Perisher, Australia, Conditions Report: Spring Skiing Goodness in the Middle of Aussie Winter

Report from August 4 & 5, 2025

Following the recent snowfall across Australian resorts, not even wild horses could’ve kept me from heading back to the snow. While the massive storm forecasted for last week arrived wetter and heavier than expected, it brought enough accumulation to fully interconnect all four of Perisher’s resort areas. Since Sunday, August 3, all lifts have been spinning (yes, that includes Olympic and the North Perisher T-bar).

Thankfully, the weather improved after the storm passed through and we managed to squeeze in a few sunny laps at Perisher this week before another system rolled through.

We started Monday in Blue Cow, lapping Excelerator and admiring the mogul athletes training on Toppa’s Dream from the Ridge Chair (hello Matt Graham & Avital Carroll!). From there, we traversed over to Guthega and skied every open run—everything was operational except Parachute, which only opens once in a blue moon. The snow in the morning was “Hard and Fast,” as the resort made sure to signpost.

At Guthega Basecamp, we stopped for lunch and had a long chat with the legendary Uwe Böhm, who’s been working at Perisher since 1961. Uwe began his career at the Eiger Lodge and later managed the iconic hotel. Now 85, he still skis regularly—and might I add, impressively. No surprise, considering he was once a ski instructor at Suvretta House in St. Moritz, one of the town’s most exclusive hotels, complete with its own ski school and private chairlift. But back to Australia.

From Guthega, we returned to Blue Cow, got in another Excellerator lap, and then did a few runs off Brumby. Once the crowds at Pretty Valley Chair died down, we traversed to Mount Perisher to check out the new Mt. P 6-chair. The ski down to Shifty’s was a bit cruddy, so we stuck to the skier-packed zones near the Eyre T-Bar, where the snow was soft and churned. We lapped Eyre until our legs gave out, then made our way back to Front Valley via the Olympic T-Bar—which rarely runs.

Olympic is a diesel-generator-operated lift from 1973, and while it makes you wonder if walking might be faster, it’s one of those charming Perisher legacies that’s hard not to love. Dropping in from the top into the mogul bowl below delivers that exhilarating jolt you only get from truly technical terrain—the perfect way to wrap up a perfect day.

Tuesday began with rain and 110 km/h wind gusts, so we took the hint and slept in. We watched the weather cams carefully and, once the clouds began to break, made our move. In hindsight, we timed it perfectly. Under blue skies, we found soft snow and manageable winds. Though the chairs were on wind hold, we found a sweet spot at Sun Valley and lapped the T-Bar there.

We hadn’t planned to stay so long, but once the crowds thinned—likely when another lift opened—we couldn’t resist. Lap after lap through the trees beside the T-Bar (one of my favorite runs at Perisher to be honest) with barely another skier in sight. We hoped Olympic would reopen, but with most lifts on hold, there was no chance the old, exposed T-Bar would fire up.

Still, the snow was soft and sugary—more like spring conditions than early August—which made the uneven, rolling Burnum Burnum runs a delight. All in all, it turned into a much better day than expected. We left hot, sweaty, and happily surprised, despite the dreary forecast. Classic spring-like stoke in the middle of Aussie winter.

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