Amateur skiers have flocked to Perisher as the New South Wales ski resort starts turning its ski lifts more than a week earlier than expected.
Traditionally, the Australian ski season begins on the Queen’s birthday weekend, but with 60cm of natural snow falling and the ideal temperatures for snow, “this week’s conditions were too good to leave. “Pass them on,” said Perisher CEO Belinda Trembath.
With the cold snap coming to NSW this week, the ski resorts have opened a week earlier. Credit: Perisher
“It’s amazing, like people are skiing. There’s always a long gap between the seasons, it’s great to start early,” he said from Perisher, which is owned by the American ski conglomerate Vail Resorts.
Early snow is a good sign for the coming months, Trembath said.
“We anticipate that there will be a meter of snow by the end of next week. We will continue to work to open more elevators and build the ground.”
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The nearby Thredbo and Charlotte Pass resorts will open next Friday, while the Victorian resorts Falls Creek, Mount Hotham and Mount Buller will open on Saturday morning.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a warning for harmful winds in the alpine region of NSW on Saturday and said a snowstorm was likely from Saturday afternoon, prompting a warning that downhill skiing ‘should be postponed until the weather system passes.
Extreme conditions may extend to Thredbo, Perisher, Charlotte Pass, Nowra, Bowral, Braidwood, Katoomba, Lithgow, Goulburn and Cooma.