Facilities & Services
Turoa Ski Resort Facilities
Like its sister resort
Whakapapa,
Turoa Ski Field has it all. There are 3 cafés and restaurants, a medical centre, retail store, rental station, ski & board workshop (great service, we tested them!), snow school, ticket office, toilets and the Yeti Kids Centre.
Turoa Child Care
The Yeti Kids Centre is like a crèche, and a great place for parents to park their kids whilst having some REAL fun. It’s a fully licensed facility (licensed as in licensed to operate as a crèche, not licensed as in licensed to serve alcohol!) and caters for children aged 2 to 5. It is open from 9am to 3.30pm, from Thursday to Monday - so the hardworking educator can have the odd day off.
Ski and Snowboard School
Turoa runs a professional snow school, Turoa Snow School, with instructors from New Zealand and all over the world, including Europe and South America. Group and private lessons are available for beginners to experts, and prices are decent and competitive. For example, you can purchase a Rocket Pass, taking you from absolute beginner to competent skier or boarder in just 3 days (now that’s a claim!). It includes equipment, lessons and lift passes and costs NZD 355.00 for adults and NZD 260.00 for youth (2011 rates).
Eating on the Mountain
Turoa has 3 cafés and restaurants, one at the bottom of the mountain, one at the top of Parklane Chair, one three-quarters up the volcano. Two of them are licensed, and they all offer views; the higher up, the better the scenery.
Top bill goes to the Alpine Chalet Café and Bar at the bottom of the mountain. It’s a two-storey food haven, with an outdoor terrace downstairs and a nice bistro with a slightly up-market feel upstairs.
Turoa Retail Shop
For a spot of shopping, the mountain offers Vertical Store. It stocks the latest variety of snow and street wear, souvenirs and accessories. The Vertical Store is located at the bottom of the Alpine Chalet. The manager claims her prices are as competitive as any city shop and she gives ski pass holders a 10 percent discount. The catch: it has to be a Season Pass…
Banking Facilities
There are NO ATM facilities at Turoa. However, the mountain accepts Eftpos and most major credit cards, including at the restaurants and cafés up in the ski area.
Ohakune Facilities and Ski Hire
The closest town to Turoa ski field is Ohakune, 17 kilometres down the mountain. Ohakune offers a string of shops, selling anything from bric-a-brac to full-on snow gear. There’s a petrol station, historic converted post-office, numerous cafés, bars and restaurants, including Chinese and Thai take-away, chemist, bottle shop and a well-stocked supermarket selling processed and fresh food.
Ohakune has various ski shops selling or hiring out ski and snowboard gear.
SLR: This business has been providing skiers and boarders with equipment since 1997. It has two shops and they open at 7.30am (7am on weekends). One shop closes at 6pm, the other at 9pm. On Fridays (the busiest day for rentals) they are open until midnight.
TCB Ski and Board Shop: It sells and rents all the best brands and provides expert boot fitting and related services. It also operates a workshop and repairs and fixes broken snow gear.
Snowcentre Powderhorn: Another ski and board rental station that also operates as a workshop. It sells the complete range of mountain gear. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6pm and till late on Friday.
The Ohakune Ski Shed and Boardshed: Another business renting out snow gear. It opened in 1973 and some of the same management are still involved today. Their other claim to fame is that they pride themselves for NOT using a computer in the workshop. The (fire-red) building is full of character too.
Alternatively, you can rent your gear up on the mountain, at Turoa Rental Station, 20 metres from the bottom of Parklane Chair, and a few steps from the bus unloading zone.