As per usual, my esteemed host, Turoa/Sunshine Village patroller Tim Haggerty, and I woke up on Saturday morning feeling the effects of the previous nights 'après' antics. This would become a common theme of my stay in Ohakune. We sucked it up and headed up to Whakapapa, one of 3 ski hills on Mt. Ruapehu, for day one of the Freeski competition being held that weekend. Unfortunately my hangover was not a good enough excuse to keep me out of the competition and I soon found myself on top of the rock hard venue of 'The Pinnacles'. Just inspecting was a scary proposition as the previous nights freeze had yet to thaw out, leaving the course a bit of a death trap. Fortunately the sun was in full effect and everything soon softened into a perfect blanket of corn. Thank god for spring!
The Pinnicles is a long jagged section on the lookers left edge of the ski hill boundary. Accessible by traverse, and visible from some of the lifts it offers the perfect freeski competition venue combo. It holds loads of steep lines and drops, some of which are frighteningly exposed, and others that offer more ideal run outs.
Although it’s visible from almost everywhere on Whakapapa, the top of the pinnacles was where I found the best view of
Mt. Ngauruhoe, the adjacent volcano featured in the Lord of the Rings movies. It’s also the only other peak visible from this side of the mountain, which offers incredible views all the way to the ocean on a clear day.
Sunday was day 2 of the Freeski comp and the venue was moved up to a slightly longer, slightly tougher section of The Pinnacles called aptly, "The Door", due to its single, doorway like entrance. Again, the conditions were butt-clenchingly hard on inspection, due to the slopes direction, but the bright sunshine softened things up as the day wore on. With a later start and a lot of competitors to get through, the decision that there would only be one run that day was made after the first run. The news dashed all my hopes of ever being able to get 2 scored runs in a freeski competition without crashing, but it did allow me to head out with some others to explore the rest of the hill.
Skiing on a volcano is definitely a unique experience. The terrain at Whakapapa varies from wide open bowls to choke out chutes to huge lava carved gullies. There are heaps of huge rock features and drops to play on and every time you go around a corner it seems there’s another lift you haven't even ridden yet. The ski area is spread out over 550 hectares and is New Zealand’s' largest developed ski area, so there’s plenty of room to explore.
Above the ski area is another couple hundred meters of terrain and bowls to explore and a hike to the summit will treat you to views of the crater lake inside the volcano. There is plenty of touring to do from the hill as Mt. Ruapehu offers skiing all the way around it. And the best part is that your lift ticket covers you for
Turoa, the sister resort on the "dark side" of the mountain.
