Falls Creek Welcomes Back Visitors
In welcome news to all the Victorian ski resorts yesterday it was announced by the State Premier and Chief Health Officer that the state-wide lockdown would be lifted at midnight Tuesday 27th of July 2021. With this announcement came it was advised that outdoor group sports would be able to resume from 12:01am Wednesday the 28th of July. This of course means that skiing and snowboarding is back on the agenda and allows Falls Creek to start turning those lifts again.
In a sort of tortuous way, the ongoing pandemic crept back into Melbourne and the state of Victoria right at the starting point of the first powerful snowstorm. In the first week of lockdown Falls Creek was blessed with 99cm (39 inches) of fluffy powder snow which transformed the ski resort into the winter wonderland many know it to be. Following through into the second week of lockdown there was another 56cm (22 inches) that fell from the sky which just added to the base.
Credit: Falls Creek
With all this falls creek snow totalling over 1.5m (61 inches) the only people who were able to enjoy it was the Falls Creek local residents who were allowed out for 2 hours a day for personal exercise. It was also all human powered as none of the chair lifts were turning which meant they were really earning there turns, however with around 1.5m of fresh falls creek snow we would be out there for as long as possible. Sadly, we were only able to watch on from the falls creek cam and watch from home.
Credit Falls Creek
Rolling around to Wednesday 28th of July it’s all hands-on deck at Falls Creek to get the mountain ready for the return of visitors. Not only will regional Victorian riders be allowed into the resort but also the over 5 million residents from Melbourne providing they can present evidence of a negative Covid-19 test result within 72 hours of their departure to the ski resorts. These negative test conditions will be present for around two weeks to keep the alpine environments safe.
Opening this morning Falls Creek will have several lifts turning however it may take a few days to get everything ready. Before heading into lockdown, the incredible mountain operations team had a good amount of terrain open with the following lifts turning:
BOARDWALK
DROVERS DREAM
EAGLE EXPRESS
GULLY
HALLEY'S COMET
MONKEY BAR
MOUSE TRAP
PETE'S TRAIN
RUINED CASTLE
SCOTT
SNOWSPORTS SCHOOL
TOWERS
TUBE PARK
This is huge list of lifts and the only ones missing were the Summit Quad, International Poma and Lakeside Poma. All three of these lifts require a solid base of natural snow as the parts of the resort they access are not covered by snow making. That should not be an issue now with over 150cm of snowfall in the last fortnight and we can only imagine that the mountain operations team are working hard to get these lifts turning.
The conditions are looking beyond wild for opening day and with wind gust of up to 100km/h all across the state Falls Creek could be in for a soggy, gusty and wind hold kind of day but things should calm down before the weekend which is when most visitors would be planning to visit.
We are beyond excited at the idea of the Summit Quad and International Poma opening for the first time this season, these two lifts unlock all the advanced terrain at Falls Creek ski resort and more specifically a region known as the Maze. One thing that makes International Poma a little different is the ability to operate in any weather conditions due to being a surface lift.
Credit: Falls Creek
Our fingers are crossed that this is the last lockdown of the winter season, we all know how tough the previous year was for the Victorian ski resorts with zero operation and zero visitors, so if there is anything you can do its go and visit the snow and support your local community. If you want to stay up to date make sure you check out the snow report for Falls Creek and check the conditions on the falls creek cam.
