The Ruapehu skifield company is accused of turning its back on Ōhākune in favour of tourist hub Taupō

Thursday, 18 October 2018

A $25m gondola on Mt Ruapehu is expected to bring tourists to the area and pump millions into the community. But behind the scenes, a fight has broken out over how the mountain is being promoted and which town is its true 'gateway'. Tony Wall reports.

Dave Scott was travelling through Turangi, the town on the southern edge of Lake Taupo built in the 1960s for hydro-electric power workers, when he saw something that made him wild.

The Ōhākune businessman and long-time promoter of the town saw flags fluttering from poles, advertising Mt Ruapehu's ski areas.

Ōhākune is the mountain town, he thought, and it doesn't have any flags. He then heard that Taupō also had them.

Scott rang a manager at Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL), the company that runs the Tūroa and Whakapapa skifields, asking why it had supplied banners for the other centres but not Ōhākune.

The manager said they'd get some made up, Scott says. But they didn't arrive.

The former chairman of promotional group Ōhākune 2000 wasn't going to let it lie, 'so we got our own ones made.'

He unfurls a banner with the words 'Ōhākune, New Zealand's mountain town' which he proudly displays for a photograph.

Scott and others are upset by what they see as RAL's focus on Whakapapa skifield, with Taupō as its hub, at the expense of Ōhākune and Tūroa.

'They've taken our mana off the mountain and shifted it and I don't think that's right,' Scott says.

'It's like someone taking our intellectual property away.'

It's a feeling that has festered since the arrival two seasons ago of chief executive Ross Copland, who took over from Dave Mazey, the boss for the previous 30 years.

Copland, who was ski area manager at Queenstown's Coronet Peak, and previously national operations manager for Westfield in Sydney, opened an office in Taupō, basing himself there.

He wants to bring more international visitors to Whakapapa through Taupō, which critics say is unrealistic because Ruapehu has always been more attractive to the domestic market.

RAL is a public benefit entity that pays no tax or dividends - any profits go to developing the skifields.

Under Copland, RAL has embarked on an ambitious $100m infrastructure upgrade programme, the centrepiece of which is a $25m 'luxury' Gondola, due to open at Whakapapa in 2019.

It's expected to attract 300,000 extra visitors and $50m in additional spending, while providing more than 100 jobs.

The project has landed a $10m loan from Shane Jones' $1b regional economic development kitty, while the Ruapehu District Council will loan $500,000 and the Taupō District Council twice that.

After several years of losses or small profits, Copland's brief is to increase revenue.

But the way he's gone about that has angered some Ruapehu businesses and mountain users, who believe RAL with its tax-free status has a duty to work with the community and not abuse its monopoly.

One of his most contentious decisions was to start charging for snow play and sledding, a move that turned into a PR disaster after it was reported by Stuff.

RAL also moved into public transport, a service previously provided by small, private operators, and opened ski rental shops, taking on local businesses.

The bad headlines kept coming when people who ate their own lunch at skifield cafes, where a punnet of chips costs $10.50 and a croissant $14.50, were threatened with having their passes cancelled.

Shuttle bus driver Colin Baker, who had a history of clashing with RAL staff, was trespassed from the company's facilities after he refused to leave when asked.

On top of all of that, a crash on the road to Tūroa which killed an 11-year-old girl landed RAL's bus fleet at the centre of police investigations and it has faced criticism over the speed of repairs to the High Noon Express chairlift, damaged in an avalanche set off by staff.

Despite the setbacks, it's been a bumper season, with good dumps of snow.

Documents obtained under the Official Information Act reveal that concern over RAL's direction has reached mayoral level.

In an email sent to senior staff in July, Ruapehu mayor Don Cameron said he'd been told that Copland had been overheard 'running down Ōhākune as being unimportant to future plans for Tūroa - it just happens to be close to that part of the mountain'.

Cameron wrote that it was time to meet with Copland and clear the air.

'We only need a couple of hotels to be built (which will happen in time) to starve Taupō of significant tourist numbers,' Cameron wrote. 'We should not be ignored or treated like a second cousin which is the feeling we are getting from RAL.

'They cannot exist without Ruapehu [council], where they need to rely on our relationships with DOC [Department of Conservation] and iwi.'

Ski shop owner Mike Wiggins, a former chairman of Visit Ruapehu who's been involved in the ski industry since the 1970s, says relations with RAL are as bad as they've ever been.

He puts that down to the new management's apparent reluctance to work with the community. 'It's their way, or the highway.'

Copland once told him Ōhākune is a 'dying town', Wiggins claims. 

'I suggested…I was quite happy to…show him around the real Ōhākune and take him to six world class restaurants.'

Copland wouldn't be interviewed, preferring to answer questions by email through a PR company.

He denies RAL is neglecting Tūroa and Ōhākune.

'To be very clear we regard Ōhākune as the central North Island's core ski destination…which is specifically why we have outlined proposed investments of over $30m for Tūroa.

'Tūroa is a pivotal part of RAL's future and one of New Zealand's premier ski areas.'

Asked about his plans to attract international visitors through Taupō, Copland says they are a 'small but important part of improving the financial position of the company' because they tend to ski mid-week when local towns have the capacity to host them.

Copland says RAL is undergoing a period of significant change which is driving economic and social development in the Ruapehu region.

'The data shows hugely increased tourism spending, increased bed nights, increasing ski field visitation, increasing employment and job creation.'

The company collects feedback on its plans, he says, and he holds community forums every three months to hear from stakeholders.

'There will always be a number of people who don't think we've done enough, but I'd like to think…we are making a deliberate effort to connect and deliver great results for this community.'

But the OIA documents show how difficult it has been for Copland in his attempts at winning over local politicians and businesspeople.

He was furious about a Stuff article where Cameron criticised the way he'd handled the charges-for-snowplay issue, accusing the mayor in an email of a personal attack that has 'grossly undermined the attempts of business to invest in this region'.

Cameron wrote back saying that was 'utter bulls…' and he had no-one to blame but himself for not 'nipping it in the bud' earlier.

'Ross, I have defended you and RAL both in council, where there was huge opposition to Taupo seemingly being preferred, and in public, particularly in Raetihi/Ōhākune where there is obvious suspicion of the motives of RAL.'

Cameron advised Copland to use the council to gauge how the community felt about his plans - 'we know people in the district better than you or your board can hope to' - and assured him 'we are going full-out to support RAL and grow the visitor industry'.

In an email to a disgruntled businessperson, Cameron said 'we all agree Ross is challenging us' but a shake-up of RAL was well overdue as it had been a 'persistently underperforming business right across all areas'.

'We need to be totally committed to helping him because the prize covers both winter and summer visitors using RAL infrastructure.'

It's not just Ōhākune that is feeling sidelined.

The documents include an email to Cameron from a person whose name is redacted, warning that Taumarunui and the north Ruapehu district should not be overlooked in RAL's plans.

The writer wanted to see Taumarunui revitalised so tourists coming from Auckland, Waikato and the Bay of Plenty would use the town as their 'base camp' for activities in the district.

'It makes sense to develop north Ruapehu as the gateway being closest to major centres. We cannot continue to see one part of the district … thrive … while other residents really suffer, some living in third world type conditions,' the person wrote. 

Cameron replied that the council would provide the opportunity for all towns to tap into tourism, but 'we cannot be seen to favour one over another'.

Cameron told Stuff places like Ōhākune were at one point seen as 'zombie towns' until they reinvented themselves and that will happen with other centres.

He says Ōhākune can't compete with Taupō for accommodation at the moment, but he is confident that in a year or two investors will look to build hotels in the area.

He says while Copland has alienated some people, overall he thinks he's on the 'right path'.

'He's certainly pushing things hard but it was about time RAL did push hard because if they weren't going to start replacing the infrastructure their days on the mountain were limited.'

He says Copland has a good relationship with iwi, which hasn't always been the case in the past.

'He just needs to understand that the maunga lives in Ruapehu, that's not going to change and he's got to respect that.'

Taupō mayor David Trewavas makes no apologies for his district's move to promote Mt Ruapehu.

'We've got huge numbers from Australia going to Queenstown and we thought 'we need a slice of that'.

''Ski Ruapehu, stay in Taupō' was the idea. Obviously we've got large accommodation providers - the Huka Lodge, Hilton Hotel, Millennium Hotels. We've got three flights a day from Auckland.'

Trewavas says Taupō has spent about $200,000 on marketing in Australia, and towns like Ōhākune will see the benefits of that.

'We certainly don't want to take anything away from the Central Plateau. 

'But you've got to be realistic about it, we're only a small country - it's a regional investment.'

The gondola will be a 'game changer' Trewavas says.

'It means your grandma and grandad can go up there and have a cup of tea.'

Copland is an astute businessman who knows what it takes to guarantee the future of RAL, he says.

'Ross is a young, dynamic sort of guy who is trying to make this the best facility in New Zealand.'

Back in Ōhākune, resentment about RAL's business tactics grows.

Mike Fraser of SLR ski rentals says RAL has opened ski hire shops and is offering people who rent its gear $40 food vouchers to spend on the mountain.

'I had a customer who decided to rent up there for four days - he … got a different voucher each day, $160 of food just for himself.

'They're just giving it away because they can, because they're a monopoly.

'We don't have a chance to compete because we can't get wholesale lift tickets to package. It's anti-competitive.'

Copland says there is nothing to stop ski rental operators offering their own discounts or incentives.

'Rental operators I have spoken to have reported a very profitable season with good snow and strong growth … and another year of healthy competition with their rental competitors, resulting in a great deal for the consumer.'

At Whakapapa Village, Edge to Edge ski hire owner Sam Clarkson went to the Commerce Commission over RAL's new policy for school groups this year.

It is insisting school children get lessons, putting the cost up, Clarkson says, and in order to get the discount rate they must rent gear from RAL.

Schools have written to him apologising for the situation but saying they no longer have a choice.

'As a public benefit entity … I believe RAL shouldn't be so monopolistic and greedy.'

The commission says the complaint doesn't meet the threshold for investigation and it will be taking no further action.

Copland says RAL offers substantial discounts to schools, delivering its programme below cost.

It insists on lessons to reduce injury.

'RAL owe children a duty of care to ensure they are capable of 'steering' and 'stopping' before we set them loose.'

Fraser, the Ōhākune ski rental operator, agrees RAL is being greedy.

'They have tax free status to promote and grow skiing, that's their mandate.

'It's not in their mandate to wipe out all the other businesses in town. We should all be working together but at the moment the whole mandate seems to be 'grab everything for themselves'.'