TCB Shred Ruapehu in May!

Comment Share Posted on Saturday May 16th at 4:34 p.m. Tweet

The 12th of May was a special day for some of the boys in Ohakune.

After the mountain had the white stuff falling for a few days, the RAL web cams were all covered in snow and down here in Kune we would get the odd glimpse of the hill through the clouds. As can be expected, being snow junkies, we needed a fix. So the call went out to some of our good friends at RAL to see if we could just get past the road closure gate, get up and take some photos, maybe go for a little hike and a turn or two.

So after a suspenseful wait, with no reply, the boys were looking to for another way to get the goods.

Plan B would include push bike riding and hiking to get to the car park. Our prospects were looking dim. Then came the call. Mike Smith of RAL was going to come up with us, open the gate to give us access to the road which meant we could get to the base area and then hike from there.

All hell broke loose in the shop! K2 Dazza was out the door to get his Ski boots. Monster (who was conveniently hanging out in the store talking when we received the call) was not far behind Dazza. This left Ben and I in the shop running around hunting for all of our gear. After a few trips home and turning the shop upside down, the boys -all with big grins- were set for some snow.

We get to the road barrier and its all go. The road (right the way down to the hairpin!) had snow and in a few spots it looked as if you could tree ride.

Still, we were all amped to just go and stand on some snow! Higher up on the road it was like the middle of winter the snow had fallen low and plentiful. The cloud was coming and going but we had good visibility. As we pulled into the car park we were greeted by an empty carpark - on powder day in May! The base area was covered in 6- 8 cms of snow. Alpine Meadow was in fine shape and higher up the mountain all we could see was snow.

It was at this moment I found out that our afternoon was about to get a hell of a lot better. Deuce Big Blow (a.k.a Jade) had hooked the boys up hard; he had organised us a lift on the Movenpick. So after the crew had got the old Movenpick into action we were ON IT and heading up the lift line.

Snow coverage looked awesome. Drifts of powder and snow covered ridges. We were at the top and the cloud had sucked in. This was not going to stop us. We walked up the express line a short way just to gain a few more turns before the cloud cleared a little. So to the descent... we had found a clear patch in the cloud and went for it. Chalky powder and lots of it. Monster, Daz, Ben, Mike and I were all stoked to be on the snow. Big rocks covered in snow which reminded me of many a season spent in Canada and those cool pillows you get to smash and slash.

Turoas' Bone Yard had great coverage and looked in great shape, in fact the whole mountain looked great and we were lucky to be sliding on it. The run was over almost in a flash but the memories of the afternoon will live on. There were big smiles, high fives and a beer or two. All this in an afternoons work living the dream in Ohakune. Thanks to all the crew who made it happen; Deuce Big Blow, Mike and the Turoa maintenance crew.

Cheers.

O Dog.