Selwyn Snow Resort closes early as 'challenging' winter takes toll

Selwyn Snow Resort in the New South Wales alps has closed for the season, becoming the first of the state's four alpine resorts to shut down in what its general manager described as one of the most challenging winters in recent years.

The resort announced the closure on Saturday, more than six weeks before the traditional end of the ski season marked by the October long weekend. The decision followed a spell of rain and warmer temperatures that reduced the snow cover.

General manager Abi Spackman said it was a "hard decision" to make.

"We were hoping for more snow-making temperatures and more natural snow," she said. "While we did have piles of snow that we were ready to push out, I think we were just too far gone."

Ms Spackman described the season as a "hard season" for the resort, adding that the team had done "amazing to work with the cards we were dealt with."

In a statement on its website, the resort said: "Following Thursday's rain and the impact on our remaining snow cover, our Mountain Team worked tirelessly to give us every possible chance of reopening. Unfortunately, the snow-making temperatures we needed didn't arrive, and the time has come to call it a season."

The statement also pointed to upcoming improvements, saying: "We may be saying goodbye to winter a little earlier than we hoped, but there's plenty to look forward to. We have some significant and exciting upgrades coming to our snowmaking infrastructure for 2027."

Selwyn closed with eight days of winter left, two weeks earlier than the end of its 2025 season.

Other resorts affected

Selwyn is not alone in facing the impact of the weather. Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort in Victoria has announced it will wrap up operations on Monday.

Perisher and Thredbo, the two largest NSW resorts, traditionally aim to operate until the October long weekend, which is six weeks away. Charlotte Pass normally finishes operations in mid-September. All three resorts continue to operate, but their snow cover is significantly lower than in 2025, according to the ABC.

The NSW alps experienced their warmest June in decades, which Ms Spackman said had an impact on the entire season.

"We were all hoping winter was just late, but I think it was a bad season, unfortunately," she said. "I think we'll probably see a lot of people having to call it early."

Data from Spencers Creek, a snow monitoring site in the alps, recorded 90 centimetres of snow, compared with 158 centimetres at the same time last year.

Snow cover and climate trends

The early closure comes against a backdrop of long-term decline in snow in Australia. Research conducted by the Australian National University and the Australian Mountain Research Facility has shown snow cover reduced by 30 per cent between 1954 and 2012, and the length of ski seasons has reduced by between 17 and 28 per cent across most Australian alpine resorts.

Monash University's Andrew Watkins, an adjunct professor in the university's earth, atmosphere and environment school and a member of the Protect Our Winters alliance, wrote in July that Australia had recorded three poor starts to the snow season in the past seven years.

Remaining season

Perisher and Thredbo are still operating, with Perisher expected to open 35 of its 45 lifts on Sunday, and Thredbo had 13 of its 15 lifts operating, according to the resorts' websites.

Reggae Ellis, editor of mountainwatch.com and based in Thredbo, said the resorts that remain open are still busy with visitors, and that above 1700 metres there is still a lot of natural snow cover.

However, a "warm" front forecast for Tuesday is expected to bring more rain to the alps. Mr Ellis said the warm front will hit the lower snow pack but probably won't do too much damage up high. He said there was hope that the resorts would try to stay open for spring season skiing, pending the forecast, and noted that the El Nino will see things warm up in September.