‘Toxic’ arguments over future of Mt Ruapehu skifields frustrate sale
Sunday, 1 September 2024
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With only months remaining on the Government’s funding deadline, time is ticking for the Whakapapa skifield. Local residents agree it would be a “disaster” if it closed, but there’s deep discord over who should take over, reports Jonathan Killick.
The ski town of Ohakune is on the edge of a precipice. The future livelihoods of residents already hang in the balance, and now they’ve learned that another major employer, the Karioi Pulpmill, is set to close.
Ella Jones and her partner recently settled in town, buying their first home and having a child. But the joys of starting a family are now hampered by economic uncertainty.
“We are trying to secure work for even just the next six months so that we can pay our bills and make sure our child has a future here,” Jones says.
Sara Nikora spent nine years saving up, working on super-yachts, before using her nest egg to buy Franks Eatery in Ohakune.
She thought she was buying into a bustling ski town, but now she’s struggling to give her staff enough hours.
“It feels like everyone in town is deflated, it’s not really a vibe at the moment.”
Mike Fraser of SLR Rentals, a ski equipment provider, says local businesses are just hanging on.
They’ve had to endure the receivership and liquidation of mountain operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL), and two tough ski seasons that followed Covid-19.
“I’ve spent a lot of money on this building in the last couple of years, the reserves are tapped out. I’ve got nine staff… and this week we’ll be lucky if we turn over $5000.”
Fraser and Nikora say having a new company, Pure Tūroa, take on the risk of running the Tūroa skifield has provided hope.
They’re praying that someone will do the same for Whakapapa before the winter snows thaw, leaving nothing but rocks, lost ski poles and broken dreams.
But not everyone has welcomed the new players. Ruapehu Skifields Stakeholders Association (RSSA), made up of mainly life-pass holders, maintains its proposal of refloating RAL to run Whakapapa is the way forward. It would mean the passes were honoured.
RSSA spokesperson Sam Clarkson says he has an interim board of directors “waiting in the wings”. The association membership, meanwhile, continues to “mine information” using the Official Information Act.
But a spokesperson for the Department of Conservation says those requests are “putting significant pressure on local teams to resource”, interfering with their day-to-day jobs.
Pure Tūroa director Greg Hickman says his company is receiving about three requests a day and it’s costing “serious money”.
“We do end up spending a lot on lawyers and consultants having to respond to what we see as unfounded attacks on the business.”
Hickman accuses the RSSA of “derailing” the administration process with its legal challenges and frustrating the receivership. It’s partly their fault Whakapapa is in limbo, he claims.
“The reality is the whole deal could have been done on both sides [of the mountain] but it was held up by the opposition, the RSSA throwing rocks.”
Clarkson, meanwhile, says the delays have been caused by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) as the majority creditor, and receivers Calibre Partners, being “hell-bent on privatisation” and exclusion of anyone but its preferred bidders.
“We believe [our proposal] was viable. We had modelled it, budgeted it, got the experts in and it was roundly rejected without even being viewed.”
“They wrote us off saying we didn’t have enough ski area management… that we didn’t know what we were talking about. No, I’m sorry, they don’t what they’re talking about.”
He claims MBIE and the receivers have “dug themselves into a hole” by pursuing a sale of skifield leases and ignoring the RSSA.
MBIE declined to comment, and Calibre Partners did not respond by deadline. But, Hickman of Pure Tūroa says the RSSA is spouting “misinformation” and he’s sick of it.
“We are really getting frustrated with that group saying that we are trying to grab assets for a dollar - making money is a distant dream. Skifields are not about making a quick buck.
“The selfish element, if there is one, is that we have investments in property and business in the area and we don’t want to see it collapse.”
Yet, Clarkson continues to claim that Tūroa is “doomed to fail”, because it needs Whakapapa to subsidise it. He says when its inevitable demise arrives, the RSSA and RAL will be its last remaining hope.
“We modelled the ongoing viability of the skifield and it’s plainly obvious to us that Tūroa is a lame duck. It does not make money. It never has, it never will.”
That is emphatically rejected by Hickman of Pure Tūroa, and former RAL chief Dave Mazey, who ran both skifields for 30 years.
Ohakune restaurateur Paul Stieglbauer says he’s been incensed by the continual negative rhetoric coming from the RSSA at community meetings and on social media.
“Our community is suffering savagely.
“I haven’t been able to open my doors and a lot of it has had to do with the bullshit that has been going on.”
Clarkson retorts: “There’s something wrong in Ohakune, they just go around hating everybody. And, its not just the ski shops, its the accommodation people, its the bars, they all f…ing hate everybody, they are so toxic around there.
“Hate RSSA all you like, we didn’t cause the problem. Sorry, you can’t hate a group that’s spent $45 million over 20 years. The High Noon Express lift at Tūroa should be called the Life Pass Express.”
Stieglbauer says many of the life-pass holders don’t actually come from the local community, and yet seem to want to dictate its affairs.
“You’ve got guys living in Devonport, driving nice cars, having nice jobs but having nothing better to do.
“They talk about saving skiing at Ruapehu, but if that’s what they want, why don’t they get behind these [new operators] who are willing to put their arses on the line, and support them.”
Clarkson says that life-pass holders have been unfairly “punished” when they are the skifield’s “most loyal customers”.
“There is this attitude that life-pass holders are a bunch of rich selfish people, but what you really want is for them to spread their money around the economy. We should encourage those people to come out to the provinces.”
Stieglbauer says he was a life-pass holder for 20 years, and is happy with the value he got from it.
“Yes you’ve lost your life pass, so have I, but I’m happy to support those people who have supported us. It’s the way it is, if you want to go skiing, you’ve got to pay for it… No business can survive on people not contributing.”
Dave Mazey, former RAL chief, now of Whakapapa Holdings Limited, has put in a bid to MBIE and Calibre for the Whakapapa skifield.
He says it’s been apparent from day one that if the deal doesn’t get over the line, the skifield could halt trading at the end of the season.
“We are working through trying to ensure that doesn’t happen,” Mazey says.
He says skifields are a “risky” business but he’s confident it can work.
“We had some close calls at times but the company would survive because we had good cashflow, and the banks of the day were prepared to support us through to the next winter.”
Shane Isherwood of Ngāti Hikairo says his hapū has backed Mazey, withdrawing its own bid.
Although he has worked around the skifields for 35 years and is a life pass holder he is not overly concerned by the passes being voided.
“It’s like betting on a horse, losing and then wanting your money back. It happens, it’s life, it’s tough shit.”
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