Frustration, anger over queues and long delays at Ruapehu ski areas
Sunday, 1 September 2019
Brilliant weather on the first day of spring saw services stretched at Mt Ruapehu as thousands flocked to Whakapapa and Tūroa.
But excitement turned to frustration and anger due as waiting stretched to nearly two hours in some cases for bus services to shuttle people up the mountain. Once there, snow lovers then faced further delays with massive queues at chairlifts.
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Avalanche concerns prompted the closure of the six seater High Noon Express lift, resulting in a huge logjams at the base of the mountain. The lift was re-opened Sunday afternoon.
On its Facebook page, Ruapehu Alpine Lifts Limited (RAL) which own and operate the two ski areas, said Bruce Road, leading to Whakapapa, was closed as the car park was full.
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'If you are heading to Whakapapa, there are shuttle services heading up, from park and ride locations in National Park and Whakapapa Village.'
Ohakune Mountain Road was also closed due to a full carpark and was operating a 'one car out, one car in' policy.
People took to the page, complaining about the lack of shuttle services available for transporting people up the mountain.
One person wrote: 'We've been in the queue for 1h 45 [minutes] now, empty buses passing by. Taking ages to fill the only couple of buses running. It's a shame to have such a bad organisation especially when every professional working here know it would be that busy.'
Another said they had been waiting for a bus for at least 1.5 hours.
'Only two buses have come so far. Kids are booked in ski school and I don't reckon we will even make it at this rate - absolutely hopeless Whakapapa - surely you knew it would've been like this after yesterday.'
Whakapapa general manager Jono Dean aknowledged there had been queues for both the ski lifts and transport throughout the day, which was to be expected on such a beautiful Sunday.
'When thousands of people decide to head up the mountain it always puts the pressure on infrastructure and services, it's inevitable,' he said.
On busy days like Sunday the buses transporting people up the mountain were running at capacity and departed as soon as they filled up.
Because their buses had to meet new Alpine Vehicle Specification Codes it meant sourcing additional buses on busy days was difficult.
Whakapapa Road was also closed at 7.30am on Sunday, due to full carparks, which in turn resulted in delays for the bus transfers.
Dean said that around the other side of the mountain, at Tūroa, traffic was flowing smoothly.
The backlog comes after five people were injured and three airlifted to hospital after blocks of ice fell on them at Tūroa on Saturday afternoon. It prompted ski patrol staff to review the safety of all buildings on Mt Ruapehu.
It is not the first time punters complained about the congestion. On last season's busiest day on August 11, Whakapapa hosted 5814 skiers, 827 sightseers and 658 in its now, pay-for-play, sledding area.
An estimated 5000 non-pass purchasing manuhiri were also in the area. It led to some vent on RAL's Facebook page, with one annoyed skier summing up the sentiments of many.
'You really need to set a max number of people allowed in the ski field. Today was absolutely horrible and way too over crowded.'
The 2015 concession, that allows the company to operate a ski field inside a national park, says it is permitted to operate 'lifts, tows and facilities for a maximum carrying capacity of 5500 skiers per day'.
The figure only applies to skier numbers.
In response to that statement RAL said it had conducted analysis of visitor feedback on 'peak days' and it was clear that the 'visitor experience diminished on peak days in 2018'.
'As such, we have a strong incentive to ensure peak visitation is carefully managed to within the limits of the infrastructure in order to maintain a good visitor experience.
'Previous indicative development plans identified Whakapapa Ski Area had potential to expand to a peak capacity of 10,000 persons at one time, however both the 2011 and most recent updates clarified that the company has no desire to expand the 'peak capacity' of the ski area facilities to the theoretical capacity of 10,000 visitors.'