Friday was one of those magic Perisher days. Blue skies, crisp air, fresh groomers, and one very shiny new 6-seater chairlift spinning for the first time.

After years of planning, building, testing (and just a little bit of weather watching), our brand new, 6-seater chairlift on Mt Perisher is officially open. Sitting proudly on the front of Mt Perisher, the Mt P 6 is now the highest lifted point in Australia, and judging by the huge turnout, our awesome Perisher community were just as excited as we were to finally see it in action.

From early morning, there was a buzz around the resort. Some guests were lining up as early as 6am to be part of the moment. You could feel the anticipation building across the lifts and in the crowd at the Mt P 6 load station, where skiers, boarders and local lodgies gathered well before first chair.

We were honoured to invite six young guests to help us mark the opening of Mt P 6, with each of them celebrating their birthday on Friday 28^th June. These legends joined us for first chair and kicked off the morning with early laps, birthday cake, and front-row seats to a pretty special moment in Perisher’s history.

We feel incredibly lucky to have shared this moment with them. Being part of their birthday, on such a meaningful day for the Resort, made the occasion even more special. It was one of those mornings that remind us of what it’s really all about. Whether it’s your first run or your hundredth, there’s always a chance to Discover Your Moment at Perisher.

Throughout the morning, we kept the good vibes rolling with live music at bottom station, cookie and limited-edition Mt P 6 merch handouts, and plenty of high-fives from the Perisher team.

Whether you were lapping the new chair, stopping for a snack, or just there to see it all unfold, the energy was unmistakable…proud, happy, and a little emotional for those who’ve watched this project come to life from day one.

The Mt P 6 Is More Than Just a New Lift

Mt P 6 means faster access to the top of Mt Perisher, more laps, more choice, and ultimately, more fun. But it also means something a bit bigger. It’s a sign of progress. Of investment in our guests, our infrastructure, and our mountain community. It’s the kind of upgrade you don’t just see… you feel it.

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Mountain Planning Manager (Vail Resorts Australia) Sophie Ballinger was on the chair during the test run and reflects on the project: “There’s been lots of steps in the process, from that first construction certificate to now, and working with lots of different people within Perisher and Doppelmayr Australia has been just great.”

The construction period stretched more than 18 months, with Perisher and Doppelmayr Australia teams facing hot summer working conditions in high altitude, to frozen muddy work areas, and everything in between, to complete the project.

“We’re all working really hard towards the goal. Nothing’s too hard, or too small – we’ve all been on board to work together,” said Doppelmayr Australia GM Shaun Turner, who also jumped on the test run. “It was pretty special getting up there for the test run on such a nice day, having a look out at the view and everything that Mt Perisher offers has been amazing.”

The project is a significant investment in the guest experience at Perisher and highlights the commitment from Vail Resorts to the Australian Snowsports Industry.

“A big thank you to everyone involved in this project,” said Michael Fearnside, Perisher’s Operations Director. “There’s so much work involved and it’s truly a team effort. It’s been quite the challenge, and quite the result.”

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Award-winning artist Peter Taylor showcases a stunning range of alpine paintings available for purchase on his website. Notable works include ‘Snow covered Jindabyne,’ ‘Towers Falls Creek,’ and ‘Twilight glow on Perisher,’ among others. Explore the beautiful landscapes of the Australian alpine and coastal regions through his creative art collection.

View the entire Peter Taylor Creative Art range on the website.

Available ALPINE paintings for sale:

(commissions available, feel free to enquire: peter@snowatch.com.au)

SOLD Artwork

View the entire range of Coastal themed paintings:

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• Big D ski area to become a dedicated progression-focused freestyle and terrain park zone that will also be home to night terrain park sessions and events
• Big D buildings to be repurposed with the view to expand indoor facilities and services to benefit both guests and staff 
• Kids Snowsports School to move from the Big D to Hotham Central, and surface lifts to be relocated to support the learning experience for both Kids and Adults, bringing snowsports together at Hotham

Hotham is excited to share plans for the 2025 snow season, which will see the Big D terrain evolve into a dedicated progression focused freestyle and terrain park to include a huge variety of jump and rail lines, a permanent mogul course and a mini boarder x course. It will also become home to night freestyle events, with night skiing and boarding also remaining at the Big D, offering both terrain park features as well as a regular ski run option.

“We are so excited to bring this new offering to life at Hotham. We’re creating something unique to Australia that will really appeal to Hotham guests and families, who we know are progression focused and always up for adventure,” says Tina Burford, Hotham’s Vice President and General Manager. “We thank our staff and stakeholders for coming on this journey with us and helping us to provide leadership and innovation in the Australian snow industry.”

These changes will allow for exciting new opportunities for the Big D building, which will be developed over the next few years, for both staff and guest use, as well as space for development programs and camps. It will be an exciting multiyear journey to fully develop and recognise the potential for this space.

“Terrain parks are ever popular with skiers and snowboarders,” says Briony Johnson, Hotham’s Terrain Park Supervisor. “Not only are they a great place to learn skills in a controlled environment but they also create a social hub for riders. We are looking forward to putting our creativity to the test and creating fun and exciting lines for skiers and riders of all abilities. Watch this space as we bring this new part of Hotham to life!”

This progression focused park will also provide the perfect development opportunities for Hotham’s more challenging terrain and the bigger features of the Summit Terrain Park.

Currently located at Big D, the Kids Snowsports School will be relocating to Hotham Central with Mighty Mites (3–6-year-olds) meeting indoors downstairs at Hotham Central and Kids Club (7-14-year-olds) meeting on snow at the back of Hotham Central. 

“Based on both guest and staff feedback around the challenges of Big D being separate to the rest of the resort, we are bringing both adult and children’s snowsports together at Hotham Central to create a seamless experience for guests,” said Chris Lewczynski, Hotham Snowsports School Senior Manager.

Centralising the snowsports offering will improve the guest experience by reducing the amount of bus trips required, increasing the time on snow for both children in lessons and parents heading out on the slopes, while increasing safety by removing the need for kids in lessons to frequently travel on a bus with their instructors or reach the carpets mid-mountain on the Big D.

To support this change, a number of surface lifts will be relocated over the next two years and a new indoor space will be created in Hotham Central for Hotham’s youngest learners. For the 2025 season, the Bunderool carpet will be used exclusively for kids lessons and the Pup’s Playground carpet lift will be moved as an additional lift for the Kids Snowsports School. The Summit Trainer Poma will be removed and replaced with Harry’s, the longer Big D carpet, to better support Hotham’s adult learners. This will significantly improve their learning experience, particularly for snowboarders. Future plans include the potential to relocate the current Summit Trainer lift to the skiers right of the Sun Run, to provide a good intermediate run option when upper lifts are wind affected.

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by Pete ‘The Frog’ Taylor

I was lucky enough to be taken on a tour of the current build site of the brand new state of the art 6 seater chairlift on Mt.Perisher. Once completed this will be the highest lifted point in Australia at 2042m (5m higher than the current Karels lift at Thredbo). I’m assured this was not the reason for the new lift, as it was in the original pre 2000 Perisher Master Plan for a new lift on Mt Perisher.

The shear magnitude of this build cannot be understated, it’s been in planning for years and once all relevant documents were lodged it took another 2 years for approval to be given to begin. Being well within the Kosciouszko National Park, as expected there have been many environmental issues to deal with, and the resort along with their build partner Doppelmayer (based in Jindabyne), have met every concern. It’s been a build project over two off seasons, and last Summer we saw the old double chair removed and the chairs auctioned off raising well over $300,000 for local community organisations and charities. The new chair is expected to be ready sometime in April.

Currently the top station is already well and truly looking like it’s not far off completion and the bottom station footprint is well underway. The view from the top is truly magnificant and as well as looking across the entire Perisher Valley, you can now see the top of the Ridge Chair at Blue Cow and the Freedom Chair at Guthega. The top tower of the Eyre T-bar has been moved a little further up the hill to allow easier access both above and below the lift when alighting the new chair. Being higher you can now easily access the Mt.Perisher T-bars which many probably don’t even realise are there, with them being tucked around the corner along the resort boundary. Much more terrain will now be accessible as a result.

The lift will be much faster with better wind performance. The chair can be slowed in stronger wind conditions and operate in stronger winds than were previously possible, which should result in less time lost due to wind hold. The state of the art Doppelmayer chair has a wider rope guage and can monitor any movement to the mm any movement and improve user safety. A trip to the top will take 5.6-minute, which is much faster than the previous 10minute ride and a 60% increase in chairlift capacity on Mt Perisher and a 22% increase in overall lifted capacity in the Mt Perisher precinct . The chairs will have comfortable padded seating and foot rests, will be detachable so can be automatically stored overnight at the bottom station so we won’t see ice on the chairs after overnight snow. Another plus is that the lift is planned to open from 8:30am during peak times. There will also be alternative access tracks from the bottom of the Mt Perisher Triple to the Leichhardt Chair. The removal of the double and triple chair towers and the new lift only need 6 external towers will mean there will be skiable area on the Towers run.

Food and beverage will be improved at the bottom of Mt Perisher. Currently the Powder Inn Restaurant serves food and drinks, but is not so easy to access, due to it’s small size. A temporary outside kiosk will be added for this coming season. The now vacant concrete slab where the double chair loaded will now be an outdoor seating area with chairs and tables as well as ski racks. You will now be able to grab a coffee, go to the toilet and easily slide back into the lift line without even needing to head inside. For those wondering why there isn’t any new restaurant or amenity built, that’s not off the cards for the future. Visitor numbers will be closely monitored and we may see additions if there is a genuine need.

All we need now is to find a name for the new Chairlift and will Perisher try to match or out-do Thredbo’s current bell which is probably the most instagramable spot in the mountains. Got any ideas?

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His early mornings are spent looking at weather charts and data before publishing his daily weather forecasts for the Australian snow resorts. But away from that you can find Pete ‘The Frog‘ Taylor using his artistic talents to paint original modern geometric abstracts on canvas from his home studio.

Many years before forecasting snow, Pete attended The National Art School in East Sydney and later moved into Graphic Design which meant he put away the paint brushes and sat in front of a computer screen with the mouse being the creative tool.

Things have now reversed with the graphic design put to the side and the paint brushes dusted off once again. Pete is currently working on a mountain theme series and you can see some of these in the photo gallery below. Commissions are available if you’d like a custom design for your house, apartment or ski lodge.

Check out: Peter Taylor Creative Art for the full range available for sale. There are also paintings exclusively available at the Two Doors Up Gallery in Jindabyne. If you are interested in having a custom commission piece done then email Pete.

Peter Taylor Creative Art

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By Pete ‘The Frog’ Taylor
Snow Forecaster & Owner
snowatch.com.au

Snowatch® Early Season Outlook 2025

It is that time again when we look towards the new snow season after two of the worst seasons on record. Season 2024 will go down as once of the worse ones. Season 2023’s snow depth was only 7cm more, so it’s been two years of very ordinary snow. These depths are not the worst recorded, with 2006 only reaching 85cm, 1982-91cm and 1993 only got to 112cm. This shows that we have had bad seasons before and come back. For those that think it’s all over and we will never see deep snow again, remember that 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 all reached well over 2m in snow depth at Spencer’s Creek and 2021 was just below 2m.

How is early 2025 looking?

To come.

What usually happens this time of year?

Usually during May and June we see a lot of large dominating blocking high pressure systems revolving around the southern hemisphere bringing extended periods of dry weather with most potential snow bearing cold fronts being forced south under the mainland. Any snowfalls we see before June usually melts quite quickly, although it can help freeze the ground which helps the snow makers to create a base layer of snow.

So, when will it snow?

Looking at the current charts the next week looks quite mild and warm with temps dropping on the 4^th. There is a chance of light snow falling around the 5^th to 6^th of May. It won’t last long on the ground but will more than likely increase the anxiety levels for the coming season.

Looking a bit further ahead I see temps milder than usual and quite a lot of moisture around which won’t be good for potential snow making leading into the season opening on June 11.

If I had to throw out some dates for potential for snow, I’d say around the 12^th-13^th of May and then a follow up system around the 21st-23rd of May.

In summary

In Summary I see a slow start to the season with limited snow making opportunities and unfortunately not a lot of natural snow. I think this pattern will remain until La Nina weakens more which probably won’t happen until July sometime. As this happens the likelihood of good consistent snowfalls will, and I think the back end of the season from mid-July to September will be quite decent.

All it takes for the season to get into full swing is a couple of decent falls so there is nothing to say an early dump can’t change things before July.

The daily Snowatch® forecasts begin on Monday 2nd May and as per usual you will see a 15 day forecast for each resort as well as a long range outlook for the next month pin pointing any future snowfalls to help in planning your next snow trips.

About Snowatch®

Snowatch.com.au is Australia’s longest running dedicated snow forecasting website. Owned and operated by Pete ‘The Frog’ Taylor it is well known for pinpointing snow bearing systems up to four weeks out. Unlike other weather sites Snowatch® does not rely on automated algorithms to pump out snowfall predictions. Pete ‘The Frog’ is up early 7 days a week from May 1^st through to closing weekend in October studying the charts and data before manually inputting forecasts for each resort for the next 15 days as well as adding his thoughts on the long rang outlook. Pete ‘The Frog’ also helps out fellow Snowatcher’s answering emails and facebook messages in regards to queries on coming snowfalls. There is also a 7 day forecast for the New Zealand snowfields around Queenstown and Wanaka for the Aussies who like to keep an eye out over the ditch.

The post After two of the worst snow seasons on record, how are we looking for Season 2025? appeared first on Snowatch.

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It was a majestic, blue sky day in Thredbo with subzero temps and a fresh blanket of snow covering the Main Range. A group of locals, Thredbo staff and guests congregated in Thredbo Village to begin the trek to Australia’s highest mountain to generate awareness on a more sustainable future.

During the climb to the top, Alex Parsons, Head Guide of Thredbo’s Backcountry Team, took time to educate the group on the area, it’s indigenous heritage and describe areas of significance. As they made their way through breathtaking scenery, The Thredbo Environment team was there every step of the way to discuss the importance of creating environmentally forward practices, Thredbo sustainability initiatives and how we can all do out part.

As the group reached the summit, they were blessed with sunshine and sweeping views of Australia’s unique alpine region. A quick happy snap on the top of Australia before and a moment to enjoy the 360-degree panorama before the group strapped in for a few turns while they headed back to the resort.

Speaking of the day, group member Paul Hayden said, “Fantastic! Couldn’t have asked for a better day. Seeing Mount Kosciuszko and the snow cornice coming off it was a highlight. I was surprised how much skinning [hiking on skis] is such a joy, you get into a rhythm and it’s just amazing. It’s a sensational day with informative guides. Thredbo should keep it up and continue to make people aware of the profile of our environment”  

The full-day Hike to Mt Kosciuszko is a staple for Environment Week in Thredbo, held between 19 – 25 July 2021. The annual, week-long celebration of all things green aims to highlight sustainable practices, environmental awareness and community action in the Snowy Mountains.

Euan Diver, Environmental Services Manager at Thredbo spoke to the week stating, “This week is dedicated to highlighting the initiatives that Thredbo undertake to ensure that we continue to pursue our goal of being the most environmentally sustainable Alpine Resort in Australia.  We use our best endeavours to minimise our impact and where possible, actually improve the condition of some aspects of the environment and protect it for the future generations of Thredbo visitors.”

A number of Thredbo’s 2021 sustainability partners joined in the conversation including Red Energy, Greenfleet, Keep It Cool and Protect Our Winters.

Tree For Tree

Thredbo has been matching donations, tree for tree, from 19 – 25 July 2021 for Environment Week. Since 2014, Thredbo has been committed to a forestry carbon offset program, enabling guests to purchase a tree for $4 when buying resort products.

Gold EarthCheck

2021 saw Thredbo awarded with Gold EarthCheck certification, a first for any Australian snow resort. EarthCheck is the world’s leading environmental certification and benchmarking program for the travel and tourism industry. The recognition makes Thredbo a leader of sustainable tourism destinations worldwide certified to the internationally recognised EarthCheck Destination Standard.

New Sustainability Initiatives at Thredbo

Thredbo’s focus on working towards a more sustainable future, is not a new one. Having invested and implemented several initiatives in the past including the resort’s move in 2019 to power all major resort operations by clean, renewable energy. 2021 saw a number of new initiatives hit the slopes from investment into new organics recycling, a plastic reduction plan and securing an entire SNOWsat fleet.

New Organics Recycling Machine
Thredbo doubled its capacity in food waste recycling by investing in a Closed Loop organics recycling machine. This year saw an increase in the number of restaurants, lodges and apartments in Thredbo taking part to reduce the volume of waste being sent to landfill instead, creating a usable compost product that puts nutrients back into the soil.

Thredbo Alpine Hotel Plastic Reduction Plan
A long-term sustainability plan, Thredbo is in phase two of the plan to remove all single use plastic products from the resort. Phase one saw the removal of front of house single use plastic items including replacing plastic straws with paper and the introduction of certified compostable and sustainable sugar cane pulp food packaging. Phase two will see plastic free alternatives for back of house products and the introduction of sustainable alternatives throughout Thredbo Resort.

SNOWsat snow depth technology
With a focus on snow grooming, Thredbo has invested in new SNOWsat technology to more accurately map snow depth across the resort creating more efficient, fuel and energy saving snow grooming and snow making

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