Happy Valley on tour
To show off their new snow factory capability RAL (Ruapehu Alpine Lifts) from Whakapapa will dump a kids snow field on the lake front at Taupo for this weekend.
Happy Valley on tour is timed for the weekend before the ski season commences on June 3. For Turangi this is HUGE!
A new daily bus service from Taupo will stop at Turangi. This will make Turangi a full-service all weather winter skiing resort town for the rest of the winter – from 3 June.
Warning for West Islanders – in a few years it will be better than Queenstown.
RAL advise the Happy Valley on tour will provide an authentic (?) winter snow experience with a tobogganing area and a big snow dig (?) with prizes such as FREE Happy Valley passes for kids.
A major development of Whakapapa starts this year
Tourism Properties.com latest market report comments:
The ribbon has been cut on the first $20m of investment at Whakapapa Ski Area signalling the commencement of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts $100m reinvestment programme.
Prime Minister Bill English has officially opened the Ruapehu Alpine Lift’s new Snow Factory as well as Whakapapa’s Rangitira Express Quad chairlift.
The Snow Factory is New Zealand’s first all-weather snow making machine and will allow Happy Valley to open earlier than ever this season.
“Happy Valley at Whakapapa will be the first to open in Australasia for the 2017 winter season on Saturday June 3, and the last to close on Labour weekend,” Mt Ruapehu chief executive Ross Copland said. The extended season is now the longest in the Southern Hemisphere attracting economic development to the central North Island during what was previously the quietest time of the year.
The new Delta Quad chairlift on the upper mountain is a $3.2m project, which includes snowmaking on Turtle Run and welcomes beginner/intermediate skiers back to the upper mountain.
Happy Valley has three new surface lifts, two of these include see-through tunnels to keep skiers dry and sheltered while riding the lifts. The existing ‘Double Happy’ lift will remain as an ideal transition for those who wish to learn to ride a chairlift before moving higher up the mountain. Happy Valley also features a dedicated snow play zone with its own covered surface lift. This will be situated away from skiers & snowboarders as a designated zone purely for tobogganing, building snowmen, & playing in the snow.
Other big 2017 season highlights include the re-launch of night skiing on the slopes of Happy Valley and Whakapapa’s lower mountain until 9pm on Friday and Saturday nights. Live entertainment, pizza and drink specials along with fire pits for toasting marshmallows brings first class Apres Ski to Whakapapa.
Getting to the slopes is also easier than ever with a new bus service from Ohakune to Turoa and National Park to Whakapapa, this service is free to anyone who holds a life, season or day pass. A brand new bus service operating between Taupo and Whakapapa will start on June 3 connecting the resort town to the mountain. Fares for adults are $49 return with discounts for RAL day and season pass holders.
Happy Valley is set to open on June 3, followed by Whakapapa’s lower mountain on June 10 and Whakapapa and Turoa Ski Areas on July 1. Here’s to a bumper winter season!
Below is a repeat of TRM Daily Report for 11 April.
$100 million infrastructure upgrade on Mt Ruapehu.
RAL is to make Turangi the No. 1 ski destination in NZ.
This is serious. TRM will need to rebrand their “Welcome to Turangi” notice board to: “TROUT FISHING & SKI CAPITAL”???
RAL’s (Ruapehu Alpine Lifts) campaign is to attract more domestic and international skiers to Turangi and to the central North Island ski fields. RAL – operators of Whakapapa skifields – are to turn the Turangi region into New Zealand’s favourite ski area of choice.
RAL announced in December they were pushing ahead with a $100 million infrastructure upgrade on Mt Ruapehu.
We repeat: $100 million infrastructure upgrade on Mt Ruapehu.
Imagine that: $100 Million… Wow!
The local council (& SWMBO) announced they would also support the campaign to help a new shuttle service from Turangi to the mountain.
The proposal has been described as a “game changer” by everyone who knows about it – particularly for Turangi!!!
This is by far the biggest investment in the Turangi/Tongariro region since the town was built 50 years ago. Turangi will boom…
RAL chief executive Ross Copland provided more detail on plans to put Mt Ruapehu on the world stage as the country’s “ski region of choice”. He said Whakapapa ski field has significant points of difference to the ski offerings of the South Island and it was time they were capitalised on.
A shuttle bus service will leave for Whakapapa every 30 minutes, stopping in Turangi en route. So you can leave your car at TRM or in the Turangi carparks.
Turangi is already a world famous tourist destination for trout fishing the Tongariro River and also the closest destination to Whakapapa ski field. So it’s going to be a game changer – really exciting development for Turangi.
This would have to be the biggest $$$ investment in local tourism ever. We already know our district has a lot to offer and this has the potential to put Turangi on the world stage as a ski destination of choice. There would also be significant wider economic benefits for the district as the proposal includes a free shuttle service from Whakapapa Village.
The ‘added value’ component to Turangi will be massive and sustainable.
On the mountain, the company is bringing in world-first technology that will allow snow to be made in temperatures up to 25 degrees. Construction of $45 million worth of new base area facilities and a new gondola and night-skiing will be relaunched at Whakapapa after a long hiatus.
Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (& TRM) are planning on gaining a strong foot hold in the Australian tourism market and was working with Tourism New Zealand and Destination Great Lake Taupō to ensure the upcoming ski season – and many more to come – brought in crowds who were offered an experience to remember.
Damian Coutts, general manager of Destination Great Lake Taupō, said the number of skiers staying in Taupō and Turangi was relatively small. However, that could change with the region targeting West Islanders. “The key reason we are pushing for Australian is because they stay on average 7-9 days but only three of those days are spent skiing,” Coutts said.
Taupō and Turangi have so much to offer. Coutts said the challenge previously was not having a transport system to the ski fields.
The opening of the 2017 ski season is planned for June 3, a month earlier than usual as a result of the snow-making investment. TRM inmates can’t wait….
Development plans include 8 seat gondolas, at a cost of up to $37 million (WOW!!!) that will run in all weather conditions from the base of Whakapapa to Delta Corner on the upper field. It is part of a strategy to increase visitor numbers over summer and autumn (the ‘shoulder’ season). The gondola may be open in time for the 2018 ski season.
Whakapapa’s Department of Conservation operating licence was renewed in December, allowing the company to press ahead with developments. A new quad chairlift that will replace Whakapapa’s Waterfall T-bar is to be installed this summer. These new lift projects will be supported with investment in greatly increased snowmaking capacity and new chalet buildings on the upper slopes. A new express quad chairlift opened on Whakapapa’s lower field this winter. The entire kids “Happy Valley” playground will increase in size substantially and will be under cover with a ‘magic carpet’ to provide family fun regardless of weather conditions right through into Summer. WONT IT BE GREAT! I wonder if SWMBO will have to build more units? Full marks to RAL!
