Ruapehu Rumblings – September 2014

The snow season keeps going strong! It’s definitely ski-in-your-t-shirt spring conditions when it’s sunny, but a great set of storms blew in last week and we’ve just had another foot or three of powder to top off a pretty good base. It’s looking like great conditions right til Labour weekend now.

21 September - what spring corn looks like in 2014
21 September – what spring corn looks like in 2014. Credit RAL

September School Holidays

The lodge is open and occupied right through the school holidays and there’s still a bit of room – but the last places will probably go fairly quickly now the snow’s been topped off. Jump onto https://wtmc.org.nz/lodgebookings to get your kids out of the house and onto the slopes, or use it as a base to break your journey or explore Tongariro.

Vans in October

The next vans will be heading up on 11-12 October and 18-19 October. Look for announcements on http://Meetup.com/WellingtonTrampingGroup and the WTMC forum, and get your name down.

Post-holidays Lodge Week

There are a couple of folks keen to have another Lodge week straight after the school holidays – 12-15 October. We’ll make this happen subject to demand, so book yourself in at https://wtmc.org.nz/lodgebookings and let’s do it. Sunny days, zero crowds and great spring snow – what’s not to like?

I can feel it in my waters

High occupancy this year has meant high water use, and we managed to burn out the water pump a few weeks ago when the main water tank ran dry. Thanks to Andrew Trembath who got the backup pump plumbed in and the water system back up and running quickly and seamlessly!

When you’re at the lodge, help us out by keeping an eye on the water level in the water tank in the ski room. There’s a big gauge on the wall – if it is getting near empty, let the lodge leader know so they can change the system over to one of the other three tanks.

If you do help us by lodge leading, you need to remember to watch the water levels – do a quick check every day. Use the water in tanks 4, 3, 2 and 1 in that order – alternating between #3 and #2 each day if you’ve hit those tanks. Only one tank tap should be ‘open’ and all the rest should be ‘closed’.

If you let the tank run dry then you end up with no water and we end up with an expensive plumbing callout and repair job. If you’re not sure about all the details of how the water system works, give Brian a yell at and he’ll take you through it.

Open Lodge over Christmas/New Years – Come Visit!

A reminder, we’re planning on opening up the lodge again between late December and early January. No booking no hassle, just turn up and pay for the nights you’re there.

If you’re a lodge leader then let Mike know at if you’re keen to help out with this. There’s no food to worry about so it’s nice and easy and stress free. Easy!

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