Ski season to start early as snow dumps on mountains

The official start of the Australian snow season is still 12 days away on the Queen's birthday long weekend on June 9, however Perisher in NSW has announced it will open a week early on June 2 and Thredbo is aiming for June 6.

Victoria's Mount Buller is also considering an early start.

The resorts in Victoria and NSW were blasted by up to 30cm of snow over the weekend. No more snowfalls are predicted this week but the major resorts are hoping to have their snowmaking systems going full tilt in the predicted cold conditions.

Mount Hotham has its snowguns in place and aims to start snowmaking tonight on the Big D beginners' area.

A resort spokesperson said there is plenty of snow on the ground from the recent falls but an early start is not on the cards for Mount Hotham or sister resort Falls Creek.

Perisher will open its Front Valley from 9am on Saturday and ticket sales from the weekend will be donated to the local community. A ticket price will be determined later this week when the resort decides no how many lifts will open.

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