All Ski Resorts in Australia and New Zealand Now Closed as Regional Victoria Enters Lockdown

August 21st, 2021

 

People the most of it on Mt Buller’s Bourke St at 11.30am this morning, 90 minutes before lifts have to close – yet again. Hopefully they will reopen in September 2

Mountainwatch | News

For the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020, there are no ski resorts open in either Australia or New Zealand, with the Victorian snow resorts set to close from 1pm today as all of regional Victoria will move to the same lockdown conditions as exist in Melbourne right now.

Given the outbreak in Shepparton the announcement was anticipated and at this stage the Victorian lockdown will last until September 2.

Resorts in New South Wales resorts are closed until at least next Saturday, August 28. An announcement as to whether restrictions in regional NSW will be lifted next weekend, allowing the resorts to reopen, is due to be made this Thursday.

At the start of winter there was an air of optimism in the Alpine communities and regional centres in both countries, but that optimism began to wilt when Sydney went into a two-week lockdown on June 26, while Melbourne and regional Victoria have been in and out of lockdown since late June.

 

Sunshine and an excellent snow cover in the Remarkables today but, like all NZ resorts, stage 4 lockdowns mean it is closed until Thursday at the earliest,

When the trans-Tasman travel bubble opened in April, New Zealand resorts were looking forward to welcoming back Australian skiers and snowboarders and they did for a few weeks at the start of the season. Unfortunately, the bubble burst when quarantine-free flight between the two countries was suspended on July 24 until at least September 17 d due to the growing dekta outbreak in Sydney. Then last week a case in Auckland, sourced back to Sydney, led to a three-day lockdown throughout New Zealand which has now been extended until next Thursday at the earliest.

So, 18 months into the pandemic things are worse than they were last winter, and you have to wonder how many more hits the alpine communities and businesses and the snow industry can take. The optimism we had in May has been replaced by tired resignation.