Ohakune, New Zealand – Good snow, good snowmaking conditions and a run of fine weather resulted in the seven days from Saturday, July 10 to Friday, July 17 being recorded as the busiest period in the 57-year history of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts (RAL), parent company of Whakapapa and Turoa ski areas on New Zealand’s Mt. Ruapehu.nWhakapapa and Turoa recorded 56,000 skier visits during the period, eclipsing the previous best of 51,000 recorded in 2007.

Mt. Ruapehu marketing manager Mike Smith says it was a fantastic week.

“It’s unusual on Ruapehu to have such a long stretch of great weather, and for this to coincide with the busy school holidays was quite exceptional,” says Smith.

Almost on order, the weather turned following RAL’s record week as snow began to fall for the weekend. Whakapapa now has a snow base of 61cm and Turoa has just hit the one meter mark. More snow is in the forecast for later this week.