COUNTDOWN TO WINTER – PHOTOS 20cm of Snow & Perisher Gets Snowmaking

May 11th, 2011

Buller staff on their winter commute. Image:: Harro

Buller staff on their winter commute. Image:: Harro

Countdown to Winter | 11 May

SNOW UPDATE: Up to 20cm of snow fell on the resorts last night, right across NSW and Victoria – and the weather is supposed to stay cold, which, as our Grasshopper said yesterday means the snow should stick around for a while.

Word on the street is, these are the overnight snow totals:

Perisher – 10cm
Mt Buller 15cm – 20cm
Falls Creek 10cm+
Thredbo 6cm – 8cm in the village (more on the hill)
Hotham about 10cm

RESORT UPDATE: Perisher switched on the snow guns overnight, the fist Aussie resort to do so for the season. With the overnight temperatures dropping down around minus 7 degrees in the mountains over the coming days it’s more than likely the other resorts will quickly follow suit.

Early snowmaking – as long as the cover sticks around – builds a solid base for the season. The stronger the base, the better new snow will settle on top of it, so if the resorts can lay down a hard packed cover in the coming weeks they will set themselves up for the whole winter. A hard base is achieved by pumping out snow with a higher moisture content which solidifies into a firm cover. It’s partly thanks to the epic base built through a freezing July that last August was as ‘awesome’ as it was.

Thredbo's supertrail ready for riding. Image:: Russell Holt

Thredbo’s supertrail ready for riding. Image:: Russell Holt

Gratuitous shot of wildlife on the Alpine Way. Image:: Russell Holt

Gratuitous shot of wildlife on the Alpine Way. Image:: Russell Holt

Falls Creek at 6am Wednesday. Image:: Chris Hocking

Falls Creek at 6am Wednesday. Image:: Chris Hocking

Buller's Rhylla Morgan is back in winter gear again. Image:: Harro

Buller’s Rhylla Morgan is back in winter gear again. Image:: Harro

Snow on the gums in Thredbo. Image:: Russell Holt

Snow on the gums in Thredbo. Image:: Russell Holt

Russell gets creative capturing the perfect image for a four wheel drive advertisement. Image:: Russell Holt

Russell gets creative capturing the perfect image for a four wheel drive advertisement. Image:: Russell Holt

Early morning Falls Creek. Image:: Chris Hocking

Early morning Falls Creek. Image:: Chris Hocking

Keep checking the cams and forecasts for all the latest…

Perisher forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.

Falls Creek forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.

Mount Buller forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.

Charlotte Pass forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.

Hotham forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.

Thredbo forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.

Mount Baw Baw forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.