the War was a boom time for Whakapapa skifield, with the installation of ski-tows, chair lifts, and new facilities. In August 1948, newly renovated, Chateau Tongariro reopened to provide accommodation for increasing numbers of visitors. In 1957, control of the hotel passed to the newly-created Tourist Hotel Corporation (THC) of New Zealand, which also developed the Whakapapa skifield. The hotel rooms were gradually upgraded and reduced in number from 90 to 64, but the profitability of the Chateau declined. Power supply Power to the complex was initially provided by a coal-fired furnace that heated water, which was then circulated around the complex to provide heating, and a 100 kW hydro power station in the Whakapapanui Stream, which provided power for lighting and cooking. By the early 1950s the power supplies at the complex were becoming inadequate. In June 1952 the Ministry of Works requested the King Country Electric Power Board to provide a 500 to 600 kW power supply to the Chateau. This resulted in an 8.5-mile long overhead 11 kV transmission line being constructed and commissioned in 1955. This not only supplied power to the chateau but also to the Whakapapa ski field and to several mountain huts on Mount Ruapehu. In the early 1960s a second line was constructed and commissioned in 1964 by the King Country Electric Power Board to improve the reliability of supply to the Chateau and other customers in the area. Private ownership In 1990, during a period of Government privatisation of assets, the Chateau was sold to Kah New Zealand Limited, a subsidiary of Oriental Holdings Berhad (OHB), a Malaysian-based conglomerate owned by the Loh family, with hotel and restaurant holdings in Singapore and Malaysia. The new owners invested NZ$3 million in refurbishing the complex and renamed it The Grand Chateau (although it is still widely referred to as Chateau Tongariro); the ski area was sold to a separate company. In 2005 a new five-storey wing costing NZ$6 million and containing 40 rooms and replicating the style of the original building was opened. To avoid disturbing guests, the expansion used a Scandinavian system of modular construction, with the rooms built in Auckland and trucked to the site where they were installed using a crane. The Chateau is currently operated by Bayview International Hotels and Resorts, which is also a subsidiary of Oriental Holdings Berhad (OHB). After the 2008 global financial crisis, skiing holidays