains | August 21, 2023 0 Comments
With a 100″ Base Mt Ruapehu Has the Most Snow in New Zealand, With More on the Way Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand is leading the national ski field snow base with 4″-10″ (10-25cm) of new snow blanketing the maunga this week, and more snow forecast. Tūroa’s upper mountain is boasting the highest snow base in the country with 100″ (255cm) and 45″ (115cm) on the lower slopes. Related: [PHOTOS] De-Icing At Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand, After the […] Industry News Kiwi Brains | August 11, 2023 0 Comments
Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand, Opening More Lifts and Terrain Earlier Than Expected Thanks to Snow Dump This week’s storm blast has been perfectly timed to top up New Zealand’s Mt Ruapehu’s snow base ahead of the weekend, with Tūroa ski field’s upper slopes pushing 80″ (2 meters). Related: Government Loan Secures Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand, Ski Season Amid Financial Challenges Tūroa’s highly anticipated High Noon Express lift is undergoing its final checks and is aiming to […] Industry News Kiwi Brains | July 28, 2023 0 Comments
Twin Ski Areas at Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand, Saved But Could Be Split Into 2 Separate Ski Resorts After the worst ski season in decades last year at Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand, the operator of the twin-resorts Tūroa and Whakapapa on the North Island was forced to file for voluntary bankruptcy in late 2022. The New Zealand Government declined to provide another lifeline to the operator, which could have kept the largest ski area in New Zealand going until […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | May 14, 2023 0 Comments
Powder Alliance Adds Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand, to Ski Pass Powder Alliance announced on August 22 that they will be adding Mt Ruapehu to the 22/23 season pass. This takes the number of resorts covered by Powder Alliance to 21 ski resorts worldwide as Mt Ruapehu has two separate resorts: Tūroa in the southwest and Whakapapa in the north. Powder Alliance’s season pass gives you access to 16 U.S., 2 […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | September 6, 2022 0 Comments
Worst Ski Season in Decades for Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand: Staff Made Redundant as Ski Field Closes Temporarily Mt. Ruapehu in New Zealand is experiencing one of the worst ski season in decades. Large areas of the dual ski resort are closed at the moment—a shocking situation in the middle of the southern hemisphere winter. The beginning of the season started promising, with large snowfalls in early June, however, precipitation has since decreased. The resort operated snow machines […] Industry News Julia Schneemann | August 24, 2022 0 Comments
Steam Plumes Visible as Volcanic Activity Increases at Mt. Ruapehu Ski Resort, NZ Six weeks of raised seismic activity at New Zealand’s Mt. Ruapehu resulted in the strongest tremor in twenty years yesterday, sending plumes of steam into the air. Despite the increased activity, the volcano remains under a Level Two Alert. There will likely be no eruption or a minor eruption confined to the lake basin within the next four weeks. Over the […] Industry News Aunika Skogen | May 4, 2022 0 Comments
Man Critically Injured After Skiing Off Cliff Outside Ski Area on Mt. Ruapehu, NZ A 40-year-old man was transported to the hospital in a critical condition over the weekend following an incident at the Mangaehuehu Glacier on Mt. Ruapehu in New Zealand. He and his group were skiing in an area outside the ski field boundary, where avalanche risk was significant and officials had gone to huge lengths to prevent skiers from entering. “Due to […] Avalanche Kiwi Brains | September 3, 2019 0 Comments
Skier Rescued after Vanishing from Resort in Mt Ruapehu, New Zealand July 17th, Mt. Ruapehu ski area, NZ— A woman was about to drop her last run of the day when she phoned to say that she was aiming to end up in Massey ski lodge before her battery died. By 5:50 PM, the skier had not been seen, and officials were notified about the missing person. Turoa ski patrol, Ruapehu alpine […] Spencer Miller | July 31, 2017 1 Comment
New Zealand Ski Resorts’ Storm Totals: Up to 26″ New Zealand storm snowfall totals: *** Mt. Hutt 67 cms/ 26″of new snow Mt. Ruahpehu 40 cms/ 16″ new snow “150km+ winds around the tops & blizzard conditions. There are massive, delicious wind drifts across the mountain which also means there are a few wind stripped spots that our groomers are working to cover.”-Turoa Update, courtesy Mt. Ruapehu Facebook […] Conditions Report LadyBrains | July 14, 2017 0 Comments
Spring Skiing is ON at the ONLY Ski Resort Still Open in the Southern Hemisphere | Mt Ruapehu, NZ Spring skiing is ON at Mt Ruapehu right now. Resort skiing and touring around the area are fantastic at the moment and conditions should be good for several more weeks. This is the only ski resort open in the southern hemisphere right now. Mt Ruapehu is actually New Zealand’s largest ski resort with more than 1000 hectares of in-bounds terrain […] Conditions Report Marian Krogh | October 20, 2016 0 Comments
New Zealand’s Largest Ski Resort – Mt. Ruapehu – To OPEN This Weekend After 12″ of New Snow: [iframe id=”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmtruapehu%2Fvideos%2F10157020305660417%2F&show_text=0&width=560″] “Winter has finally arrived! Whakapapa and Turoa ski areas look set to open for skiing and boarding on the upper slopes this weekend, following a 30cm snowfall over the past 48 hours, with more forecast. Machines are working around the clock to set up T-bars and groom trails on the upper mountain. Keep an eye on our snow […] Conditions Report Kiwi Brains | July 15, 2016 0 Comments
Mt. Ruapehu – Whakapapa, NZ Conditions Report: The weather forecast was promising a great day so I decided to check out Whakapapa and it was more than great. Due to snow being blown by the wind there were still some unridden off-piste runs by the side of West Ridge Chair and Far West T-Bar. Besides good powder you had to watch out for some ice patches with frozen chicken heads […] Conditions Report OJ | August 17, 2015 0 Comments
Ski Patroller & a Backcountry Skier Buried in Separate New Zealand Avalanches Last Week Two people on two different islands were partially buried by avalanches in New Zealand today (Wednesday), both at 11am. A senior ski patroller at Turoa ski resort, NZ was partially buried today when stepping onto a snow slope to dig a snow pit. A solo backcountry skier in the Godley Glacier/Lake Tekapo region of Mt. Cook National Park, […] Avalanche SnowBrains | July 15, 2015 0 Comments
VIDEO: “Avalanche From Hell” This avalanche is from way back when on Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand. This is a ridiculously enormous class 5 avalanche with the capacity to take out a village. There is a ski resort on this mountain just out of view to the looker’s left in this video. Ruapehu is a very sacred mountain to the Mauri people and one of the world’s most active volcanoes. It’s the largest active volcano in New Zealand at 9,177-feet above sea level. […] Avalanche SnowBrains | March 24, 2015 0 Comments
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