Thredbo: Thousands queue to get tickets for snow, ski season

If you thought Burning Man had some of the hardest tickets to nab in the world – think again. Because this resort in NSW may take the cake.

If you thought Burning Man had some of the hardest tickets to nab in the world – think again.

Just minutes after launching the ski tickets for Thredbo’s 2020 season – which will kick off on June 22, 2020 – tens of thousands of snow-lovers have been forced to wait in online queues for hours to nab their annual pass.

As a new measure to comply with strict COVID social distancing laws, skiers and snowboarders will only be able to access resorts in NSW and Victoria with a pre-purchased pass or lift tickets.

This means that on-the-day lift ticket purchases will not be available, forcing everyone online to snap up their passes.

Avid skier and Thredbo season pass holder Chris Townsend logged onto the Thredbo website 20 minutes before the resort’s lift pass tickets went on sale just to be sure his account was up and running and he’d be ready to purchase tickets for his two week pre-booked ski trip in August.

But at 11.40am he was shocked to see that he was already 11,341 in the queue.

Alarmed at first, he became encouraged when he suddenly started leaping forward, to 9000th, 3670th, 1118th then 30th – only at midday when sales opened, to be redirected to an invalid URL and thrown back to around 11,000th place.

“Then I read that I could click on a button that would let them email me when it was my turn to go online and buy tickets – with no indication of when that would be,” he said.

“And if I did get on I only had 10 minutes to buy tickets before I was logged off and had to log in again – and I didn’t know if I would or wouldn’t lose my place in the queue.

“Even then it told me I could only book 10 tickets before I had to log out and log back on again – and I’ve got accommodation booked already for two weeks in August.”

Three hours later he was 8774th in the queue. “That’s 900 people an hour in the queue that are being serviced – but I don’t want to be here till 3am in the morning.

“It’s a horrible, horrible situation to be in.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if most people don’t throw their hands in the air.”

When news.com.au logged on the to the Thredbo Queue-IT system to purchase a pass at 2.20pm, our placement was 24,108 in line. Thirty minutes later, we’d travelled 116 places up the line. After an hour, we’d moved up slightly further to 23,811 in line. A long way from the top.

RELATED: Can you go skiing in 2020? Dates when the resorts will open

Tens of thousands have lined up to get their ski pass tickets

“Getting ski tickets for @ThredboResort feels a lot like @burningman,” one person wrote on Twitter.

“1200 people through the @ThredboResort website to order lift tickets for 2020 in the first 90 minutes … It’s going to be a long wait for number 9400,” another added.

“7000 people ahead of me and it’s dropped by 300 in 15 minutes. I suppose I can sit here til midnight!!” another wrote on the resort’s Facebook page

“We have been waiting in the queue got up to my turn and got kicked off. Bloody ridiculous. We have accommodation booked and paid for. Now I can’t even get back on,” another added. “This lift pass release has been an absolute disaster!”

Thredbo management said the website had been “overwhelmed by demand” and experienced the biggest volume of traffic on record to their online store.

“At one point we had as many as 25,000 people visiting our online store to purchase lift passes, being the biggest volume we have ever experienced on our Online Store,” the statement sent to news.com.au read.

“These are unusual times; we’ve experienced an unprecedented amount of traffic highlighting we are all ready to get back skiing and snowboarding again this season. We are working hard to ensure everyone is able to purchase their desired passes and we appreciate our guests’ patience as we accommodate everyone under the new Government restrictions.”

Thredbo, along with other snow resorts, are set to look very different this year with a number of social distancing measures put in place.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing will be carefully managed at each ski resort in NSW and Victoria based on the amount of terrain and lifts open. It is understood details about resort operations will be announced in the coming weeks.

Upon announcement that most NSW fields would be open on June 22, Thredbo Resort General Manager Stuart Diver warned visitors the slopes “will look quite different to previous years”.

“We would really appreciate if guests could exercise patience as we navigate through the season and play their part in respecting social distancing requirements,” Mr Diver said.

“We’ll be communicating all safety messages to our guests prior to arrival and remind guests they should not visit the resort if they are unwell.

“After such a challenging start to 2020 with the bushfires and now COVID-19, we are so pleased to open and we’re confident we will continue to deliver Australia’s best skiing and snowboarding this winter.”

In a statement, Thredbo management said they will be implementing a revised operating model that includes reduced daily capacity limits by up to 50 per cent and introducing a range of social distancing and sanitisation measures.

There will also be a 1.5-metre “ski tip to tail” social distancing in lift queues and just two people per quad chair, two per gondola cabin and one per T-bar.

“On the mountain, daily capacity will be limited to enable the resort to open under the Government restrictions. As a result, all guests will need to pre-purchase day lift passes or multi-day passes prior to arrival,” Thredbo management said in a statement.

As Perisher, Falls Creek and Hotham prepare for a June 24 opening of the 2020 snow season, Vail Resorts has announced the implementation of a COVID-19 Safe Operating Plan for its Australian resorts.

Ski resorts have put a number of measures in place to ensure social distancing in place. Picture: Perisher

All three resorts will operate at approximately 50 per cent of normal capacity to enable physical distancing measures per current government guidelines, until any changes allow for greater access.

As with Thredbo, skiers and snowboarders will only be able to access the resorts with pre-purchased passes or lift tickets. Lift tickets will be available in limited quantities for advance purchase online, with on-the-day lift ticket purchases at the resorts not available until further notice.

With indoor physical distancing requirements in place, food and beverage options and indoor seating will be limited, but additional outdoor seating will be provided.

As for accommodation, hotels, apartments and lodges will operate at reduced capacity to ensure that physical distancing can be achieved in restaurants and common areas.