Avid snowboarders and skiers will be delighted to find out that the recent dumping has caused Ben Lomond to push the upcoming snow season forward.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ben Lomond Ski Lifts managing director Ben Mock said he had been busy grooming the slopes and was frantically trying to get staff up there sooner rather than later.
"In the past, Ben Lomond has been a place where nothing was groomed like they are in the big resorts, so it will make the skiing experience 100 times better," Mr Mock said.
"You won't be dodging rocks and the public will just love what we've done to make skiing more enjoyable here," he said.
Mr Mock said the mountain had a lot of potential and was hopeful that it could become the number one tourist destination in Tasmania for winter activities and also encouraged tourists to be fully prepared.
"Make sure that you've got jackets, pants, socks, proper shoes, replacement clothes just in case you do get wet.
"Stick to the boardwalks in the fenced trail or fenced walkways and do not go off course," he said.
"The last thing we need is somebody to get lost, injured and especially out and into the planning areas. If you do get lost it can be quite dangerous," he said.
Ben Lomond Snow Sports owner Dane Liepins said he was expecting a big turnout for the long weekend.
"We've been very busy taking inquiries about the weekend ahead. We know we've got some very cold conditions over the weekend with some more snow in the forecast," Mr Liepins said.
"That might not suit everybody, but the good thing is the snow is accumulating on Ben Lomond and hopefully setting us up for a very good season ahead.
"We've been very much affected by COVID. We're hoping for a strong turnout throughout the season and are particularly excited to welcome back inter-state tourists.
"Preparations in earnest started probably about six weeks ago so in an operation like this where we have lots of different moving parts, we've got to do a lot of service work on all our equipment.
"Ben Lomond is completely off grid, so all over the summer we're doing mechanical service on generators making sure our machinery is all serviced and ready to go.
"Then we operate snowmaking equipment so we bring that up the mountain and test that out and get it ready.
"Now we've got all our staff arriving for the final push and that's getting all the kitchen stocked with food and the rental gear ready to go and the skis waxed to get everything ready for the big opening on Saturday," he said.
Tasmania Police's search and rescue teams are urging Tasmanians and tourists alike to think carefully before heading into the wilderness this week, and over the long weekend.
Senior Constable Callum Herbert said the forecast weather was grim, and that people should reconsider their need to explore this week.
"We're expecting very cold weather, rain and some of the season's first heavy snows in alpine areas," he said.
"While we don't want to discourage people from spending time outdoors, we do need people to avoid taking unnecessary risks."
"If you're not experienced in this sort of environment, you should delay your adventure until the conditions improve."
"If you do decide to go bushwalking or exploring in the snow, please make sure you're properly prepared - the risks are real."
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Belinda House said Tasmania is going to be in a cold south-westerly air stream right through this week.
"On Saturday, what in particular is making this particularly cold is that it's a long southerly trajectory, coming all the way up from Antarctica.
"It's going to be a really cold air mass in a cold south-westerly estuary pushing up over the state. It's not going to be unusual in where it falls, it's just it's going to be falling lower than what it commonly does.
"We're anticipating to see snow falling down as low as 200 metres above sea level, so anyone whose lives in those slightly elevated areas might see the snow falling where they live.
"We're not anticipating that it will push up into the North, those really low snow levels we will be further down south in Tasmania," Ms House said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner