Tūroa Ski Area is on the southwestern slopes of Mount Ruapehu in Tongariro National Park, in the centre of New Zealand’s North Island. Its highest lift point is 2,230 metres (7,316 feet), the highest lift in New Zealand, and the resort gives 722 metres (2,369 feet) of vertical, which it says is the largest in Australasia. Four chairlifts, two pomas and a carpet serve 500 hectares (1,236 acres) of terrain.
Tūroa officially opened in 1979. Ruapehu Alpine Lifts ran it from 2000, and after that company’s liquidation Pure Tūroa took over in April 2024. Whakapapa, on the other side of the mountain, is run separately.
The Giant takes its name from the Giant chair, and the resort measures its upper snow depth at the top of that chair; the lower measurement is in the Alpine Meadow. Mountain View looks out over the mountain. None of the cams shows the road, so check the snow report, which carries the daily road status.
Tūroa is at the top of the Ohakune Mountain Road, a 17-kilometre (10.6-mile) sealed road from Ohakune that takes 20 to 25 minutes. Ohakune locals built the road after forming the Mountain Road Association in 1952, and it was finished in 1963. The resort gives drive times to the ski area of about 2 hours from Taupō, 4 hours from Wellington and 5 hours from Auckland.
Winter weather can bring road restrictions such as chains required, shown in the snow report and on the sign at the bottom of the road. On those days the resort suggests the shuttle from Ohakune. Tūroa doesn’t hire chains, but a shop in Ohakune does.
Tūroa isn’t on the Epic, Ikon or Indy Pass, or the Mountain Collective.