Ben Lomond Leads Australian Ski Season Opening

Michael FultonMichael Fulton

TL;DR

Ben Lomond in Tasmania kicks off the Australian ski season, with other major resorts set to open limited terrain for the King's Birthday Long Weekend.

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Australian Ski Resorts Begin 2023 Season Operations

Ben Lomond, a small ski resort in Tasmania, Australia, marked the start of the 2023 Australian ski season on Friday, June 6. Despite having only one t-bar operational and requiring skiers to dismount halfway, the resort attracted dedicated skiers and riders eager to make their first turns of the season.

[PHOTOS] Tasmanian Ski Resort Ben Lomond Kicks Off Australian Ski Season as Others Prepare for Opening Day - body image 1

Several major Australian ski resorts are set to follow suit on June 7, with Thredbo, Perisher, Hotham, and Mount Buller opening limited terrain. Thredbo plans to run the Easy Does It chair lift on Friday Flats and some carpets. Perisher will operate the Village 8 lift and carpets, while Hotham will run the Summit Trainer and Pup's Playground carpets. Mount Buller will have Bourke Street open for skiing and riding.

Falls Creek, though not open for skiing and riding initially, is prepared to adapt quickly based on snowfall. Mount Baw Baw will offer tobogganing and snow play activities, but no lift operations are planned for the King's Birthday Long Weekend. Selwyn and Charlotte Pass have scheduled their openings for June 21.

[PHOTOS] Tasmanian Ski Resort Ben Lomond Kicks Off Australian Ski Season as Others Prepare for Opening Day - body image 2

Nathan Butterworth, Vice President and General Manager of Perisher Ski Resort, expressed enthusiasm about welcoming guests back to Australia's largest ski resort. He highlighted the recent snowfall and colder temperatures, as well as the hard work of resort staff in preparing for the season.

Perisher is particularly excited about the upcoming opening of the new Mt Perisher 6 chairlift on July 25, which is expected to enhance the resort's offerings significantly. With forecasts predicting up to 60 centimetres of snow for the King's Birthday Long Weekend, skiers and riders can look forward to more terrain opening across various resorts as conditions improve.

About the author

Michael Fulton

Michael Fulton

Melbourne-based skier and snowboarder with 50+ resorts across 5 continents. Specialises in Australian resorts and international resort comparisons.

50+ resorts visited15 years skiing

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