Perisher ski resort will stop operating lifts at two of its four areas on Sunday afternoon due to a lack of snow, signalling an early end to the season.
The decision to close Blue Cow and Guthega areas came as the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the warmest winter since official records began in 1910, with average daily temperatures 1.53C above the long-term average.
Perisher’s mountain operations director, Michael Fearnside, said the two areas were normally closed earlier due to the “predominantly north-facing orientation of these slopes in sunnier spring conditions”.
“We’re a little ahead of schedule in closing them, however in the past decade we have typically closed them in the second or third week of September in the majority of the last 10 snow seasons,” Fernside said.
“We’re thankful to all of our mountain operations team for their work during this challenging season weather-wise and appreciate all the feedback we’ve had from guests grateful we’ve continued to make and move snow whenever we’re able to – which we will continue to do in the coming weeks where possible.”
In an earlier statement, a Perisher spokesperson said “lift operations in both Blue Cow and Guthega are expected to cease for 2023 from Monday 4 September. The last day of operations in Blue Cow and Guthega will be Sunday 3 September”.
Some ski forum users report this is one of the earlier closures at Perisher apart from during the pandemic.
“Madness that is unheard of at Perisher,” said one comment on Perisher’s Facebook post. “Never can I remember the snow season finishing up that early.”
Perisher isn’t the only resort to have struggled with lower than usual snowfall. Thredbo was forced to close its operations during the King’s holiday long weekend in June due to a “lack of snow”.
Mt Baw Baw in Victoria and Selwyn snow resort in New South Wales will close for skiing and snowboarding from Monday.
Traditionally the Australian snow season runs until the first weekend of October.
Peak snow depth has been trending down in recent decades and the snow season has been getting shorter as the climate heats up.
Across the Australian Alps, a mountain range in south-east Australia that includes the Thredbo, Perisher and Mount Hotham ski resorts, temperatures were about 2C warmer than normal in July and with only about half as much precipitation.
The decline in snow depths has largely been at the end of the season, leading to shorter seasons.
Prof Neville Nicholls, a climate expert from Monash University, told Guardian Australia last month that the decline in snow in the tail end of the season is due to the increased warming from anthropogenic climate change.
“It’s not driven by changes in precipitation. It’s been driven by a gradual warming,” Nicholls said.
A UN climate report last year said observations at Spencers Creek in NSW showed the snow season had already shortened by 5% and snow depth had dropped by 10%. Several other locations were also experiencing long-term falls in snow depth.
– With Australian Associated Press
