Kiwi ski operators talk up a storm as winter nears

A report in the New Zealand Herald today says that ski field operators are hoping for a repeat of last year’s record season, with winter fast approaching and after a record season last year the early signs are looking good for the ski industry this year.

Ski operators have their fingers crossed for storm cycles and snow and Mike Smith, Marketing Manager for Ruapehu Alpine Lifts, which operates the Turoa and Whakapapa ski fields, says that’s not the only superstitious ritual used to appease the snow gods, adding, “A range of activities go on off the mountain, but I don’t know that any of them work … snow dances, burning of old skis and all manner of things.”

A more earthly ploy is a new television campaign aiming to boost demand in the key Australian market, with the campaign, organised by Tourism New Zealand and the Ski Tourism Marketing Network, runs until this Wednesday.

Tourism NZ CEO George Hickton says the early signs for the season are exceptionally good, with one ski package tour operator describing bookings as “ballistic”, adding, “tour operators are saying this is the best pre-season booking they’ve ever seen.”

The ski industry helps build more of a year-round tourism product for the country, Hickton says, with a record 1.4 million day ski passes sold last season, which ran from June until October and the 101,000-plus overseas visitors on the piste – half of whom were Australian, spending $342 million.

Smith, who is also chairman of the NZ Ski Tourism Marketing Network, said just under $20 million had been invested in the Turoa ski field this year, including buying a new high-speed, six-seater chair lift and boosting the snow machines from 10 to 35.

He added, “It’s all fully computer automated so … the [snow] guns actually turn themselves on at night time when the temperature starts to approach the right level,” he says.

Snow machines provide a sizeable insurance policy but ultimately it is the weather and not man-made engineering that will decide the success of the coming ski season.

“The difference between a poor season, average season and a good season always comes down to Mother Nature,” Smith says.

Last year, a record for Turoa, was the best since 1994 at Whakapapa, with Smith adding, “The area has gone from real economic depression after the eruptions of 1995 and 1996 and then very poor snow years in the late ’90s, we’re not a Queenstown or a Wanaka yet but once there’s growth outside the winter as well … the region will really boom.”

A report last month by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the snow line in New Zealand was likely to rise by between 120m and 270m based on scenarios for the 2080s.

Miles Davidson, spokesman for the Ski Areas Association, says climate change is a major issue for the next 30 to 50 years but has no bearing on storm cycles for the coming season or operators’ current investment plans.

The New Zealand industry was lucky to be situated at quite high altitudes of between 1524m and 2286m, Davidson says, adding, “The altitude of skiing and snow-boarding in New Zealand is higher than Australia and that’s why we probably get better consistent conditions.”

The country had had frequent storm cycles last year which brought good snow, saying “If we get good storm cycles this year then we can expect to have another good season.”

The ski industry is working with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research to instigate research which will provide information on the effects of climate change during the next 30 to 50 years.

Davidson says that provided the industry can make snow, a shift in the snow line of 100m to 200m should not make a huge difference.

The Australian ski industry had a good year in 2005 but only an average season last year, he says, adding, “We would expect that the average year last year will prompt a lot of their existing customers to try an overseas holiday in New Zealand this winter.”

But a healthy Australian industry is an important driver for the New Zealand ski sector, Davidson says, adding, “They introduce a lot of people to skiing and snowboarding.”

Report by The Mole from the NZ Herald.