Snowboarding at New Zealand's Mt Ruapehu

After running away from the New Zealand winter these last few years I brushed the dust off my snowboarding gear and headed to Mt Ruapehu. I did two long weekends in Ohakune and went snowboarding on the Turoa side of Mt Ruapehu. I thought I’d share my experience with you and answer some of the questions my friends ask when they haven’t skied or snowboarded before but want to give it a go.

My friend Nattaya and I at the Turoa ski field with our snowboards, July 2020

My snowboarding background:

I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy so pretty quickly I decided that I was going to give snowboarding a good crack. I was really lucky that during my Uni days, SnowPlanet did a Girl’s Night where we could do an evening session for only $9 if we had the gear (they later put the price up to $14 which is still insanely cheap). I made the most of this and honed my skills there and then would do a few trips to the snow here and there. When I was still learning I did one day at Mt Hutt which I don’t remember much of, and then had a disastrous experience at Mt Lyford which I’ve managed to repress. I went most years for a few days here and there until I got the travel bug and kept avoiding NZ winters. Now that I’m back, I’m making the most of it!

Mt Ruapehu Ski Fields - Whakapapa & Turoa

Mt Ruapehu and the Tongariro National Park are about 4.5 hours drive from Auckland (thanks to the new expressway it’s even closer than before) and there are two public ski fields. Whakapapa (if you’re not from New Zealand, the Wh is pronounced like an “f”, so it does sound naughty, try be mature about it) on the north face of Mt Ruapehu and Turoa on the south-western side. There’s no easy way to get between the two ski fields, you have to drive back down the mountain to the main road and then up to the next ski field which would take over an hour so people usually do one per day. If you are going to Whakapapa, the more scenic side, you’d be best to stay at National Park and if you want to go to Turoa and the closest town is Ohakune (home to the giant carrot). Whakapapa is the more touristy side with gondolas and a few more facilities with accommodation on the actual mountain. From my experience, Turoa is favoured by snowboarders due to its natural half pipes and wider tracks.

The Ohakune experience

Ohakune is a really fun place to stay during the snow season but if there’s no snow and the weather isn’t good, there’s not a whole lot to do. There are a lot of gigs on the weekends and most years George FM puts on the Snowball which I’ve never been to but sounds fun. On the two weekends I went there, there was a State Of Mind gig at the Powderkeg and another one the second time I was down there but it was sold out and I can’t remember who was playing. If you’re there in the daytime and not going up the mountain, you could check out the giant carrot, go rock climbing at the indoor centre or find a bush walk/hike, I’m sure there’s some around. There’s plenty of options for accommodation down there, both times I stayed with friends in AirBnbs which are all about a half hour drive to the ski fields.

Lois and I at the giant carrot in Ohakune. Trust be when I say it’s very big!

Turoa ski field

I’ll just write about Turoa since I haven’t been to Whakapapa in years. This year, due to Covid, the beginners area was technically closed (the magic carpet and platter weren’t running) but the some of the friends that I went with were complete beginners and were fine to practice down there and just walk back to the top of the slope. For the beginners who are feeling a bit more confident there’s the Parklane Chairlift that takes you to the top of the only green run and apparently there’s another platter at the top of it with another beginners area but that wasn’t open when I went.

There are four other chair lifts going up the mountain but when I was there the Ngā Wai Heke chair to the far east was closed. Only the top chair lift (the High Noon Express) has padded seats and leg rests, the others are your basic 3/4 people chair lifts. Most of the runs on the main section of the mountain are blue runs, better for intermediate riders and from the top of High Noon Express are some black diamond runs that go further out to the edge of the boundary. This time I didn’t do any of the black diamond runs as it was very icy and although I’ve done a few of them before, I wasn’t with anyone who knew them well enough to risk the dodgy terrain. If you want to take a look at the tracks and find out more about it, you can do so here.

Both times I went with people who had a range of experience on snow and I can confidently say that if you just give it a go, you’ll love it! You’ll probably come away with more than a few bruises but it’s always worth it. Here’s some things I would tell anyone thinking about giving it a go:

Snowboarding is an expensive hobby

Have a go with some rental gear and if you get hooked, that’s when you should look at buying gear for the long run. If you only think you’ll do it once or twice in your life then definitely don’t bother, its super easy and not too expensive to rent snow clothing and all the gear. You can’t really kit yourself out for less than a grand, especially if you want everything shiny and new.

Anyone can do it

I’ve taught my mum how to ski! I’ve been with beginners on the mountain who have never been on the snow and after a day or two they’re up on the green run. Skiing is a lot easier to learn so if you just want to have fun for a day, I always recommend skiing. But if you want to really give it a go, try snowboarding! If you have kids, start them young. You see kids on the mountain who are barely 2 feet tall tearing up the tracks because kids have no fear.

Only half of us had experience with snowboarding and now they’re hooked!

Is snowboarding similar to surfing/skateboarding?

Umm…kinda? It’s similar to surfing in the feeling of gliding along and turning the board with your body but unlike surfing, getting on the board is simple once you’ve worked out the gear. Skating has a few similarities, I would say that if you can do tricks on a skateboard you’d be able to understand them a bit better when attempting them on a snowboard but I can’t do tricks on either. Except a hang ten, but that’s impossible on a snowboard!

When is the best time to go snowboarding at Mt Ruapehu?

Obviously winter. The season starts in July but I would recommend going a bit later like September to allow it to gather a good snow base. I think the season finishes in October and by then it will be getting pretty warm. I did a trip towards the end of July and then two weeks later in August and both times there was about 40cm on the lower mountain, 120cm on the upper mountain, with a lot of icy patches and exposed rock so not ideal conditions. There’s always SnowPlanet if you want to learn or have a refresher between mountain trips.