Snow or Not, Lifts Spin in Australia and New Zealand Across Opening Weekend – Gallery

June 15th, 2016


When mother nature doesn’t come to the table it’s the tireless work of snowmaking teams that bring us the goods. Image:: Mt Hotham

Mountainwatch | Gallery

Opening Weekend celebrations went down in style over the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend, with lifts spinning, snow falling and snowmakers cranking on both sides of the Tasman. While New Zealand boasted the most amount of natural snow for the season opening, this didn’t stop Perisher, Thredbo and Mt Buller having at least a small amount of snow on offer for Opening Weekend festivities. Perisher was able to open limited terrain on Front Valley for those who just couldn’t wait to have their first turns for 2016 and they even had a small rail park on offer for the jibbers.

In his daily forecasts, The Grasshopper has his ear pressed to the ground for any rumblings of the next signs of fresh snow so make sure you’re tuning in every day to be in the know. The Opening Weekend also saw the launch of our daily reports in every Aussie snow resort, and don’t miss Reggae’s Latest Video Reports to get a preview of what’s happening in the mountains.

Let it snow!

AUSTRALIA


The man-made base is building. Image:: Hotham


Thredbo employed the work of master ice sculptor Kenji to entertain the village crowds. Image:: Thredbo


After some solid snowmaking Friday Flat was ready to rock on Monday morning. Image:: Thredbo


The Perisher day lot fills quickly on Saturday morning. Image:: Perisher


Snow stoke! Image:: Perisher


Mt Buller makes the most of early cold temps. Image:: Mt Buller


Not too fast! Image:: Mt Buller


Snowmakers crank under village party lights. Image:: Falls Creek


Man-made perfection. Image:: Falls Creek

NEW ZEALAND


Amisfield bubbles for all at Coronet Peak Opening Image:: Coronet Peak


Coronet Peak is ready Opening Day Image:: Coronet Peak


First on the quad were Willem Wylaars, Lucy Appleton, Chris Henderson and Dan Lyttle at Mt Hutt Image:: NZSki


Joe McGuire and Lisa Farrell enjoy the view at Mt Hutt Ski Area Image:: Mt Hutt