Aussie Storm Promise For Ski Season Start

Mt Buller [Source: Mt Buller Facebook page]

The perceived wisdom in Australia and New Zealand is that "snow in May never stays", but the 24-27 May storm that hit the Australian ski resorts has raised spirits, generated buckets of optimism for the coming snow season and - most importantly - dumped 30-50cms of wet snow at all the resorts.

Mother Nature surprised many with temperatures staying cool enough for snow early in the storm cycle despite the source of the moisture - a warm, tropical feed from Indonesia.

Most importantly, the low temperatures fortunately kept the dreaded rain to a minimum and brought the white stuff earlier than expected.

Mt Hotham [Source: Mt Hotham Facebook page]

Some great pictures went up over the weekend on Facebook: Bourke Street at Mt Buller fully covered; Main Street at Falls Creek looking skiable; and Hotham looking stunning.

Hopefully the snow will stick around. Little snow is forecast over the next week or so meaning we will have to hope for below-zero nights where the snowmakers can add manmade cover on top of the fresh, natural snow.

This snowmaking will build up and protect the main runs and ensure there is some skiing avaiable on the opening weekend (9-11 June).