Australian Ski Resort Sells Out of Lift Tickets for Much of Season, Bans Snowballing
In the constantly evolving story of Australia’s soon-to-start 2020 ski season, Thredbo, which was reported to be struggling to cope with demand when it put lift tickets on sale a week ago, now reports that its, “first release lift passes have now sold out until 30 August 2020” – that’s about a month before the scheduled end of the ski season.
It’s believed that Australian resorts are limiting capacity to about half the normal maximum in order to adhere to social-distancing and other pandemic-spread-prevention measures. It’s also been reported list ticket prices have increased by 20% at some resorts as they attempt to mitigate the financial loss from having fewer skiers whilst requiring more staff.
“As Government restrictions ease and snow conditions improve, we’re hoping we’ll be able to release more passes soon,” a Thredbo statement reads.
Thredbo, along with Mt Buller and Mt Baw Baw are scheduled to open for the season this Monday, June 22nd, with Perisher, Mt Hotham and Falls Creek aiming to open on Wednesday the 24th. Selwyn Snowfields will be closed all season due to bush fire damage earlier in the year.
Some resorts have warned that limited terrain availability in the early season will be as big a factor as COVID-19 restrictions initially.
In a separate report in the Australian Telegraph, the newspaper reports that Thredbo are being forced to ‘ban snowballing’ and other ‘snow fun’ activities that might encourage an inadvertent failure to adhere to the country’s 1.5 metre social-distancing rules this season.
