It is the ski season no-one expected: big, low pressure weather systems spiralling up from the Southern Ocean, huge, fluffy dumps over the resorts - and thousands of snow-mad skiers and snowboarders stuck in NSW lockdown and unable to travel.
To add to the irony, one of Australia's most accurate and trusted amateur snow forecasters, Pete "The Frog" Taylor, can't get down there either.
He's stuck at home in Wollongong, watching it all unfold on the snowcams and posting the news on his website, snowatch.com.au.
"Yes, it's super frustrating but it's the same situation for heaps of people," Mr Taylor said.
"I'm lucky because at least I can go surfing. But you see all this snow falling and think 'wow, if only'."
The past few days of chilly weather and showers across Canberra has seen another 25cm of snow fall across the Alps. The Snowy Hydro Spencers Creek depth indicator, which the Frog says is the best measure for depth, reach 183.6cm, more than double the quantity from the same time last year and surpassing last year's peak of 167.8cm, recorded on August 27.
"It's certainly rating as an above average season," Mr Taylor said.
"The season started off poorly with mild temperatures and rain washing away the early snowfalls but then the temperatures dropped and we're now seeing the best July snowfalls in 20 years."
He had the car packed and his two sons ready to head to the snow for the July school holidays but then, like thousands of others, had to cancel the trip due to the Greater Sydney and local government areas Covid lockdown.
His sons were also due to compete in the state interschools snowsports championships set down for August 23-27 at Perisher but that event has been cancelled, together with a host of other competitions.
"The resorts are taking a hit financially this season," he said.
"Most accommodation places are offering credits so I expect that once the lockdowns are lifted people will be scrambling to get down there [to the resorts].
"The places that have given credits during the lockdowns won't want to carry those credits into next season if they can avoid it."
Mr Taylor said his snow forecasting began as a hobby 20 years ago. He would study the forthcoming weather systems and developed an uncanny skill for accurate snowfall prediction, which he would post to online forums.
"People started emailing me for predictions and it took heaps of time to reply to them all so I thought I'll just put it all up online," he said.
A graphic designer and artist by profession, his website started out as a way of earning a bit of extra cash and getting "some free stuff" but now attracts solid advertising support.
And his prediction for the weeks ahead?
"More snow coming, although it's a little hard to predict how much. There's already enough of a good base in place to see out the season well," he said.
