While perusing the snowcams that convinced me to head to Lake Mountain yesterday, I noticed that Perisher’s Front Valley looked damn near skiable.
They were obviously thinking the same thing, as they announced today that they will be opening this weekend. There is a staff ski day on Thursday, and public skiing on Friday and Saturday. Inclement weather is expected on Sunday so no lifts are planned.
Lift tickets are $30 for adults & $15 for kids, with the proceeds to be donated to charity (no details on which charity this is). Buller took advantage of an early dump and opened for the first weekend of May in 2009. While the skiing wasn’t particularly exciting, it was a great vibe for those who turned up and I’m sure a wonderful PR/Marketing exercise for the lift company.
Favourable snowmaking weather is set to return around the weekend, Falls Creek has already cranked up the guns last week, with Hotham and Thredbo looking to capitalise if the conditions cooperate. I’ve not heard any plans from Buller, but leave a comment on this post or on Facebook if you do know.
I don’t tend to get too excited about early snows, prior to the year 2000 it was always seen as a bad omen, but it looks like what Perisher has on the ground will make it through until June and beyond. The Weather Nerds in this thread are getting excited about some action on approx May 24th/25th, Jane’s Weather mentions the potential for significant snow after Sunday, so we will wait and see if that co-operates.
Any skiing in May is a novelty, and good skiing in June is a bonus, so it will be interesting to see if we can tick both boxes in the coming weeks.
