AUGUST ISSUE, 2021
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Mountains of snow
inside
LOCKDOWN may have paused the season in mid July, but with the resorts re-opened on Wednesday, July 28, there was no wasting time taking advantage of the peak snow conditions which had both Falls Creek and Mt Hotham with average snow depths pushing 1.5 metres. Pictured enjoying himself at Falls Creek is Tom Costa. PHOTO: Chris Hocking
BRITT COX P3 Mogul master preparing for her fourth Winter Olympics
P9 BACKCOUNTRY Inaugural tour for women at Mt Hotham a huge success
Unsung heroes How snowmaking has helped shape the season at Hotham, Falls Creek
YOUNG GUNS P19 Aussie cross-country ski team members hard at work
index KANGAROO HOPPET P14 THINGS TO DO
P15
AS evening falls and you’re winding down after a day on the mountain, Len Dobell is briefing his team for a full night’s work. As general manager of operations at Hotham, Len and his team of snowmakers and groomers work through the night to transform the mountain and continually provide mountain visitors with the best terrain and snow conditions possible. “In the last 18 months Hotham has purchased eight new, state-of-the-art mobile snow guns,” he said. “It’s great to see our continuous investment in getting the runs our guests love open sooner and offering
the best possible snow conditions all season long”. The grooming and snowmaking crews at Mt Hotham and Falls Creek are the hidden heroes behind your snow holiday. It was their skilled and dedicated work that produced the goods and ensured skiable terrain to make up for Mother Nature’s shortfall earlier in the season. And while plentiful natural dumps in July have helped set both resorts up for the remainder of the season with snow depths well in excess of a metre, the mountains’ teams won’t stop.
Every night the hardworking team sculpt the slopes and paint with snow to craft the terrain that facilitates and becomes the background of your winter memories. “We have about seven groomers and five snowmakers who work the night shift each night,” said Len. Made up of nocturnal creatures, the night shift is fondly referred to as the graveyard shift and can see crew members starting at 4.30pm and work through the night, often finishing at 5am, or until lifts open the next morning. Snowmaking has been a key focus for Hotham and Falls Creek and
significant investments made by both resorts have helped stabilise an industry reliant on mother nature, providing snow-goers and business owners alike with confidence each season. Snowmaking has been especially valuable for the resorts to safely open terrain earlier in the season. “This season in the lead up to Hotham’s opening weekend, we produced over 8500 cubic meters of snow each night,” said Len. “We contributed an extra 69,000 cubic metres of snow to opening weekend - enough to fill over 27 Olympic size swimming pools.
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