And one of the most annoying things about living in Auckland is that it's four and a half hours to skiing... it tempts you into thinking that you can ski for two days over a weekend, and somehow make it back to work on Monday without being completely exhausted. Which is not to say it's not worth it, as we've done it before, and no doubt we'll do it again...
We last went down to Ruapehu at the end of last season we skied at Turoa, on the south side of the mountain. This time we also spent a day at Whakapapa, on the north side, which has a more Alpine character, and a view of Mount "Doom" Ngauruhoe.
The weather was fantastic, although the snow was pretty icy. We tried a couple of the blacks, but many of them were just ice sheets under a small covering of powder. We ignored the "extreme terrain" signs only the once... and the double-blacks were entirely cordoned off.
