It’s not often a lift in Australia can’t run because there’s too much snow. Photo: Steve Smith.
For the first time since 2022, snow depth in the Snowy Mountains has surpassed 2 metres, confirming this year as one of the best seasons of the last 25 years.
It comes after the weekend’s massive snowstorm brought tens of centimetres down across the high mountains and dusted peaks from Victoria to Canberra and nearly buried one T-bar lift at Perisher.
On the first day of spring, Snowy Hydro recorded a depth of 2.2 metres at Spencers Creek (almost double last year’s max depth of 1.25 metres), with Perisher recording 2.65 metres at their resort.
The snow has been a significant boost for local businesses that had been struggling after the COVID-19 pandemic and consecutive short seasons.
Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce president Olivier Kapetanakos said the town was experiencing one of its best turnouts in years.
“We’ve had a good winter, good visitation, good weather. My business is 15 per cent up on last year, so it’s looking to be a very good year,” he said.
“It’s been absolutely like a dream. We had 70 centimetres of snowfall over three days, and it’s been the best. It’s just given everything a top-up and getting us ready for September.”
With the snow base looking so good, Mr Kapatenakos said this year they are looking forward to a strong spring season for the town.
Seventy centimetres of powder had skiers and boarders rushing to the slopes for the best day of the year. Photo: Perisher
The solid snowfall over the weekend will also be a relief for Perisher, which has made big investments into the resort in recent years.
“It’s been a stellar weekend at Perisher, with Sunday being the premium day of the season for our guests, and we couldn’t be happier to have broken the 2 metre snow depth as we enter the first day of spring,” Perisher Ski Resort general manager Nathan Butterworth said.
“It’s looking really fantastic across all four of our resort areas. Conditions right now are amazing.”
Perisher recently opened its highly anticipated $26 million six-seater chair on Mt Perisher in July and installed several new snow guns on the mountain.
It was a well-timed opening for the state-of-the-art chairlift, as with 2.2 metres of snow on the ground at Spencers Creek, it looks like 2025 will be one of the top five best years of the 21st century.
Whether this will allow the resorts to remain open for the elusive October season is yet to be seen, but a deeper snowpack creates a more resilient season, allowing the snow to weather the warmer spring weather for longer.
It is a remarkable turnaround from last year, when some resorts had already begun wrapping up their seasons by this time.
Two metres of snow depth is the mark of a good season for the Snowy Mountains, but in recent years, they’ve been few and far between.
Depths above 2 metres have only been recorded eight other times in the 21st century.
Unfortunately for snow lovers, experts warn that snow seasons are still trending downward as the planet continues to warm.
Current modelling by the ANU predicts the snow season will be between 28 and 55 days shorter on average by 2050.
Nevertheless, this year marks a fantastic turnaround for the region’s powderhounds who have returned to the slopes in force.
