Snow dump lifts skiers’ hopes

Ski resorts report the largest dump of snow ahead of the season in over a decade.

Locals Jasmine Langworthy and Rhylla Morgan enjoy the fresh snow at Mount Buller. Picture: Jordan Mountain

A wintry blast has blown away all thoughts of a warm end to autumn, with parts of Victoria and NSW blanketed by snow yesterday.

Ski resorts reported the largest dump of snow ahead of the ski season in more than a decade.

With above-average temperatures recorded in the first four months of the year, ski enthusiasts and resort managers were yesterday jumping with joy as snowfall of up to 20cm in 24 hours was recorded in Victoria and southern NSW.

Cars in Mount Baw Baw on the southern border of the Victorian Alps were coated in fresh layers of snow as temperatures dropped as low as -5C.

Ski resort workers at the nearby Lake Mountain Alpine Resort measured 15cm of snow at 9am yesterday and said there had been a constant blizzard throughout the day.

Snow chains had to be fitted to the tyres of Mount Baw Baw residents’ vehicles.

VicRoads temporarily closed down the road leading to the nearby town of Marysville during the height of the blizzard.

Andrew Paul, assistant general manager at Lake Mountain, told The Australian the resort was expecting more than 140,000 visitors to the Mount Baw Baw slopes over the season, which kicks off in two weeks.

“On peak days last year, we had up to 1500 cars and with this early snowfall there is definitely much more optimism that it will be another great ski season,” Mr Paul said.

“The snow doesn’t have a calendar so we just have to make the most of it when it’s here.”

It seems the landscape of white is here to stay. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting more snowfall in the southeast Alpine region throughout the week.

“With a series of cold fronts sweeping through southeast Australia, Victoria and southern NSW, the snow will likely be around until Friday,” BOM meteorologist Jackson Browne told The Australian.

In NSW, Perisher resort recorded a snow dumping of at least 20cm yesterday with temperatures dropping as low as -6C.

Social media was awash with residents in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, posting videos and photos of the “flurries of snow” falling around midday.

The wintry blasts caused havoc as the Sydney CBD was hit with wind gusts of up to 90km/h, but the coldest temperatures will be experienced tomorrow, according to the BOM.

The coming cold fronts bring a screeching halt to the record summer heat, a signal perhaps, that winter is coming.