With dumpings of snow down to 200 metres on Friday morning and down to 300 metres overnight, Ben Lomond’s season is still in full swing.
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Dustings of fresh snow covered the ski fields on Friday, and small numbers of locals and tourists took advantage of the extension of the season.
Ben Lomond Snow Sports manager Flea Foot said the rock she uses to eye-ball the amount of snowfall had been completely lost this week.
“When Mike the ski patroller walks down the road he sometimes slips down the ice, but now he can ski down right to the door,” she said.
“The season is absolutely fantastic, we normally finish up about this time but it’s snowing really well with fantastic cover.”
Snow making stations were utilised for the first three weeks of the season but now with the length of the season it was not needed at all.
“We like to think that a lot of people using the snow now aren’t just skiers but are families,” she said.
“We have tried to shift the focus, we have even put a basketball hoop up on the outside of the building so people can throw basketball snowballs.”
Her main word of warning to anyone wanting to come up for the last few weeks of the season was to know your limits.
If you do not know how to attach chains to your vehicle or have full confidence driving in the snow, make use of the $15 return bus from the bottom of the mountain.
The cost is $50 for a family of four.
“We have two troopies that go up and down, up and down, and they are flogged to death but you just park down the bottom and it makes it so much easier. No chains, no four-wheels drives,” she said.
“The worse thing is when people drive up the mountain and they don’t have the experience.”
Also taking advantage of the good conditions were Hobart pair Hugh Manifold and Portia Spaulding.
“I hadn’t been for years and I heard it had been one of the best years for awhile and just thought I had to get up before it ended,” Mr Manifold said.
Snowy conditions are forecast throughout the weekend and there are a large number of weather warnings for the entire state.
To stay up to date go to www.bom.gov.au/tas/warnings or to check police road closures go to www.police.tas.gov.au/community-alerts
Holly Monery
Holly Monery is a journalist for The Examiner newspaper, based in Launceston, Tasmania. Her main area of focus is local government.
Holly Monery is a journalist for The Examiner newspaper, based in Launceston, Tasmania. Her main area of focus is local government.
