Real snow is patchy. In fact, you could charge a spotter's fee to find it. The snow making machines are locked in overdrive. And prayers are going up for a good dump before school holidays.
Americans and Europeans might never understand why Australians persist in skiing our much-loved mounds. But there is some good news for snow gum lovers ahead of the June 11 official start to the local season: a good winter is anticipated with the developing La Nina system expected to bring more snowstorms than recent El Nino years.
"It's always hard to say what sort of season it will be at this stage," Perisher's chief operating officer, Peter Brulisauer (Brulisauer), said yesterday as he prepared for the resort's opening weekend. "But with the breakdown of El Nino, there should be more moisture and with that more snow hopefully coming through this season.
"Last year was a slower start, but fantastic snow from July to August."
Mr Brulisauer reported "a few centimetres" of real snow at Perisher, the largest ski resort in the southern hemisphere. "But we'll be skiing and snowboarding on snowmaking snow on two beginner lifts on Front Valley on Saturday," he said. Perisher is anticipating 15cm of snow fall over the weekend.
In Victoria, Falls Creek had a "patchy cover of sightseeing snow" on Friday afternoon, but they too are expecting up to 15cm of snow before Monday, with a cold front set to deliver snow below the 1000-metre mark.
Truckloads of snow
"We've made truckloads of snow over the past few weeks, and the best snowmaking window so far starts with the cold front coming through on Saturday," said Anthony O'Shea, head of marketing for Merlin Skifields, Falls Creek and Hotham. "We then have several cold clear nights forecast with low temperatures and low humidity, perfect snowmaking conditions. That will allow us to lay down a great base for the season.
"The ground will be well and truly frozen underneath, keeping it in great shape through until October."
Thanks largely to the introduction of the Epic Australia Pass, Perisher - now owned by Vail Resorts - had an exceptional season last year. "Our expectation last year was for Perisher to do about $20 million in EBITDA in terms of profitability," Vail CEO Rob Katz told AFR Weekend. "But Perisher exceeded our expectations on that. We sold more season passes, more daily passes, and saw stronger revenue from the ski school and restaurants than we'd anticipated."
Mr Brulisauer said the pass, allowing Australians unlimited ski days in Vail's American resorts, plus Perisher, had made skiing Australia more attractive. "It's great value for money," he said. "You basically ski year round for $899." Sales of the Epic Australia Pass were up 68 per cent year on year from 2014 to 2015.
Since buying Perisher in 2015 for $176.6 million, Vail has upgraded lifts and the ski tube. Works scheduled to take place over the next few years will focus on better snow making, faster lifts and new accommodation facilities.
"We're in discussion with the community and National Parks to discuss a long term masterplan, including new hotels and accommodation, especially at the base area," Mr Katz said.
Mr Brulisauer pointed out Perisher has 3500 rooms. "Apparently, 4800 were approved for the resort, so there's capacity to develop brand new facilities," he said.
