Where to Ski And Snowboard - Slow start to Australian ski season

Slow start to Australian ski season

14th May 2013, by Abi Butcher

Snowguns pumping on Front Valley and Mt Perisher

After an amazing season in the European Alps — voted ‘one of the best ever’ in our current poll — things aren’t looking quite so exciting Down Under.

Australians have been warned not to expect a good ski season this coming winter, despite recent snow flurries in Thredbo and Perisher. Australia is currently enjoying an unusually warm and dry autumn, and the outlook is unchanged for the coming months which will lead to a delayed start to the ski season according to Ben McBurney, a meteorologist at Weatherzone.

Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr McBurney said weather fronts are going to struggle to push north for the next month or two.

“That indicates maybe a slightly later start to the snow season and probably average to below-average falls,” he said.

Perisher ski resort has spent more than AUD $2million (about £1.3million) in snowmaking equipment and improvements for the 2013 season. It opens on 8 June and is expecting 18cm of snow this week.

Thredbo is also due to open for the season on 8 June. Temperatures are currently hovering around freezing during the daytime, with snow flurries expected over the coming week.

Thredbo communications manager Susie Diver adds: “We can only cross our fingers for a good season.”