Mt Ruapehu

Tess is the Clinical Director of the Mt. Ruapehu Accident and Medical Clinics. She has a background in Emergency Medicine and interests in Prehospital, Rural, and Wilderness Medicine. She is an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) instructor and has completed courses in Advanced Life Support, European Paediatric Life Support and Advanced Wilderness Life Support. She is a member of the Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation and has the NZMSC Avalanche Safety Stage 1. This year she has started to also work as a Ski Patroller at Whakapapa Ski Area. Tess first came to Mt. Ruapehu as a ski racer in 1998 winning the Continental Cup during a year out from medical studies. She loved it so much at the magic mountain she came back as our first elective medical student in 2000. This is Tess' fourth season working as a doctor here.

Outside of work she loves exploring Mt Ruapehu on her skis, mountain biking in Taupo, dancing to 90's Dance music and watching the telly. A little known fact is that she is the former Womens World Stone Skimming Champion.

Tash is a member of the Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation and aims to improve her mountain craft by hanging with her raspberry flavoured patrol hero’s over the coming seasons.
Outside of work she loves escaping the crowds on Mt Ruapehus’ backcountry slopes and having early morning ski skinning sessions on the rocky. A little known fact is that she has over 50 medals for running 10k races.

Luke came over to New Zealand for a change after graduating and working in Liverpool for two years. Super fit, tall, dark, great fun and handsome, he is the lastest addition to the clinic experience. Before starting up the mountain he worked in Wanganui rotating through Emergency Medicine and Orthopaedics, two of his areas of interest and potential future career.

Luke has a keen interest in Adventure and Wilderness Medicine having completed an Advanced Wilderness Life Support course with some of the rest of the team in Queenstown this year.
When he is not working or skiing on Mount Ruapehu, he likes to explore other parts of New Zealand or pop back to Wanganui to catch up with friends or go for a surf. So far he is loving the mountain and working in New Zealand. He hopes to join us next year, and we’d love to make his dreams come true. Look out for him in his bright orange trousers and luminous green helmet…..come on…. the boy can’t be perfect…. can he?

Ange is the Practice Manager of the Mt Ruapehu Accident & Medical Centres (Whakapapa & Turoa). AKA “Da boss”. Ange has a background of ICU and Emergency nursing. After working hard through the winter Ange spends her summers working in an ED and skiing overseas and occasionally ending up in a cast herself!! Ange first came to Ruapehu in the late nineties as a nurse and left in 2004 for five years while she owned and ran her own café, returning to Mt Ruapehu in 2008. Having recently bought a new house in Taupo, we hope to be counting on her for years to come.

Always there for her staff as a manager and friend, Ange is passionate about her job and RAL. Constantly full of energy and open to new ideas she is continually working to improve patient care on the mountain. Her love for skiing and working with such an awesome team makes her want to come back yearly!!

Robyn is one of our great radiographers. She has been working in New Zealand and the UK for the past 5 years. She studied radiography at CPIT in Christchurch and qualified with flying colours. This is her first year working at the mountain and has already promised that she will be back next season. Currently competing in the RAL mountain muffin extravaganza (Fiercely opposed by Tash Burley), Robyn loves the chance to work outside her comfort zone, learning how to plaster broken limbs, and getting involved in the management of the acute injured patient. Robyn's a great problem solver and always there to help out whenever she's needed.

She's a wicked worker and always one step ahead. Robyn is enjoying snowboarding and has massively improved her carving this season, even landing the occasional accidental jump. Her biggest claim to fame so far is nailing “nose dive”……..and hopes to ace the pinnacles by the end of October. Robyn came to RAL as a KFC addict, unable to cook toast, She has now mastered the art of both cooking and snowboarding. We think she's pretty awesome.

Stacey is the radiographer in Turoa. Stacey is special to us for a number of reasons. Not only is she an accomplished radiographer, Stacey is an amazing cook. On shift big smiles await to see what she has brought her colleagues. Clinic delights range from chocolate yoghurt cake, to self saucing toffee pudding, and various cakes all cooked in a pizza oven!! Before coming to the mountain and lighting up our lives Stacey worked for Wellington Regional Hospital for a number of years.

Stacey came to the mountain wanting to spread her wings and travel. She has since fallen in love with the place and is currently into her second year with the team. Stacey is a valuable team member and is always willing to try anything. She enjoys snowboarding, mountain biking, and any outdoor activities. Always smiling and great fun to work with we really hope she comes back for another season. If you’re really lucky you may be able to get a treat when visiting our clinic, if we haven’t eaten them already.