"As you will understand, with the current business climate post COVID19 impact here in New Zealand we are not in a position to operate the mountain in its usual winter capacity. We have been working to ascertain what our modified offering both Whakapapa and Turoa will be, based on the staff we have and the feasible facilities that will be available with such a short lead time. We have lost over 3 months of trading and maintenance work which hasn’t been good for any of the tourism industry, so the whole of the ski sector are having to be innovative with how they manage this winter.

Even though our events team is in the country and we have all the resources to deliver events it comes down to budget and longevity for RAL. It is with a heavy heart that we have had to make the decision to not run any events at Mt Ruapehu this winter and focus on the core skiing and boarding offerings for our customers. This means RAL, clubs or other organisations will not be operating or running any events this year at Whakapapa or Turoa.

This winter for RAL is just about getting people out there and enjoying the snow! Like most pro-athletes that take the odd year off from competing this is what winter 2020 will be for us at Ruapehu. We will come back even stronger next year to deliver you outstanding events at Whakapapa and Turoa."