Mount Ruapehu Ski Lifts & Passes
Mt Ruapehu is spending NZ $30 million on on-mountain investments, including three new high speed chairs – two at Whakapapa and one at Turoa: the high-speed six-seat High Noon Express – the longest and highest lift in Australasia.The new lift is also claimed to have the biggest uphill capacity in Australasia. Turoa’s 1.4 km High Noon Express (with a vertical rise of 400 metres) can transport more than 3,200 people an hour, and has a top speed of five metres per second.
Meanwhile construction plans for the Valley Express chairlift proposed for Whakapapa have been delayed due to the need for a more lengthy approval and consent process after concerns about any further development on Mt Ruapehu that encroaches into the so called Maori “gift area”. But the general manager, Dave Mazey says: “Despite this delay, development of the on-mountain facilities at Mt Ruapehu is still our priority.”