The Ruapehu Ski Club was inaugurated in August 1914 at Waihohonu Hut on the eastern side of Tongariro National Park. Only the previous year and also based at Waihohonu Hut the founders of the club, William Mead and Bernard Drake, were the first to attempt recreational alpine skiing in New Zealand. Mead and Drake soon realised the suitability of the Whakapapa Valley slopes for skiing. The popularity of skiing grew quickly but, despite the provision of several huts and an access road on the western side of the park, Waihohonu Hut remained the base for some years. Eventually, with the initiative of the Ruapehu Ski Club, the western side of the mountain was opened up for recreational use and major development of the ski field followed the erection of Glacier Hut. The proposed hut was approved by the Tongariro National Park Board and work began in 1922. It was not until the following year that club finances, and the weather, allowed a group of volunteers led by William Salt to complete the hut. At the time the hut was built the Ruapehu Ski Club numbered some one hundred and ten members. Glacier Hut was named after the Whakapapa Glacier which in the 1920s was a lot lower than it is now. The hut was the only structure in the vicinity for some years, and after heavy snow it sometimes disappeared altogether. Although rudimentary it served the club well until it was superseded by larger and better huts starting with a building known simply as 'Hut', a twelve, later twenty-four, bunk hut completed in 1936. Glacier Hut was used mainly as overflow accommodation from then on. From 1944 to 1949 the Auckland University College Tramping Club leased and maintained Glacier Hut. It was also responsible for the small extension to the hut during this time. Following the Auckland University College Tramping Club's lease the hut was used mainly for storage. The Tongariro National Park Board wanted the hut removed from the park but the Ruapehu Ski Club had long envisaged a role for the building as a relic from the early days of skiing. After some negotiation the Board agreed. The club cleaned and restored the hut and affixed a plaque to the front. It remained in this state until 1989 when the interior was adapted for use as a ski museum. Displays of skis, poles, bindings, clothed mannequins and interpretative panels were installed in the hut. In its role as a museum it is opened for visitors throughout the year.