Perisher will open its Blue Cow lifts to expand accessible terrain on Saturday after a flood of online criticism from skiers and boarders over long lift queues at the resort during the opening weekend of the snow season.
After the best early season snowfalls in 22 years, thousands of people rushed to the NSW resorts to take advantage of bumper conditions over the June long weekend, with the huge Perisher car park full by 9am and reports of people getting turned back on Kosciuszko Road due to a lack of available parking.
Perisher opened some of its terrain to skiers and boarders on June 5 this year, a week earlier than usual, to take advantage of the early season snowfalls.
It gradually expanded accessible terrain for the June long weekend, albeit with limited numbers of lifts and tows operating across the resort, creating major crowd pressures and long lift queues, exacerbated by a temporary breakdown to the biggest chairlift, the Village 8, on June 12.
A statement issued by Belinda Trembath, Perisher's general manager, this week confirmed that "because we opened early, our team was still coming online, completing training, and getting in place" and "as such, we focused on areas that provided the greatest range of runs to ensure guests of all abilities could enjoy the slopes".
Perisher confirmed that it now had "nearly 100 per cent of [employee] roles filled" at the resort.
It said it still had "a few remaining open roles ... on our careers website".
Finding sufficient housing in Jindabyne and nearby areas for the hundreds of seasonal workers needed to run the Perisher and Thredbo resorts has been a consistent challenge for the operators and was worsened this year as owners of private accommodation in the area sought to recoup some of the financial shortfalls from two years of COVID-affected seasons.
"For those who require employee housing, we are able to provide options, and we are also proud of the benefits we offer our team members, including season access to Perisher, Falls Creek and Hotham, employee discounts at numerous outlets and more," Ms Trembath said in a statement.
Mt Selwyn, owned by the Blyton Group, announced this week that its planned July 2 opening had to be abandoned because the onset of the early season snow had prevented it from completing necessary infrastructure preparation.
The resort had been undergoing an extensive multi-million dollar rebuild after buildings and lifts were destroyed during the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires.
"A set of unprecedented challenges including record rainfalls across November and December, material supply shortage and the COVID state-wide lockdown last year have meant further delays in progress," the company explained in a statement.
"We know that this is devastating news for our guests, employees and local communities, and want you to know that we share this sadness with you and look forward to a fresh start in 2023."
