Operators reveal prices for skiing

• Published date: 18 April 2024
• Publication title: Guardian, The

With lower-mountain passes and long-term three-season memberships, both fields are experimenting with different pass types and rates to see if they can make the 2024 season work

A full adult season pass for 2024 at either Whakapapa or Tūroa will cost $649, a slight increase on the previous season. However, with separate operators this season with their own individual passes, a season pass comes with half the skiing of previous years.

This also represents the first price increase in two years, when a RAL anytime season pass was frozen at $599 during the receivership process.

However, both RAL and PTL have been looking at ways to attract skiers back following the financial problems encountered by the North Island ski slopes.

Included in this season’s Tūroa and Whakapapa season passes will be two days’ guest passes at each others’ slopes.

Both operators have been looking at added incentives to justify the price of separate season passes.

Whakapapa woos new skiers with lower-slope and kids’ passes Whakapapa, whose season passes go on sale today, has looked further afield for added value. RAL has looked to a partnership with the Powder Alliance to provide three days’ complimentary skiing at partner resorts in Canada and the US.

While this is likely to appeal to only a few more adventurous snowsports fans, there are also local incentives for Whakapapa season pass holders. This includes buddy passes for money off friends’ day passes and half-price skiing at the Auckland Snowplanet indoor ski centre.

Free passes at Whakapapa for children under 10 would also greatly increase its appeal for families, says Whakapapa chief executive Travis Donoghue.

“As we kick off 2024, we are looking back to that legacy with a high focus on growing the sport into the future, so we are putting our priority with our future guests by offering free season passes to kids under 10,” he said.

There is a focus on getting a new generation on skis with a return of youth Alpine ski competitions like the North Island Primary School Ski Champs (NIPS) being held for the first time since 2019.

For beginners wanting to give snowsports a go, the ski field is also offering lower-mountain adult passes at roughly half the price of an all-mountain pass.

“We are pleased that we have partnered with Tūroa on two free days reciprocal with a purchase from either side,” Donoghue...