General manager of Kings Ohakune, Stu Robinson. Photo: Katie Todd/RNZ
Ruapehu Alpine Lift’s financial woes have come as a major blow for business people in Ohakune, who say a future without the ski field would be “ripping the heart out of the community.”
The operator of Tūroa and Whakapapa is in voluntary administration, blaming unfavourable weather and two years of Covid-19 disruptions for driving it deep into the red.
Dawn Harallambi, of Odetta’s Kitchen Ohakune, said the fate of RAL had been on locals’ minds for a while.
“People were expecting it. Maybe not as quickly as it happened, but I think in the back of our minds we were concerned about the operations up there,” she said.
“Things haven’t been going so smoothly… Covid, a terrible season. It’s really hard to maintain a business with no cash flow.”
But with that sense of inevitability, long time local and The Kitchen co-owner Paul Steiglbauer said there was also frustration.
He said people felt as if RAL had lost touch with the community and the mountain.
“When you have a bunch of people that don’t actually live or engage in our community, for example some of them are based in Queenstown, they don’t have their finger on the pulse,” he said.
“I mean, it’s a very unique situation, the maunga here, Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park. Our environment, and the ability for what the staff and people on the mountain can do within their concession. It’s a completely different scenario as compared to Cardona etcetera in the South Island.”
The company’s downturn comes despite financial input from local and central government.
Ruapehu mayor Weston Kirton said he understood the government had contributed $9 million to keep the ski fields going.
Taupo Council said it had chosen to put $1 million of investment bonds into the Whakapa’s Sky Waka gondola.
The Ruapehu shareholders and Life Pass Holders group have also criticised RAL’s so called “corporate approach”.
Stu Robinson, general manager of Kings Ohakune Bar & Restaurant, said it might be about time for experts to take a look at the company’s books.
“They haven’t made smart decisions all the way along. And to be honest, I think volunteer administration is possibly not a bad thing, because it means that someone else can come in and go, ‘right.
“Second set of eyes. This is where we could have done things better. Let’s trim the fat here, let’s do these things different, and if you apply those sorts of business models, then you could be onto a winner'”.
PwC said “all options” were on the table to restore the business.
However, voluntary administrator John Fisk told First Up he couldn’t rule out the possibility RAL would have to close with all its assets sold.
That has left Ohakune locals to ponder the potential of a future without the ski fields, which was almost unimaginable for Steiglbauer.
“I couldn’t even tell you,” he said
“It would just be like ripping the heart out of this community. I mean, so many people have put so much time and effort into building really strong businesses here. There’s families here. There’s people that have worked in the mountain that have bought houses and contributed.”
Visitors on the streets of Ohakune agreed, saying they would like to come back to Ohakune for snow in the future.
“Hopefully they can pull something out and get this town going again,” said Lois O’Donnell.
“If there’s no skifield then it’s a big loss for the whole area or the whole.. even New Zealand really,” said Bridget Best.
Stu Robinson agreed the threat of losing the ski resort was “definitely a concern” – but said it was fortunate that Ohakune had softened its reliance on the ski field in recent years.
It had diversified its offerings to lure hikers, mountain bikers and people seeking luxury retreats, he said.
“I mean, it would be a massive dent. But I think 10, 15 years ago it would have been a lot worse,” he said.
“What is in our control is concentrating on making sure that we are getting visitor numbers here. And it’s not just a ski town. There’s lots more to do”
Steiglbauer said it was time for the community, iwi and government to put their heads together to help look for a solution.
He believed a little more financial help from the government could go a long way.
“As a community here, you know, for years we just sit here and listen to ‘poor old Queenstown’ and poor old Queenstown’ and poor old Queenstown’ and poor old Queenstown’,” he said.
“Well, hey, we had an eruption that affected our businesses. We didn’t get any handouts. We’ve worked through it. And people say that we’re we’ve got strength and we’ll always work through it. You know, we we need assistance. And and that assistance is going to benefit everybody. The government will get that back through tax, through growth of businesses here.”
“We just need a little bit of love.”
Whakapapa skifield is set to keep operating – weather dependent – for what’s left of the ski season, until 24 October.
Beyond that, the ski field’s future remains uncertain.
Robinson said he could see strong similarities between being a Warriors fan, and working in hospitality in Ohakune.
“‘Because next year is our year,” he said.
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