Subaru and RAL Team Up For A Safe, Fun Winter

All this cold weather is about to be worth it when Mt Ruapehu opens this Saturday, with great skiing and riding conditions across Turoa and Whakapapa ski fields. Subaru drivers can look forward to some easy access fun on the slopes with 200 of the highest carparks booked out for them for the annual Top Weekend at Turoa on August 22 and 23. While Subaru’s Top Weekend has been held intermittently for a decade, Subaru of New Zealand’s involvement with Ruapehu Alpine Lifts Limited (RAL) has meant the mountain has been meeting its match every winter for 17 years.

RAL runs the two commercial ski fields on Mt Ruapehu - Turoa and Whakapapa - and Subaru has been its official vehicle supplier since 1998, initially with Turoa, and now both Whakapapa and Turoa, following the merger. RAL chief executive officer Dave Mazey says that the partnership has been a very strong and now long term relationship that has provided RAL with the perfect company vehicle for its management team.  “The Subaru brand complements our brand values associated with fun, active sports, family and safety which we promote to our dominant North Island-based customer.”

For him personally, this relationship has allowed him to continue driving a Subaru model that is perfect for the many journeys he undertakes on the alpine roads, which include accessing both the Whakapapa and Turoa ski areas. “The Subaru AWD system provides greater control and security during the approximate 50,000km per year that I travel on the highways of the central North Island,” Mr Mazey says. Recently he has been driving the Outback and XV models. “To me they are both a lovely vehicle; very comfortable on the highway, exceptionally good when on snow or ice, and provide greater control when that unexpected circumstance requiring evasive action (nearly always caused by another vehicle one is sharing the road with) does occur,” Mr Mazey says.

Long before the ski fields open on June 27, RAL team members have been driving their Subaru vehicles up and down Mt Ruapehu and due to their vehicles’ Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive capabilities; they are able to continue doing their jobs on a day to day basis, no matter what weather the mountain throws at them. The Whakapapa area manager Steve McGill has been driving a Subaru as his company vehicle for the last 8 to 10 years.  During this time he has experienced all Subaru models and says he has been “impressed with them all.” “My role means that I need to be able to get to the ski field no matter what the conditions are on the road. Up here, we experience heavy snow falls, extreme ice and severe gales and the Subaru All-Wheel-Drive has got me to work through all of these conditions every time,” Mr McGill says.

For Subaru NZ managing director Wallis Dumper the relationship with RAL is the ideal way to highlight how Subaru of New Zealand helps Kiwis get to where they need to work or play. “The mountain really has met its match with our cars as whether you are driving them up the ski field to your office, or you are heading up for a fun day of skiing or riding with your friends, the Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive system ensures you will get there safely and in style,” Mr Dumper says. Mr Dumper continues, “We have always promoted our boxer engine beauties to the snow enthusiasts and you need only to look in the carparks to spot how many Subaru drivers enjoy the invisible advantages of our engineering prowess, which saves all the hassles of chains and the like for the average weekend escape skier.”