Perishing skiers are forced to hike the slopes of Snowy Mountains after endless queues form at the chair lifts
- Skiers forced to walk the slopes
- High winds made the elevators dangerous to use
Outraged skiers who paid to use chairlifts in a snowfield have expressed frustration after being forced up the slopes due to endless lines at the lifts.
Groups of people were left for the trek in Perisher, in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, after long lines full of visitors waiting to use the chairlifts.
Tickets for a day pass that included use of the facilities on Saturday cost adventure seekers a whopping $234.
Snowboarders and skiers were forced to walk the Perisher slopes after waiting in long lines to use the lifts.
Social media was flooded with videos of skiers and snowboarders climbing the slopes.
A video shows snowboarders walking dejectedly down the mountain with their gear as groups of people line up below waiting to use the lifts.
Several people are seen trudging up the steep terrain dragging their snowboards and skis along the path.
A large crowd was seen to form with queues snaking from the chairlift facilities.
‘point of view [Point of View]: You pay $200 for a day pass just to go up a mountain,” the caption read.
Perisher Mountain manager Andrew Kennedy said news.com.au the wind was quite strong, making it dangerous for the lifts to take skiers to their full capacity.
“On Friday we had wind gusts of more than 120 km/h and on Saturday we had gusts of more than 100 km/h,” he said.
“Staff and guest safety must always be our top priority and we also had 30 other elevators in operation.”
According to Mr. Kennedy, the huge queues of people waiting to use the elevators do not mean that people have to wait a long time to use the facilities.
He said people were more likely to face “a 10-minute wait” to use the lifts.
Perisher officials cautioned visitors to plan their travel with weather affecting facility operations in mind.
Ski season arrived later this year due to patchy snow cover to kick off the season, which has left snow fans waiting to venture out at the perfect time.
Perisher is expected to have some decent snowfall before the weekend.
People formed massive queues in an attempt to use the chairlifts in the Snowy Mountains over the weekend.
People flocked to the resort just as the snow season begins to ramp up and the weekend is expected to see some decent snowfall.
People looking to make the trek to the destination have been urged to monitor snow conditions and encouraged to download the Perisher app.
Snow enthusiasts have also warned about long traffic delays, and several visitors complain about long delays getting in and out of the resort.
The complaints come weeks after skiers previously complained about long lines just before the start of school holidays.
Visitors were also faced with making the long trek up the slopes in bad weather, once again, forcing massive queues to use the lifts.
