Perisher Blue Says Thank You! (02-Oct-08)

Perisher Blue, NSW, October 2, 2008 - It has been a remarkable winter!

It has been a remarkable winter! Perisher Blue was able to offer excellent riding conditions across its four resort areas for the majority of the 2008 season. Despite a slow start for snowfalls, the resort managed to open its first lifts on Saturday, 7 June 2008 and will be the last of the NSW resorts to close this long weekend Sunday, 5 October.

Perisher Blue's investment of $9.7 million into its snowmaking infrastructure over the summer months was a significant factor in the resort being able to open on time. The investment certainly helped the snow cause along during the first few weeks of the season, when natural snowfalls were few and far between.

A series of great snowfalls were recorded during the middle of the season making for excellent skiing and snowboarding conditions. During July and into August Perisher Blue had 13 days of sunshine in 45 days, the rest of time it snowed! Close to 3 metres of accumulated snow settled in the Resort during this period alone.

Plans are currently underway to extend snowmaking even further in 2009 to include Happy Valley and Mount Perisher with 80 additional automated snow guns to be installed at a cost of $5.66 million. Snowmaking is to be extended down Happy Valley to the base of the Double and Triple chairs on Mt Perisher, then up the lift line to the top of Tower's run, providing consistent and reliable coverage to these very popular snow riding areas.

During the 2008 season Perisher Blue hosted a number of hugely successful on-snow events. Industry big names from Australia and around the world swarmed to the Resort eager to etch their names into the record books. Amongst them was the current world Ticket To Ride (TTR) leader Chas Guldemond (USA). He conquered the Boost Sno Sho wheel event, while Charlies Reid (CAN) mastered the world's longest rail. Nick Breheny (AUS) skied his way furthest to the win with a massive slide during the final of the Salomon Rail Slide and snowboarding top guns Torstein Horgmo (NOR) and world number one Jamie Anderson (USA) took out the top spots in the Burton Australian Open Championships (Slopestyle) on Front Valley.

Now that it is springtime, the snow has started to melt and the season is winding down. A number of Perisher Blue's seasonal employees have already begun their springtime pilgrimage to places far and wide. Many have departed for Europe, Japan, Canada and the USA for more snowy adventures, while others have headed straight to the beach to work on evening out their goggle tans.

Gary Grant, General Manager Marketing, Sales and Hospitality said, "Together with excellent snow conditions, what has made the season such a success has been the efforts of Perisher Blue's staff including everyone from our Lift Operators and Grooming Technicians to our Hospitality and Guest Services staff. We received a number of positive comments from satisfied guests throughout the season, which is a testament to the hard work of Perisher Blue staff. To all Perisher Blue employees we wish you all the best in your travels over summer and look forward to seeing you back next year."

It has been a fantastic season with some of the best skiing and snowboarding for many years. We hope all of our esteemed guests and valued supporters managed to get some nice turns in this winter and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Make sure you keep an eye on Perisher Blue's website www.perisherblue.com.au for updates and announcements, including the release of Early Bird Season Passes, specials and other information!