Australian Ski Area Starts Snowmaking, Expects Busy Winter

At least one of Australia’s ski areas say they have started making snow ahead of the 2021 ski season, due to start there in less than 50 days’ time, at the start of June.

The country has seen cold weather in April and two periods of natural snowfall.

Mt Buller reports that the latest cold snap brought a light covering of fresh snow earlier this week and the resort’s all-weather ‘SnowFactory’ snowmaking machine is helping out with huge mounds of snow now taking shape on the Bourke Street ski run. (You can see it on the live cam)

Mt Buller’s SnowFactories can make snow in any conditions and produce up to 330m3 of snow per day, building an important stockpile to build a base for skiing, boarding and snowplay.

The small Australian area of Corin Forest near Canberra actually already managed to open a beginner run and snow fun area using this type of snowmaking earlier this month (above).

“The Queen’s Birthday weekend (12-14 June) is when snow-lovers celebrate the beginning of the snow season however Mt Buller is pulling out all stops to stockpile snow and get guests sliding earlier if conditions allow,” said resort spokesperson Rhylla Morgan.

Rhylla also reports that Mt Buller is seeing very strong forward bookings and is urging anyone keen to get to the snow this winter to make reservations early to avoid disappointment.

For those able to visit, accommodation, multi-day lift passes, resort entry, parking and lessons can all be booked online now.

It is currently looking promising for Australia’s 2021 ski season with the country reporting some of the lowest infection rates in the world. Last winter most, although not all, of the country’s ski areas were closed for all or most of the season due to pandemic restrictions.