Hopes of bumper season as 15cm of snow covers Perisher’s slopes
UPDATE: SKI resorts in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania are enjoying plenty of early snow with more expected this week.
UPDATE: SKI resorts in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania are enjoying a brilliant lead-in to the 2015 ski season, with plenty of early snow in the past week and more expected this week.
Chilly weather across southeastern Australia has delivered a healthy cover of snow to most resorts and with 25 days to go until the June 6 official season launch, resort staff are feeling increasingly confident.
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A strong cold front is expected to bring snow down to 700 metres on the mainland by Wednesday, even dusting the hills near Canberra and Melbourne.
Falls Creek in northeastern Victoria already has up to 10cm of snow, resort spokesman Nathan Fenton says.
“It’s fantastic to get early snow this close to the season,” Mr Fenton said.
“It gets the whole place cooled down. It gets the ground nice and cold so it can accumulate when it does fall closer to the season, get a good base.
“It gets people really excited. The village is really buzzing today with all this beautiful snow around.”
Mr Fenton said it’s not clear how much snow will fall as a cold front crosses Victoria on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning but he’s hopeful of a strong start to the 2015 season.
At Thredbo, in the NSW Snowy Mountains, resort spokeswoman Susie Diver says there is between 10cm and 15cm of snow in most areas, with more on higher peaks.
She says the resort team is hopeful of more snow as the cold front reaches the Snowy Mountains later on Wednesday.
“Any falls are good falls, especially at this time of the year. So we welcome any snow with open arms. We will give it a very warm welcome here at Thredbo,” she said.
“We are expecting snow really right up until Thursday. We’re not looking at 100cm but we’re looking at good falls, particularly in the higher areas.”
PREDICTED SNOWFALL OVER NEXT THREE DAYS
VICTORIA
Lake Mountain — 21cm
Mount Buller — 14cm
Mount Baw Baw — 14cm
Mount Stirling — 14cm
Mount Hotham — 9cm
NSW
Charlotte Pass — 12cm
Thredbo — 10cm
Perisher — 7cm
TASMANIA
Mount Mawson — 12cm
Ben Lomond — 12cm
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