Industry News
Perisher Ski Resort, Australia, provided an operations update on Saturday, September 21. The New South Wales resort is planning to stay open until Sunday, September 29. From Monday, September 23, operations will be compressed to Front Valley via the Village 8 chair, a magic carpet, and Mitchell and Sturt T-Bars, based on demand. The reduced operations will be the last week of the 2024 winter season at Perisher. While the resort is planning to stay open until next Sunday, this will be dependent on weather conditions.
Australia has seen another difficult season, which saw most of the Victorian ski resorts close in early September. Mount Buller and Mount Baw Baw closed three weeks ago, on Sunday, September 1, while Mount Hotham ended its season on Wednesday, September 4.
Australian resorts have experienced two consecutive below-average seasons due to unusually warm and dry winters. While the Australian Bureau of Meteorology announced a La Niña watch in May this year, the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) as well as the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) remained neutral for the skis season, which usually is good for snowfall. However, this season, snow depth at Spencer’s Creek, which has been measured since 1954, peaked at a mere 126.4 centimeters (50 inches).
Perisher has managed to stretch out the season from King’s Birthday Opening Weekend to the end of September thanks to the excellent snowmaking conditions, reaping the benefits of the resort’s consistent snowmaking investments, and good natural snowfall in July and early August.
