May 16, 2023

2023 Life Pass Survey Results

Whakapapa and Turoa Life Pass Holders have confirmed their willingness to financially support continued local ownership and avoid liquidation of the Mt Ruapehu Skifields.

There are hundreds of thousands of people with strong ties to the skifields on Mt Ruapehu.

The 14,000 Life Pass Holders have a particular role in financially supporting skifields because they have such a strong incentive for the company to succeed. In 2022, MBIE conducted a survey (facilitated by PwC) of the Life Pass Holders willingness to pay a fee to maintain their life passes as part of a proposed 'commercial transaction' to move the assets of the skifields to a new company. That survey found approximately $7M in demand. Since then the Life Pass Holders have been working with a number of parties who are interested in acquiring the skifields.

The Ruapehu Skifields Stakeholders Association has submitted a proposal to MBIE to acquire the assets and made an offer to collaborate on governance with any interested party willing to support a community-owned model. A key financial part of the RSSA's own bid was the life pass settlement fee and equity investment by life pass holders. To evaluate the credibility of that proposal, the Life Pass Holders asked PwC to distribute the RSSA Survey to the 14,000 life pass holders. The survey asked questions that could be important to MBIE, PwC and the Life Pass Holders in evaluating the credibility of any proposals involving a combination of:

Payment of a fee to maintain the life passes.
Payment of an ongoing annual activation fee for the life passes.
Equity investment by life pass holders into the skifield operator.

The results of the survey are being pro-actively released so that the analysis can be used as part of evaluation of any bids to acquire the skifields.