Turoa is a beautiful resort and definitely the best lift accessible terrain on the North Island, with sweeping wide and steep runs of the 6 great back country bowls and shoots all traversable from the lift, and even more just a short hike away, And the glorious descent from the summit is something else when the conditions are right (and you feel like a good walk).

Best time to ski here is definitely midweek as there are no lift lines to worry about, groomers are uncrowded, staff and customers seem genuinely friendlier. I work weekends and get Wednesday, Thursday off work so generally take the Tuesday and Friday off as to get a good amount of days in.

Skiing the weekend at Turoa is another story, however. Turoa gets a lot of traffic during the weekends and school holidays making the field very congested. A combination of Auckland and Wellingtonians and everyone in between heads to the slopes of Ruapaehu at a moment's notice when the conditions are looking good. Meaning the resort gets slammed with gapers of all shapes and sizes looking to score a few good turns. Unfortunately, Turoa only has 1 express chair ( I think Movenpick and Giant should also run express ( Detatchable lifts ) as the ones they are using now are painfully slow. People often complain about the staff especially during busy times, which i don't think is fair; its not their fault thousands of people showed up to ski when the resort can't really handle that many people.

Anyway, I love Turoa. Only a short 4.5 hr drive from home (including a stop at the Taumaranui maccas); can't wait for the first trip this season 1 month to go.