Alpine resorts look to snow making infrastructure for season opening

May 25, 2024

While early season snowfalls in Australia’s Alpine region have been erratic, NSW and Victoria’s ski resorts are turning to snowmaking before the winter sport season kicks off as of the June long weekend.

Despite some encouraging early snowfalls and falling temperatures, weather service WeatherZone is predicting no significant further snow in the Alpine region before the opening weekend.

With the lack of snow so far this year being caused by blocking highs over the Great Australian Bight, Weatherzone meteorologist Felix Levesque told Guardian Australia “the early stage of the ski season is not looking great”, although he added that he was unsure if blocking highs would persist into the latter part of the season.

The blocking highs, which are strong high pressure systems that form further south than usual, are also responsible for the wet weather felt in south-east Australia over the last few months.

Despite the forecast, Australia’s ski resorts are confident about the upcoming season.

Nathan Butterworth, the Vice-President and General Manager of the Perisher ski resort in NSW’s Perisher Valley, said early snow levels were not indicative of the season ahead, commenting “this is my 22nd winter working in the snow industry and some of the best seasons have begun with low snowfall.”

Advising that Perisher has extensive snowmaking infrastructure which lessened their reliance on natural snowfall, Butterworth added “we are firing our snowguns at every opportunity and are preparing for when mother nature delivers.

“We are ready for the season to begin and cannot wait to welcome our guests back to the slopes.”

According to Sarah Watt, Head of Visitor Experience at Falls Creek alpine resort, ski resorts typically receive a “big dump” of snow between the 19th and 24th June.

Watt advised Guardian Australia “no snow season is a bad snow season … some are just better than others.”

“So many people barely even notice the difference between natural and man-made snow … they just want to come up and have fun.”

While the levels of natural snow have varied over the last few years due to La Niña, Levesque said lower levels of snow could be expected in coming years due to global warming.

He said warming temperatures over the past few decades has led to a decrease in snow depth, which has in turn made ski seasons shorter.

Caitlin Minney, a climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, said this year’s winter would be warmer than usual.

With the Bureau forecasting that average minimum and maximum temperatures this season will be in the top 20% compared to past winters, Minney explained “this isn’t surprising, because we are seeing the impacts of a warming climate.”

Minney said typical levels of rain this winter were to be expected in Sydney and Brisbane, with below-median levels of rain forecast for Melbourne.

The Bureau’s official winter long range forecast will be issued on 30th May.

The process of snow making involves blasting a mixture of chilled mountain water and compressed air through a snow gun.

Images: Snow making at Victoria's Mt Buller (top) and at Perisher (below).

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