One of the very few lifts still operating for the 2024 Australian ski season has made its final ever spins today.
The Mt. Perisher Triple Chair's final days were marked with a retro style this weekend at Australia's largest resort, which as of Monday will be the only centre still open in the country after all others closed earlier than hoped due to warm weather.
A brand new, 6-seater chairlift is set to replace the old triple for winter 2025, providing access to Australia's highest lift-served point at 2,042m.
The upgraded lift will improve capacity and assist in speeding up distribution of skiers across Perisher's network of 48 lifts, reducing general lift wait times and improve flow and circulation, Perisher expects.
Key points of the new chairlift include wider better wind performance, and a 5.6-minute ride time (currently 10 min). The lift will see a 60% increase in chairlift capacity on Mt Perisher and contribute to a 22% increase in overall lifted capacity in the Mt Perisher region.
An extra bonus for guests will be the start time of the chair, earlier in the day than before, with resort management reported to have been discussing the lift opening time, now expected to be 8.30am in 2025.
"The multi-year multi-million-dollar project represents a significant investment in the guest experience at Perisher and highlights the continued commitment of Vail Resorts to its Australian operations as part of the Epic Lift Upgrade capital improvement project," a resort statement concludes.
Updates on the new lift's construction are being published on Perisher's website.