Skiers have been interested in the vast snowfields of the southern slopes of Ruapehu from the early days. Pioneer skier Bill Mead once said that this area was more suitable for the sport than the northern slopes. Walking tracks were the only access for many years and until 1963 the area remained the realm of climbers and the occasional skiing party.
Early access to the south-west slopes
T A ("Joe") Blyth was prominent in the early development of Tongariro National Park. Before 1920 Blyth forged a route through the bush in from Ohakune and up the south-west side of Ruapehu. The Blyth Track, as it became known, was the forerunner of the Ohakune Mountain Road.
During the summer of 1920-21 several Ruapehu Ski Club members, under the direction of Bill Salt, erected a hut on the Ohakune Track at 1550m. All the iron, glass and timber used in the construction of the hut was packed in by horses up the 14km bush track. Skiers sometimes used the hut but it was mainly a base for trampers.
Ohakune Mountain Road
In 1952 Ohakune residents formed the Ohakune Mountain Road Association and called for public donations. Using volunteer labour work began on the road immediately. Money was always short but the association met its target of "a mile a year" and by 1963 the road was open to Mangawhero Falls. When there was enough snow the road was sometimes used as a ski run!
In summer 1966-67 the Ohakune Mountain Road reached its current terminus.
Turoa ski area development
Rodney and Peter Winchcombe built the first tow on the south-west slopes of Ruapehu in 1962 and operated it for three seasons. Several others, John Broadbent of Central Skifields Ltd, Robin Reid of Ohakune Mountain Transport Ltd and Ohakune Ski Developments ran facilities there during the 1960s and early 1970s near the present terminus of the Ohakune Mountain Road.
In 1970 the Tongariro National Park Board issued a prospectus worldwide for the development of Turoa Skifield. There were several different proposals but it was not until 1977 that the park board signed a long term agreement with Alex Harvey Industries.
The new skifield began operation in 1978. An ambitious building programme transformed the area, beginning with two road-end buildings, one mid-field building and the installation of two triple chairlifts. The Park Lane and Giant chairlifts began operation late in the 1978 season.
Turoa Skifield officially opened in 1979, when the High Noon T-Bar was built and this was followed in 1983 with the Jumbo T-Bar. In 1987 the Movenpick quad chairlift was built and the High Flyer express quad was installed over the 1992-93 summer.
RAL purchases Turoa
Following the 1995-96 Mt Ruapehu eruptions many businesses in the area fell on very hard times, including Turoa. The skifield went into receivership and, after being operated by the receivers for some time, was purchased by Ruapehu Alpine Lifts late in 1999. the purchase was funded by the skiing public of New Zealand through the sale of RAL Life Passes.
Following the purchase a programme of re-branding and integrating both ski areas began, resulting in a seamless Mt Ruapehu lift pass valid at Whakapapa and Turoa Ski Areas.
In 2005 the carparking and access to Turoa was dramatically improved with enough carparking to take it through the following 20-40 years.
In 2006 Turoa saw one of the largest single year investments in New Zealand skiing in generartions. The base area cafe and retail complex was more than tripled in size, a 55 million litre water resevoir was created to feed an expanding snowmaking system, snowmaking capacity was tripled and a new 1.4km 6-seat detachable express chairlift was built to replace the High Noon T-Bar.
