Holy crap... I see it now. It's the kiddies (Home Run) poma.... not a T-bar or poma they may have moved prior to the fires. Talk about disorientating!
Bare as at the moment, hopefully the rebuilding plans will include green season activities like MTB trail running.
I realise that, I just didn't realise how much it would be required for selwyn having never been there.
Selwyn prolly on got 15 cm out of that big NSW fall in the school holidays. And then nada. Would have been a tough year there this year for sure.
Snowy Hydro shows a peak on the 14th of July of 1cm at Three Mile Dam. A good year to be closed I'd say.
Probably shouldn't put that photo up, the ground in this area doesn't seem to have cooled at all this year with snow seeming to melt pretty much soon as it falls. I skied up tantantagra a couple of weeks back now it' would be a trail run. Maybe the fires are still smouldering underground, and the rain of last period has destroyed anything settling.
Thought I'd check the Selwyn snow cams completely forgetting that they wouldn't be operating. Stuck on 31st December with an eerie orange glow in the sky.
They keep saying on the local radio that they are. I’ve heard someone say they’ll rebuild for 2021 but I don’t know how, I imagine there is a lot of infrastructure to rebuild. Selwyn is a lovely place and you should definitely give it a visit sometime once we’ve left 2020 behind.
The Dry Dam XC ski trails will be open in 2021 and if all goes well then I will be permitted to visit NSW in 2021.
Ah yes, sorry, proven wrong again. Seems to happen to me a lot. So tell me again, how many lifts do they have?
I thought they say on the ads that most of the clearing work etc has been done and the REbuild I'd progressing.
I haven’t heard either way, but I would have thought this would be difficult. I seriously doubt they would include in the first round of approvals/ applications as it would hold things up. Maybe they would like to add accommodation and will try after approvals are in.
They’d need a sewerage treatment plant first wouldn’t they? Not too many motels with composting loos.
Cabramurra is not open to the Public really. It is a Snowy Mtn.s hydro electricity scheme workers' inhabitance.
not exactly closed to the public either, or at least it wasn’t pre fires. Sure you can’t live there unless your snowy hydro but doesn’t stop you visiting, going to the pub etc.
Will believe it when I see it. Unfortunately the zero snow this year has demonstrated that Selwyn is not really a snowfield at all anymore. It’s a man-made snow park and even that is completely questionable going forward with climate change. When we started this site there were 13 snow fields in mainland Australia that reported snow conditions daily. It’s now 8. If I was a gambling man I’d be predicting that it will be only 6 inside another couple of years and the five ‘majors’ will be four, possibly three by end of the decade.
What were the 13? Wait. This is a good guessing game Current 8 are: Thredbo, Perisher, Charlottes, Buller, Baw Baw, Falls, Lake Mt, Hotham Extra 5: Selwyn. Ben Lomond? Mt Buffalo (Cresta)? Stirling? Mt Mawson? Which two majors do you see dropping off Richard?
Stirling, Donna Buang, St Gwinear. And I forgot Dinner Plain in that post above so it was originally 14 and now 8. Was not counting Ben Lomond but if you count Ben & Mawson it was originally 16 destinations we had reports from - though Mawson was never daily, maybe twice a week. Buller or Hotham. I lean towards Hotham as it is the easiest to wind up - Zero summer trade and bulk of bed numbers are club beds not commercial interests (with a voice) and Vail will inevitably want to consolidate marginal resorts after two decades of expansion which is really just a cornering-the-market tactic. No one will ever buy Hotham again - not in a confirmed climate change world. Merlin never wanted Falls & Hotham as it was, they were job lot baggage with the aquariums and other parks. Thredbo is now a primarily summer business so it will never not have some snow offering but I expect snow to get contracted as an offering over the next decade with little semblance to the full product we know of today. There’s a fair chance that Charlotte will inevitably become purchased and subsequently closed by Vail. The Chalet and lifts are a money pit of maintenance and the tipping point will be reached where a sale is forced. Vail may make it an exclusive VIP land but the terrain is not really compelling enough for that I think.
Folks, I've been regularly chatting this season with the Selwyn crew currently working at Charlotte Pass. Rebuild is definitely happening - a few staff are heading over to Selwyn once the CP season is over to work on the rebuild. Bit hard to get a good read on the plans but I think that reflects that the plans are still in progress and evolving. But have not heard (and don't expect) anything about on mountain guest accommodation. For the Telejoeys and I, after two good Selwyn winters (2+ m bases at Spencers Creek), a spring trip to Mt Ruapehu in NZ and this 2020 season at Charlotte Pass, I've decided we've probably moved on from what Selwyn can offer us terrain wise. Selwyn is magic on a snowy day and the Telejoeys were actually keen to go back there next winter. But I think it was the familiarity of the runs and knowing the lifties and ski school instructors on a first name basis that was a big appeal to them - I think it helps them feel safe (the staff are great). But school holidays in 2021 are a week earlier than this year, so less snow sure, and I don't think we'll know what lift infrastructure is up an running until just before winter. So it would have been a big gamble to commit to early bird Selwyn season passes during 2020 for the 2021 season (assuming they were on offer). So I decided to go EPIC (Perisher) for 2021. Can't say I wouldn't be tempted for a sneaky trip back once a year on a great day (for example no accom at Perisher, or crazy crowds/weather expected etc). Bit sad about my decision but the memories will remain. I am really grateful for all Selwyn has done for my family. I've got two passionate and highly competent skiers developing and they learnt their stuff at Selwyn. The staff have always been great and the Blyton Group looked after us as early bird season pass holders for 2020 by offering us a transfer to Charlotte Pass for this year at no extra cost. I really wish them all the best in 2021 and beyond.
I'm not quite so pessimistic. I think the big 5 have more than a decade as long as the public is prepared to pay more for less. Considering infrastructure is bursting at the seams I think we have a way to go before the cost benefit ratio for the average skier at the big 5 starts to decline. Vail bought the Aussie resorts for our NA travel, this will be way down until COVID is resolved but the strategy will remain sound. Besides committing to the product through a season pass 9 months ahead of when you can use it is a fairly unique advantage in the holiday space. Natural snowfalls will continue to suffer, but with shifting hadley cell circulation the Aus alps are predicted to get more suitable snowmaking nights in the near future rather than less. The big 5 might become the home of the WROD, but I think they'll remain open.
I'm moving from Wagga Wagga to Canberra so Selwyn is less convenient as a skiing designation next year. Perisher crowds were okay this year but could return to bonkers next year. I suspect I will still have a couple of trips to Selwyn when the snow is good.
Bloody doom and gloom merchants. When I started this business 15 years ago, they were saying there'd be no natural snowfalls at LM by 2020. Proven to be utter rubbish.
3 years ago on this day my first trip to Selwyn, when I was learning to snowboard. I didn’t realise how fortunate I was at the time! The second shadow is my mum’s, it was the first time she’d ever seen snow!
This week I watched a NSW Gov presentation where they said that on the basis of global warming their modelling indicated that the NSW ski resorts would only be commercially viable for another 20 years. So on the basis of that I cannot see how rebuilding Selwyn could be justified.
I can't help thinking the trick with Selwyn will be to pivot as much customer loyalty as possible to Charlotte with an eye to future sale value. In the meantime, a "cheaper" rebuild of Selwyn would be aimed at being an intro snow play funnel to Charlotte. Dunno. Just my uninformed guess.
You'd have to guess that the place was insured and therefore Blyton's get a full up-to-spec rebuild "for free" - new for old kind of replacement, so why not go for it?. In my time there, there was never really any "up selling" from Selwyn towards CP (I even raised the idea with the staff of a Selwyn + CP season pass, but apparently the idea was not seen positively by the owners). Seems to be a common view that both Selwyn and CP struggle financially - but not sure what this is based on, as a private company no one except the owners probably has a true understanding of the finances. My view about global warming is that winter will still be wintery enough - might need to rely more on snow making but actually that is probably a good thing - provides certainty. As telmarkphat has mentioned somewhere, global warming would appear to manifest as a southwards shift of the sub-tropical ridge which leads to drier conditions and more clear cold nights which are quite conducive to snow making. Months like this September (dismal) might be more the norm though later in the season. But still leaves June, July and August. The place was certainly very popular with the new Australians demographic, and that market will be quite strong for many years to come in my opinion.
