Brian Goodwin, Ruapehu Lodge convenor
Jan and I spent two weeks in the Lodge recently. The first week was a club ski week and the second we were club representatives for a school group.
We had nine days skiing out of twelve with five Bluebird (clear) days and the other with a mix of sun / mist. Breaks during the misty periods were had in the comfortable Knoll ridge day lodge.
When Tongariro erupted for the first time in 100 years we heard nothing and saw nothing so carried on as per usual.
One of the days we had a power cut affecting the whole mountain and down as far as National Park. The lifts were stopped for a while until the diesel backup restored power to the ski field but not to our lodge. Out came the barbeque and sausages and onions on bread with tomato sauce. Also a large pot of water was boiled for hot drinks. This was followed by ice cream and fruit before the power was restored. It was good to see the barbeque was in reasonable working order.
When we arrived there was virtually no snow around the lodge but on leaving we were able to ski to the bottom of the steps in the gully leading up to it and 20cm of snow around the area. Although the snow levels around the Lodge were not that great due to warmer weather the upper ski field has now plenty of snow and continued to increase over the two weeks with most falling overnight. Hence we had fresh snow to ski in most days. All of this time there was little or no wind so being on the slopes in all weather was very pleasant.
Looking at future weather reports I would expect this trend to continue and deliver more snow to the mountain.
Coming up is another club week arriving Sunday 16 September departing Friday 21 September which still has some space left. You could join us on the ski week or book one weekend, or both weekends, at either end of the ski week. So take some leave and come on up for some good skiing and great company too!
To book the Lodge go to: https://www.wtmc.org.nz/lodgebookings