Weather
While snow in the Northern Hemisphere right now is a welcome sight after a dry December and January, snowfall in the Southern Hemisphere on March 2 is a rather unusual occurrence — it is still summer, after all. Nevertheless, Tūroa Ski Area on New Zealand’s North Island shared some snowy videos this morning after a cold front brought a couple of inches of the fluffy white stuff in the middle of summer.
Tūroa is located on Mt. Ruapehu, about 4.5 hours from both Auckland and Wellington. The mountain is home to two ski areas, Tūroa and Whakapapa, which were both previously operated by Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL). RAL filed for bankruptcy in June 2023, and the two resorts were split and sold separately to new owners. Operations at Tūroa were taken over by Pure Tūroa Limited in 2024.
Tūroa boasts the longest vertical descent in New Zealand at 722 meters (2,369 feet) and the country’s highest lift-accessed point at 2,322 meters (7,618 feet), reached via the High Noon Express Chair.
