Perisher Extends Season Until October 8th
WITH THE BEST CONDITIONS IN FIVE YEARS PERISHER EXTENDS THE SEASON TO SUNDAY OCTOBER 8
Perisher has seen over two metres of snowfall throughout August and the four-resort area of Perisher, Blue Cow, Smiggin Holes and Guthega are all looking superb. Spring skiing and boarding conditions are the best that skiers have experienced since 2012 and with plenty more snow forecast through next week Perisher has extended the season through Sunday October 8.
Perisher’s Chief Operating Officer, Peter Brulisauer, notes “Perisher is looking great. We’ve had an amazing season so far and we are excited to announce that the season is extending, providing incredible skiing and boarding for guests to enjoy into October.”
Perisher is spring loaded through September with events like the Red Bull Pit Stop Challenge, DC Spring Break, BrewSki Craft Beer and Cider Festival, Pond Skim and exclusive après parties to toast the incredible conditions. There is no better reason to extend the season!
Not at all surprised. Another big dump coming next week according to reports.
the thing is the good majority of people lose interest by mid sept. the weather is warming up people don’t think of snow.
smigs and guth will closed by sept 18, then bluecow the following week at the latest. everyone will get pushed to front/centre valley, with prob a chair open on mt p plus ayre tbar. its the same every year. kids lessons have already stopped at the cow. I doubt even a 2m plus base will changeany of that. perisher will be banking on the fact that unfamiliar punters will pay for full price tickets and accom while they can keep the prices up. depending on wether they get a lot of hot days and rain the parks will stay, but gradually shrink. generally by oct long weekend FV park is back to rails as the booters act as snow storage to keep FV runs open, and will get spread out to cover the thinning cover from its high traffic. its just pure PR to remind people that even though its getting warm there is still snow!
Brenno you’re 100% right, every year I have been here at Falls it has been so quiet that 80% of people still riding are staff… and they are better off closing half the runs so more staff have time off and they save themselves money.
It does look good on marketing platforms though and if it means getting 10% more people back during September than you otherwise would have, it’s probably better to run that extra week at a loss since you’ve made up for it with the extra visitation while it is still nice up here.
Personally I love the last week, lots of sun, slush and good times with the crew! (and 1 more week of work before I become unemployed)
@TJswish gotta give perisher credit they have left everything open even though theres a bunch of lifts ‘on demand’. I was down last weekend still pretty busy, bailed Monday cause the winds were howling but still quite a few heading up the tube early. been a really good back half of the season, first half was forgettable though!
The idea is great, it’s just the implementation isn’t always the best. Even with enough snow, Falls isn’t opening the beginner poma (which is rarely used anyway) and potentially had to close Summit due to lack of staff. Making people work 40 hours in the last 2 weeks with barely anyone on the hill (mid week) is pretty silly if you want to turn a profit.
However the staff who are trying to save money aren’t complaining because it gives them that extra week of moolah!
whats a lifty get an hr these days @TJswish ?? it only takes 2 lift tickets to pay a lifties wage for the day with change id imagine. even though the mountains appear ghost townish, there is prob still 500-1000 people riding around. I see perisher has around 20 lifts closed today, id say that will wind back over the week. the extended season will be front valley only after next Monday.
Ok, this turned a bit ranty but I wanted to get the point across. I don’t mean to be nasty at all and I understand that these resorts all turn a profit over the years (hence why we are spending $9 million on a new chairlift in summer) but here is my reasoning. (this part was written at the end of the rant lol)
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Here it’s $25ish. So 10 hours for 4 lifties per lift = $1000. Then you need a ticket checker at a lot of them = $250. Then someone has to sell the tickets and rentals = $500 (probably similar ticket / rentals to lifty ratio). Then you got at least 5-6 maintenance guys on the hill, they’d be well over the base wage = $40 x 8hours x 6 people = $1920
It’s not always as easy as just calculating the lifty’s wage.
I understand that yes there can be 500+ people riding the hill but how many of them have a season pass? 200? 300? 400? A good chuck won’t be paying any extra for this extra week.
Even still if we had 500 people paying for passes which I’m pretty sure is not the case, 500x$100 = $50,000. Lets go with Falls Creek here, 14 lifts, approx 40 lifties + 4 zone leaders at minimum of $250 for 10 hours of work (7:30am till 5:30pm) = $11,000. Then you have shops and maintenance which would bump that up way further. Then you have all the support services (I’d still like to get paid thanks). Add in the actual running of the lifts, they use power, we needed groomers to flatten the slush, we need ski patrol in case you hurt yourself, we need parking attendants, we need all of the buildings powered to operate.
I remember seeing sheets with stats in Canada and there were days of 300 people at Sun Peaks. Today it’s raining… The business is run for profit of course over 3 months. If there is less than 110 paying customers, it’s a loss just from paying the lifties. If it’s less than like 50 people renting gear, it’s a loss in shops too. If there is nobody to buy lunch, the vendors up here aren’t happy…
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Don’t get me wrong, I love that I have an extra week of work and that we are staying open but I also realize the reasons that other places (Thredbo / Hotham / Buller) is because for the minimal uptake of people visiting, there is a very high chance that places lose money for that extra week.
@TJswish mate I know how much it costs to the resorts I have my own business. you also have to add around 60% to a wage to get the actual hrly rate including super, workers comp etc. not sure how the vic resorts go, but perisher always have quite a few people. they may run at a loss, but our season is so short they need to stay open to make it look more appealing! only 3 weeks ago national parks closed the park because there was just nowhere to park. I heard the tube closed as well as it was maxing. that was the first weekend in sept, unheard of! while they may run at a loss the last week or two they are making PLENTY during peak season. and perishers PR are going hard to the end. todays insti feed bangs on about fresh snow and bluebird. they are skiing Olympic. yet its been closed for a week! lol
I would like to thank Perisher for extending putting staff on at Guthega until the end of last week to get people staying at Guthega to get a chair until 10an instead of driving to Perisher which is a first as they usually close the 2nd week of September. I got to ride fresh lines down the Screw “even tucked the rope” by a small walk back from Blue cow for my last run of the season on 27th September was much easier than a 3 hr hike to ride Guthega Tate a few weeks before. Keep up the good work.
I would like to thank Perisher for extending putting staff on at Guthega until the end of last week to get people staying at Guthega to get a chair until 10an instead of driving to Perisher which is a first as they usually close the 2nd week of September. I got to ride fresh lines down the Screw “even tucked the rope” by a small walk back from Blue cow for my last run of the season on 27th September was much easier than a 3 hr hike to ride Guthega Tate a few weeks before. Keep up the good work.
how was tate @Nigel Neubauer ? it was looking really nice a few weeks back. haven’t hiked it for years but keen to again. might be a 3hr hike but worth every turn!
Yes Tate was pretty amazing I rode it on the 7th September after the storm as I was in Guthega that week just waiting for a break in the weather and that was the day, also rode the triangle face above the dam left of the dam wall. A big day of hiking and yes it was worth it just a lot of effort lucky I have a split.