Perisher skiers are forced to climb the slopes of Snowy Mountains after endless queues form at chairlifts
- Skiers forced to walk up the slopes
- Strong winds made elevators dangerous to use
Outraged skiers who paid to use chairlifts on a snowfield have expressed frustration after being forced to hit the slopes due to endless queues at the lifts.
Groups of people were left behind at Perisher, on the NSW Snowy Mountains, after long queues of visitors waiting to use the chair lifts.
Tickets for a one-day pass, which includes use of the facilities on Saturday, will cost adventurers an eye-watering $234.
Snowboarders and skiers were forced to walk up the slopes of Perisher after waiting in long lines to use the lifts
Social media was flooded with videos of skiers and snowboarders hitting the slopes.
A video shows snowboarders dejectedly walking up the mountain with their equipment as groups of people line up below, waiting to use the lifts.
Several people trudge up the steep terrain, dragging their snowboards and skis with them.
A large crowd formed with lines spiraling out of the chairlift.
‘POV [Point of View]: You pay $200 for a day pass to walk up a mountain,” the caption read.
Perisher mountain manager Andrew Kennedy told news.com.au the wind was quite strong, making it dangerous for the lifts to carry skiers at full capacity.
“Friday we had wind gusts of more than 120 km/h and on Saturday more than 100 km/h,” he said.
“The safety of staff and guests must always be our top priority and we also had 30 other elevators in operation.”
According to Mr. Kennedy, the huge line of people waiting to use the lifts does not mean that people have to wait long to use the facilities.
He said people were more likely to “wait 10 minutes” to use the elevators.
Perisher officials have warned visitors to plan their trip with the weather affecting facility operation.
The ski season started later this year due to patchy snow cover to kick off the season, leaving snow fans waiting to get outside at the perfect time.
Perisher is expected to get quite a bit of snow for the weekend.
People formed huge queues in an attempt to use chair lifts at the Snowy Mountains on weekends
People flocked to the resort just as the snow season started to pick up and significant snowfall was expected over the weekend
People planning to make the journey to the destination are urged to monitor snow conditions and are encouraged to download the Perisher app.
Snow enthusiasts have also warned of lengthy traffic delays, with several visitors complaining about long delays getting in and out of the resort.
The complaints come weeks after skiers previously complained about the long queues just before the start of the school holidays.
Visitors were also faced with making the long trek up the slopes with the inclement weather, again creating massive queues to use the lifts.