Australian ski season 2022: Resorts hope for a long season as bookings soar

Victoria's Mount Hotham is also bracing for a longer season.

"In 2000, the last time we had such a big start to the season, we still had a snow depth of 135cm at the beginning of October. If 2022 is the same, we'll probably be skiing and boarding well into the September school holidays," says Hotham communications manager Anita Coia.

However, holidaymakers looking to book during the peak windows will need to be flexible. "Keep an eye out for mid-week accommodation deals through the season but with occupancy rates at an all-time high on the weekends, it might just be your best bet for a getaway," Coia says.

At Mount Buller, Victoria's biggest resort, they were noticing a four-fold increase in bookings compared with 2019, even before the snowy blast of late May early June. At Falls Creek it's a similar story. Lisa Logan runs Falls Creek's Diana Lodge and is also president of the resort's Chamber of Commerce.

"With this snowfall, booking enquiries have gone up 10-fold," she says, "but the resort is basically booked out for the season - that's from the end of June to mid-September."

"And because we're a destination resort, we're not just full up on weekends, it's mid-week as well."

While staff shortages have impacted tourism Australia-wide, she says it's not such an issue at Falls Creek, at least not yet. "People are managing it in different ways - rather than hiring an extra chef, a restaurant might close for a day, for example.

"But the concern is, we don't have that buffer - if somebody gets sick and has to isolate for seven days, then we might not have anyone to cover for them."

Tourism Accommodation Australia chief executive Michael Johnson describes the pent-up demand as "bittersweet", as resorts now grapple with staff shortages.

"The New South Wales government has winter trading schemes in place to recommend that people without any experience can get training and work in the ski fields," says Johnson. He warns that visitors should brace for possible accommodation occupancy caps as a result of the labour shortages.

Lifts at the Australian snow resorts usually don't operate at full capacity until late June or early July, so all of a sudden having the snow cover and crowds to justify it creates some challenges.

All the same, in Victoria this weekend, the major resorts will be giving access to about 50 per cent of their terrain. Mount Buller expects to have some of its longest runs operating, including Wombat, Summit and Bull Run. At Mount Hotham the Summit is open and Heavenly Valley is expected to open. Falls Creek already has Halleys Comet, Scotts and Towers open and may add the Summit to that.

Thredbo will have all main resort areas open with six lifts operating to access the Supertrail, High Noon, the Cruiser area and Friday Flat for skiing and boarding from Saturday 11 June. The Boost Mobile Terrain Park in the Cruiser area will also be open. Perisher so far has seven of its 47 lifts operating, mainly to access the terrain on its Front Valley.

"To celebrate the opening of the season, Thredbo has a huge weekend of events planned. Highlights include an Illuminations show, Fireworks and Flare Run spectacular, 'First laps with the Olympians' on Saturday morning and a massive après concert in the Alpine Bar 'Heineken Saturday' featuring Set Mo."