We are going skiing on Mt Doom!

Ok, technically, it’s not Mount Doom (aka Mount Ngauruhoe) but its volcano neighbour, Mount Ruapehu. But doesn’t skiing Mt Ruapehu sound amazing? For me, as a skiing and volcano lover, being able to actually ski on an active volcano is the best thing that could happen to me.

We’re leaving Auckland at around 11 am on a Thursday and make our way to Tongariro National Park. According to the GPS, it should take us about four hours but somehow we always manage to need a lot longer than they tell us. A viewpoint in Taumarunui, a coffee in Hamilton, and suddenly it’s four hours later and we’re still far away from our destination.

By 5 pm we finally arrive at our hoste in National Park Village and check in. We even have enough time to go and sort out the rental gear for Chris (I have my own skiing gear).
Hot tip: Hire your skiing gear in the village and don’t wait until you’re at the base of the ski fields. Yes, it’s less comfortable since you have to pack it all into your car or carry it to the shuttle. But it will save you a lot of money!

As we walk back to the hostel with Chris’ skis and boots, the clouds around Mount Ruapehu magically clear and reveal its whole beauty. The volcano is covered in snow and looking absolutely magical. Walking in light shirts and with spring all around us, it looks like a mountain from another world got placed on a flat, green area and then forgotten about. I’m getting all excited at the thought of going skiing there the next day.

Unfortunately, the view only lasts for about 10 minutes and by the time I got my hands free and a good view to take a picture, the mountain tops are back in the clouds again. Oh well.

We spend the evening at Schnapps Bar, just a stumble away from our hostel. The place looks like you would expect from a mountain bar/restaurant, all wood, homely couches and a lovely warm log fireplace. It’s crowded and quite loud around dinner time but becomes cosier later on. The food is delicious and arrives incredibly fast! And they have our favourite kiwi wine, The Ned Pinot Gris, bonus!

The last call is a little early for our taste. By 10 pm they were ready to close down for the night. But it’s probably a good thing as most people would have an early rise ahead, be it for skiing, biking or hiking, and we could all use the sleep.

Ski fields closed due to weather? Find other great things to do in Tongariro National Park that are always open.

As we look out of the window the next morning, my heart sinks a little. Grey, rainy, yucky! No mountain in sight. During breakfast, I keep checking the webcams of Whakapapa and Turoa ski field to figure out which one would be the least bad choice to go. In the end, we decided to go to Turoa. As we learned later in the evening, this was a good choice as Whakapapa had to close most of their lifts over the day due to wind.

Turoa is a bit further away from National Park Village than Whakapapa. It takes us about half an hour to get to Ohuakune and stop for coffee (first things first, right). From Ohakune, it’s another 20 minutes’ drive. The road first winds through beautiful native forest and as we climb up, the green gives way to the typical volcanic scenery of black sand and red rocks.

Unfortunately, it’s not just landscape that’s changing but also the weather. Starting off in rainy National Park Village, we drove into the lovely warm sun in Ohakune and the further up the mountain we get, the darker and rainier it gets again.

Being a little late, we have to park quite far from the base. But a shuttle bus brings us from the parking lot to the chair lifts and after queuing for our tickets, we’re ready to hit the slopes!

The snow is…wet, to say the least. Down at the base, there is hardly any snow next to the slopes. But hey, it’s spring and it was 15°C the day before, what can you expect. A little higher up, after the first chair lift, it looks a little better. The snow’s still wet but at least there is snow everywhere now.

Chris starts off on the beginners’ slope to get back into the skiing feeling and I decide to take the next chair lift. We arrange to meet up again in an hour and off we go.

The visibility gets worse by every meter I’m climbing on the chairlift. And eventually, it even starts to rain. And not just a little bit. No, it pours down while I sit on my lift. No chance to escape the rain, I get pretty soaked through all my layers of clothes and make a note to self to buy new, waterproof, skiing gear. 

Arriving at the top of the lift, the snow is surprisingly good. I can’t ride with the goggles on, though, as it’s still raining and I can’t see a thing. Screen wipers for goggles would be a great invention. So here I go, more or less blind-skiing on a skifield I’ve never been on before. I have no idea where I am as there’s pretty much a white-out around me. I just follow the handy blue lines the Mt Ruapehu team sprayed in the snow for orientation help. Luckily, I end up where I started, just in time to meet up with Chris for lunch.

After lunch, the visibility has dropped even further and the rain got worse. We still decide to go riding for another hour or two, we can’t get any more soaked anyway. Might as well get some more rain in our faces. We now tackle the bigger slopes together and Chris is doing extremely well, despite the fact we don’t see where we’re going and him being a beginner skier.

Somewhere between three and four’ o’clock, we decide that it’s a wrap for today and make our way down to the base. Back at the car, we’re trying to get out of our wet stuff as good as possible. Thankfully, we were wise enough to bring spare clothes. The skiing jacket and pants are dripping wet and we have to wring them out before we can store them in the car.

Back in National Park Village and after a hot shower, we head back to Schnapps Bar for dinner and let the day pass through again. Even though the weather wasn’t nearly as good as we hoped it was so much fun to just be in the snow together. We’re tired and happy and more than keen to come back next season. And then hopefully even with sun and powder snow!

Update 2019: We did give Whakapapa a try in 2018 and got similarly bad weather. Third time lucky, though: We went back to Turoa ski field early in the Winter season this year, and the weather couldn’t have been any better! I mean, just look at this!

Where to stay in Tongariro National Park Village?

There is not much to see and do in the town itself, but it sure does have a lot of hotels and backpackers in National Park Village! We have stayed in the following Tongariro accommodations and can recommend them all:

Low budget

Howard’s Mountain Lodge

Howard’s Mountain Lodge has become our favourite Tongariro National Park accommodation. It has dorms and clean private rooms, both with shared bathrooms. The reason why we love this place so much is the communal area where we spend most of our evenings. It’s rustic with a lot of wood on the walls, comfy couches, a log fireplace and a free pool table. There’s also a free spa pool to soak in, just book your slot early enough. The value for money at this lodge is just amazing!

Click here to book Howard’s Mountain Lodge

National Park Backpackers

The National Park Backpackers is a rustic hostel with a big kitchen, dorms, twins, double and single rooms. There’s a TV room, a dry room and laundry. The shared bathrooms and the kitchen are very clean. All the rooms are decent sized and have heaters. They might be a little dusty at times, but at this rate, it doesn't really matter. The hostel rents out hiking and skiing clothes. And the backpackers even comes with its own climbing hall!

Medium Budget

The Park Hotel Ruapehu

The Park Hotel Ruapehu looks exactly like what you would expect of a mountain hotel. It is wooden, rustic, has a lovely restaurant with bar and features a big log fire for those homely feelings. The rooms have a good size and come with their own bathroom. In the courtyard of the hotel is a little garden with two spa pools that can be used for free. Nothing soothes your muscles more than soaking in a hot pool after a strenuous day hiking or on skis. 

Getting to Whakapapa and Turoa ski field

Whakapapa ski field

From Tongariro National Park Village, it's about a 15 minutes' drive to Whakapapa Village and then another 15 minutes or so up the mountain on Bruce Road. It's a steep and curvy road through rough-looking volcanic terrain and there is limited parking at the top.

If Bruce Road is icy or snowy, only cars with 4WD or chains are permitted beyond Whakapapa Village. All others will have to take the shuttle bus.

Important information about the shuttle buses to Whakapapa ski field:

From ski season 2020, no more shuttle buses run from Whakapapa Village to the ski field anymore, unless you stay in a hotel there. You’ll have to turn around to National Park Village and take the shuttle bus from the stop next to the train station (there’s a big new parking lot to leave your car). Best practice is to book your shuttle the night before. They start at around NZD 30 per person.

To avoid driving to Whakapapa Village and having to turn back to National Park village if Bruce Road is closed, check out the Whakapapa snow report in the morning and make your plans accordingly. 

Turoa ski field

From Tongariro National Park Village, you'll have to drive to Ohakune for about 45 minutes. It takes another 20 minutes from the village to the ski field and there is ample parking (although it does fill up on a sunny day). The road is equally steep and curvy as it is to Whakapapa.

If the road is icy or snowy, only cars with 4WD or chains are permitted to drive up and you'll have to take the shuttle bus. Please check the out Turoa snow report in the morning before to avoid unnecessary driving. 

New in 2020: Book your parking on the mountain

From Winter 2020, Mt Ruapehu trials a new parking system. Often, on sunny days, the mountain parking lots were full by 7.30 am and anyone arriving later had no chance of getting a parking spot on the mountain. Now, with the new booking system, you can pre-book your parking spot.

However, it also means you’ll have to know which ski field you will be skiing on before making the booking as you won’t be able to book a spot at both ski fields.

This post was first written in October 2017 and has since been updated. Last update: 08 July 2020.