Australian ski areas are celebrating after a big snowfall brought deep powder conditions for the first week of August.
Conditions were already good to excellent across the country's ski slopes after the snowiest start to the season in more than two decades at the start of June. Most areas were already fully open with a healthy snowpack.
Now at the start of August a 20cm (8") dump reported by a number of areas including the country's largest, Perisher in New South Wales, has freshened things up nicely as we hit the midpoint of winter 2022.
"That's right, we got hit with a snowstorm last night, bringing in 20cm of fresh pow. Our mountain is looking fluffier than ever and frosty white," Perisher reported.
The excellent conditions coming after two winters which saw most Australian areas closed by multiple lockdowns has led to bumper business for Aussie ski centres and several are struggling to cope with demand at peak times.
Perisher and Thredbo have had to hold/turn back day skiers as car parking reached capacity in recent weekends and other areas including Falls Creek and even Ben Lomond in Tasmania reported similar actions had to be made at the weekend.
More snowfall is forecast over the next few days.