Up until 1932, there were only two huts on Mt. Ruapehu, Salt Hut, just below the Loop Road and Ruapehu Ski Club, on Hutt Flat, but with skiing becoming more popular, the demand for beds on the mountain started to increase.
A group of keen Chateau staff lead by ‘Shortie’ Clarkin joined forces and applied for permission to build a third hut, and so the Tongariro Ski Club era had begun. A five-room hut was built just above the Top of the Bruce, a perfect site for such a facility.
With the opening of the first chair lift in 1953, Tongariro Ski Club’s position was ideal for skiing off out the front door and over to the lift, a benefit we still enjoy today.
Additions and alterations continued for the next 43 years, but in 1995, the original club was demolished (everything apart from the chimney) and replaced with a modern first class club.
With the opening of the southern side of the mountain, Ohakune village was attracting more skiers and boarders to the wide-open spaces of the Turoa ski field. In 1985, after a huge fund-raising effort by many club members, a lodge was built to cater for those converted Turoa members and for our growing membership.