What happens to Ohakune when the winter snow fails to show?

Friday, 2 September 2022

The resilient Ōhakune residents are hopeful of a pick up in business in the summer months after a lack of snowfall sees 130 staff laid off at Tūroa ski field. (This video was first published on September 2, 2022.)

Standing on Mt Ruapehu’s Tūroa ski field base, the ground is not the pristine white one will expect in August, but instead, a disappointing volcanic brown.

This year’s exceptionally wet winter has meant storms have washed away snow that would usually have settled further down the mountain.

While the snow machines have tried their best to coat the beginners area down the mountain, most visitors were advanced skiers catching the little snow there was near the peak. But even so, locals say they haven’t seen it this bad since the 1990s.

Mountain Rocks cafe manager Joy Marsada said the past few years have been historically slow for her business with the combined effect of the pandemic and the slow ski season.

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Despite the tireless efforts of workers to generate snow, the mountain looked decidedly barren on the day Tūroa reopened.

“Our busiest year was way, way back in 2009 and it was very steady all the way until 2018.

“We were really affected by the pandemic, especially because we couldn’t find any workers.”

So what happens to Ohakune when the snow doesn’t come? How does a relatively isolated resort town stay afloat?

While the snow machines didn’t make enough to attract novice skiers, it was still enough for snowballs.

It becomes a year-round destination.

“We’ve been that way for the last five to six years,” says Ruapehu District mayor Don Cameron.

“But that puts pressure on everybody, tourist operators and accommodation, because in the past as a winter destination, you could plan it and close down for summer.

Ruapehu District mayor Don Cameron said Ohakune is changing from an alpine resort to an all year holiday destination.

“Now the demand is there all year, businesses have to re-think how to maintain those staffing levels, particularly when extreme weather events causes demand to drop off.”

Among the many other activities available in the town, cycling appears to be the panacea.

One legacy of John Key’s premiership was the creation of 3000kms of new cycleways across the country, including some in the Central Plateau such as the Mountain To Sea track.

The Old Coach Road trail also attracts visitors and new cycleway Te Ara Mangawhero will take cyclists on a 1000-metre descent from the Massey University Alpine Club hut to Ohakune town.

Skiers pack up to go home after a morning on the slopes at Tūroa Ski Field.

There’s more in the pipeline, too, with a new path proposed linking Ohakune to National Park and ski field operators at Turoa have expressed interest in cycling infrastructure further up the mountain to attract tourists when the snow is thin on the ground.

Cameron says there’s a new era coming with cycle trails and tracks.

“We're getting a plethora of iwi-led discussion around access to areas that normally had not been accessible.

“Not just for wāhi tapu areas, but also facilitating for people to come along to share the story of that particular area, which is important for Māori, Pākeha and tourists visiting us.”

In response to the suggestion of developing the Turoa site for bikes, Cameron was apprehensive.

TCB managing director Ben Wiggins said the ski fields now have the ability to make some snow happen, even when mother nature doesn’t want it.

“Massey flat, which is not quite at the top, is a safe area for people to congregate and come down Te Ara Mangawhero.

“One of the problems we do see, particularly in winter, is a large number of vehicles moving in and out of the Turoa area and I wouldn't think that is particularly safe for cyclists.

“But that is a discussion to be had.”

The area is still very much in the midst of treaty negotiations and settlements, with some settled and others in the process of settling.

Mountain Rocks Cafe manager Joy Marsada and redundant ski worker Catherine Ireland still serve the locals of Ohakune, despite the slow ski season.

But nonetheless, Cameron believes everyone in the region sees real opportunity in the area.

“It is their maunga and what we're gonna [sic] do, though, is to make sure that we're acting in a way that's not culturally offensive, but also telling the story and the history of the area.”

The shift towards biking was clearest at TCB Ski Board and Bike where managing director Ben Wiggins and his staff were off their feet co-ordinating groups of visitors looking to hire bikes and hit the trails.

A local himself, Wiggins is seeing first-hand the way business is changing for the town.

Local Knowledge New Zealand Lodge manager Lisa Schroeder is still positive about Ohakune, saying the opportunities for things to do are always growing.

“In the past, if the mountain wasn't looking perfect, or the weather wasn't looking good, people just wouldn’t come and cancel the trip.

“Ohakune used to be totally reliant on winter. It would turn into a ghost town for six to seven months of the year.

“But now people are coming down either way because they'll just switch to biking. And if they're not biking they're hiking on some of the great walks.

“We’re now seeing around 60,000 to 80,000 people coming over summer, just to go biking. And that doesn’t include bikers over winter.”

Wiggins says this year is the worst he’s seen since 1998 but the saving grace of Ruapehu was there was never ‘no snow years’, only ‘low snow years’.

A sleepy Goldfinch Street in Ohakune. The town usually throngs with tourists from New Zealand and overseas during the winter months.

He also says the technology they have to make snow for beginner areas has contributed a lot to the ski field reopening on August 31, after weeks of closure.

Nevertheless, 130 workers were laid off on the ski fields as a result of the closures, one of whom is now working in the Mountain Rocks cafe alongside Joy Marsada.

All but 15 found work afterwards and for 29-year-old Catherine Ireland, it wasn’t a surprise.

“There was just no snow. We were shut for over a week, it was raining, and I think everyone could see it wasn’t good.

“I think they handled it in the best way that they could. It looked like they made sure no one went away empty-handed.”

LKNZ hostel is among similar businesses trying to make the best of the weather but for manager Lisa Schroeder, it hasn’t been easy.

A Californian now based in the Central Plateau, she’s been busy helping her customers understand that there’s more to the town than snow.

“We’re doing email campaigns, social posts, day trip packages and just trying to encourage people to come here and get the word out about what there is to do in the Ruapehu area in all seasons.”

Despite this, over their two-week occupancy average, only 2% of their beds have been filled.

And LKNZ isn’t in it alone. Most hotels in the town were showing vacancy signs, which for Ohakune in August is extremely rare.

“We were completely booked for Mardi Gras so that sustained us well and we have a cafe where locals get 10% off and they’re really helping us out at the moment.

“While the slow season has been good to take time, plan, and train up, the number of international tourists has been much lower than expected, so we’re really trying to get the word out about the different options available in Ruapehu outside of the ski fields.”

Akin to the floods, landslides, and in Levin’s case, a tornado, Ruapehu’s climate change-related pain has been the snowfall rate as the country comes out of one of its wettest winters on record.

Residents, local leaders and business owners all know the town needs to change.

The question is whether consumer trends will follow. From Cameron’s perspective, he believes that’s happening.

“On a trip to Wellington a few weeks ago, we counted the first 20 cars coming the other way between Ohakune and Waiouru.

“Three had skis on the top and six had bikes on the back. So I think people realise we’re not all just about snow play.”