Australia's largest resort Perisher's historic 'Skitube' alpine railway train has been given a new lease of life thanks to artist Mike Shankster's new large-scale mural covering of four train carriages, created with help from Ukrainian artist Arina Apostolova.
"Perisher holds a special place in my heart," said Mike, whose parents once owned Perisher Valley's Willow Lodge. "Spending time here brings back a lot of memories from my childhood skiing between Perisher and Smiggins with my brother and sister. The smell of bush and calm environment is something I'm always eager to get back to."
Shankster and Apostolova spent two weeks covering the carriages with nature-inspired abstract art depicting blurred landscapes, such as gum leaves, to mimic the view from a train's carriage as you're travelling through the Kosciuszko National Park on the way to Perisher Ski Resort.
The Skitube alpine railway is a Swiss-designed rack-rail train system that opened in August 1988 and was introduced to improve entry to the Perisher Range ski fields, which can be affected by snow and ice during winter. It remains an easy and safe way to access the resort. The train has carried over four million passengers over the 35 years it has been operating.
It travels through a tunnel in the Ramshead Range to Perisher Resort, stopping in the underground station at Perisher Valley. It then heads to Blue Cow via another tunnel through the Perisher Range. The tunnel is Australia's longest transport tunnel at 6.3km long, and at its deepest point is 550m below the surface.
The freshly painted carriages will be officially unveiled to the public on opening weekend of the 2023 snow season on 10 June.