Four old-school ski huts and where to find them
When Bill Mead and Bernard Drake decided to form New Zealand’s first ski club in July 1913, they chose for their headquarters one of the few mountain huts then existing: Waihohonu, in Tongariro National Park. Built a decade before by the newly established Department of Tourist and Health Resorts, the two-room hut ideally suited the fledgling Ruapehu Ski Club. However, access to Waihohonu Hut was long, and completion of the Main Trunk Railway to National Park saw the focus of skiing soon shift to the western side of the park. RSC members decided they needed a hut right among the best ski basins, and Whakapapa proved ideal. They built Glacier Hut in 1922–23 and for more than a decade it was the only hut there. During the 1930s, skiing took off as a surge of interest in outdoor pursuits and winter sports gained momentum. Ski clubs formed wherever there was suitable terrain, and many clubs built huts. Gradually, the larger ski areas gained better facilities, and huts grew into lodges. The rough and ready shelters of the past were pulled down or succumbed to the elements. However, a few survived and still make memorable destinations, including these four notable ones.