2024 Australian Season Wrap – One to Remember . . . or to Forget

Mountainwatch | Reggae Elliss

Here we are, an early end to the season for the second year running with Perisher closing its final lifts on Front Valley lifts two days ago, Wednesday September 25th, although Mt Mawson in Tasmania still has a rope tow operating on the weekend. But the reality is the season for the major resorts was really done by the end of August, three weeks of warm winds, high temps and a few rain events decimating a low snow pack that peaked in late July.

Given that, Perisher did a good job keeping some lifts and terrain open for as long as it did, the other resorts succumbing to the weather and poor conditions and closing a few weeks ago,  Selwyn closing on August 26^th, Buller and Baw Baw on September 1^st, Hotham on September 4^th, Thredbo on September 11^th, Charlotte Pass and Falls Creek on September 15^th.

At the start of September, the resorts still operating had minimal lifts and terrain open. Perisher closed Guthega and Smiggins on September 1^st and Blue Cow on September 8^th. Here in Thredbo we’d already lost a heap of terrain, the upper T-bars and the Supertrail never re-opened after a solid rain event on August 25^th. The Merritts area and High Noon closed on September 5^th, but both were closed on number of days during that final week due to wind-hold.

No wonder quite a few people over the past few weeks have asked me whether this season was the worst one I’ve seen. On the face of it, this season is definitely up there as one of the worst, but on snow depth alone, it is not quite the worst ever.

Using Snowy Hydro’s snow depth measurement at Spencers Creek (between Perisher and Charlotte Pass) as a guide, this season’s snow depth peaked on July 30^th at 124.6cms. There are three years worse than that – 1982 (91cms on August 19th), 1993 (112cms on August 26^th) and 2006 which peaked at 85.1cms on August 31^st.

However, it is worth noting that the mid-September depth was 65cms in 2006, while it was 87.6cms in 1993 and 53.3cms in 1982. This year it was much less, down to 36.5cms on September 18^th, illustrating how this season was one of the shortest, if not the shortest, on record.

As we now know, despite a cold mid-winter period in the mountains, this past winter one of the warmest on record, including the hottest August nationwide ever. The record-breaking August temperatures in central and NW Australia fuelled the consistent hairdryer northwest winds we saw in the mountains during the second half of August.

Prior to that, the first eight weeks of the season weren’t anything out of the ordinary.  The start of the season was very similar to last year with no pre-season snow and limited snowmaking opportunities. The result was just a couple of beginner lifts open in Perisher, Thredbo and Bourke St at Mt Buller for the opening weekend which typically was more about socialising than skiing.

Most of June was relatively dry with a couple of centimetres of snow the 13^th and then 5cms on Friday 21^st with another couple of 5cms falls during the  last week before the month closed with 5-10cm on June 29-30^th,  However, the snowmakers had some good nights and the resorts managed to open more lifts and terrain by the time school holidays came around at the end of the month.

Unlike last winter this year saw consistently good snowmaking conditions in the first half of the season, making up for the lack of natural snow, most resorts building a good base on intermediate on piste runs and beginner areas.  The exception was Mt Buller which, due a dry autumn and subsequent restrictions to the amount of water it could access, lost an estimated 150 hours of potential snowmaking during June and July. That meant popular intermediate runs like Little Buller Spur and Standard opened weeks later than expected and without a good base they were always susceptible to warm weather and a faster than usual melt-down.

July started off cold and clear before it warmed up at the end of the week with overnight temps above zero degrees for three or four days. There was some rain on July 9th-10th, with Buller copping a good dose while Baw Baw got hammered by 83m. The snow cover took a hit in all resorts but by this stage weeks of skiing on-piste terrain only was also wearing a bit thin. We really needed a storm to kick the season into gear.

Fortunately, there was snow in the forecast, the Grasshopper writing on July 12^th that, “The good news is we shouldn’t have to wait too long for more snow as a cooler southwest flow becomes established this weekend thanks to a low firing up in the southwest of the Tasman Sea. Snow flurries on Saturday will turn into more prolific snow showers on Sunday, become even more prolific on Monday as winds intensify for the first decent snowfall in a long time.”

The storm came through as expected with Perisher, Thredbo and Charlotte Pass picking up 10-15cms while Selwyn received a very healthy 30cms. In Victoria Falls and Hotham reported 25cms, but Buller and Baw Baw missed the brunt of the storm, with just 6cms. However, there was more snow on the way and that storm was backed up by a second, stronger storm the following weekend.

As the storm approached the pre-frontal winds were howling, reaching 126km/hr at Thredbo top station on Friday. The snow hit on Friday night, snowfalls intensifying after midnight and on Saturday morning Perisher, Thredbo, Charlotte Pass and Hotham were reporting 25cms while Falls Creek received 33cms and Mt Buller 22cms and it was still snowing hard.

Snowfalls continued throughout Saturday before clearing by Sunday morning, and once again the 24 hr totals were solid– Perisher and Charlotte Pass reporting 25cms, Thredbo 33cms (at 1700m), Falls Creek 20cms, Buller 22cms, Baw Baw and Hotham both reported 16cms.

While it was very windy that weekend and some chairs were on wind-hold for those who don’t mind a bit of storm riding it was pretty epic, two days of fresh snow and wind-blown powder that made braving the conditions very worthwhile. The seven-day totals for those two storms was 45-79cms, Falls and Hotham at the top of the range and most resorts now had 70-80% of terrain open. I remember thinking things were now looking good as we head into August, traditionally the snowiest month of the season.

Another cold front dropped 10cm on the July 27^th/28^th before we entered a run of cold, clear but calm weather. The period from July 30^th to August 8^th was a fair-weather skier’s dream, with daytime max temps hovering around zero, sub-zero overnight temps and a heap of snowmaking and perfectly groomed runs each morning.

It is rare to get a run of sunshine and quality dry snow like that in Australia and given it was peak season you’d expect it would have been pretty busy, but the slopes were quiet, especially mid-week.

Then it all went pear shaped, warm temps and days of strong, hairdryer NW winds hammering the snowpack over the next few weeks. There were a few snowfalls in August, but according to my notes we had a total of 14cms for the month, maybe 20cms in Victoria, and in the NSW resorts pretty well all of that was above 1700 metres. Northwest winds often hit 80-plus ks around the clock, causing a lot of wind-hold and an accelerated snow melt.

The snow depth at Spencers Creek hit its peak on July 30^th at 124.6cms. By August 28^th it was 66.2cms. It was the same in Victoria, the snow depth dropping by the day, Falls Creek having an average snow depth of 51cms on August 18^th and a week later on the morning of August 25^th it was 27cms. Now it wasn’t all bad and there was some fun spring snow during that period, and if it was late September rather than mid-August you would have been pretty happy with conditions.

The killer blow for the snow pack came on Sunday August 25^th with heavy rain from early afternoon into the night and it was torrential at times. Our snow reporters surveyed the damage the next morning and as usual didn’t pull any punches, Bill Barker writing in the Hotham report that “We’ve had some special mornings this winter, but this has to be up there as one of the most memorable. The 17 mm or so of rain that was forecast turned into about 70 mm overnight, there was a spectacular electrical storm in the early evening and the rain showers are still with us. …..  Rug up in your most weatherproof garments and don your most resilient attitude to make the most of it today.”

In Buller things were even more grim Tony Harrington writing in his report:  “There’s no beating around the bush … we’ve lost an astonishing amount of snow in the past week due to well above temps, strong winds and rain …. The natural snow is basically gone with man-made snow left holding the resort together. Summit and Bourke St are all that remain.”

Thredbo received 54m of rain and Perisher 67.8mm, my Thredbo report said, “There’s obviously been more damage to what is a fragile snow pack and there was limited grooming overnight due to the soft conditions … No doubt there are a few burst creeks up there and I’m not sure at this stage if it has impacted the number of lifts that will open. Mountain ops will be up there once it is light to assess the damage.”

It turned out the damage was bad and for the season that was about it, the resorts fighting a losing battle over the next two weeks.  Selwyn was already closed, Buller and Baw lasted another week, and Hotham 10 days. A cold front brought colder temps and 5-10cms of snow above 1700 metres on September 3rd, more in the backcountry, but it warmed up again a day later. Thredbo was losing snow and terrain by the day and was down to a strip of snow by the time it closed on the 11t^h while Falls Creek managed to keep a couple of southside runs open until the 15^th. 

Perisher kept things going, with the snowmaking runs on Mount P, Centre and Front Valley open for a few more weeks and it also managed to run the National Interschools Championships without a hitch during the first week of September. Then 105mm of rain hit Perisher on Wednesday and despite the cold temps and snow behind the rain, it was too late, the season was over.

There you go, what a season. Two real storms and four weeks of quality snow from mid-July to mid-August. For those who live in the mountains there were some very good days during that period although the consistent 1700m snow line meant some of the best off piste terrain in Thredbo never really got going. It was the same story in Hotham with the Keogh/Gotcha area not opening this year while Buller had very limited days off piste.

Of course, it is all relative and there is no doubt many people who had a good time this season. For park riders there were a lot of good days, the terrain parks in the major resorts open from late June through to the end. It is the same for those who like cruising on piste, the early season snowmaking ensuring there was always something to slide on. There were also plenty of events, music and fun times on and off the snow that are always a big part of every season.

On the other side of the coin it was also a very poor season for many local businesses, staff and the snow industry. By the end of August, the resorts were like ghost towns as laid-off staff headed off and few visitors headed to the mountains. Losing the last month of a four-month season for the second year in a row has hit businesses hard and that was on top of a quieter winter overfall after a significant drop in visitation.

This wasn’t surprising given the combination of last year’s poor season, no early snow and another slow start, while the cost of day passes (which increased in the major resorts on last year) and accommodation was a constant story during the season. It will be interesting to see if there is a correction as the reality is that many people have concluded that the cost of skiing and snowboarding in Australia is now beyond what they are prepared to pay.

Vail resorts have already announced a four-day any-day pass for falls, Hotham and Perisher that brings the cost down to $138/day. This will cater for those who only have time for a couple of short visits and the question is will the other resorts follow suit? As for accommodation, I know of a couple of providers who are reducing tariffs next season to 2019 levels. Hopefully more will follow.

I know, it’s not a rosy look back at this winter, but it is what it is. The saying is that “Good Things Come in Threes” not bad things. We can only hope next winter is a lot better than the past two.

Finally, a big thanks to the mountain operations departments in all the resorts who did an amazing job, especially the groomers and snowmakers who kept as much terrain open for as long as possible in the face of ridiculously tough conditions.