
Chairlifts which usually run metres above the ground buried in snowbanks. Roofs that have turned into ski runs. Doors stuck behind walls of snow. Second floor balconies that touch the ground. Cars that are now just white humps.
These are just some of the images of the best Australian snow season in 17 years, when the snow has become so deep, a shovel has been just about the most valuable thing that money can buy.

The photo above was taken by a lady named Cordelia who was visiting Thredbo from Dusseldorf, Germany. We imagine she's rather impressed with the Aussie snow. Wonder how many jokers told her this is a "typical season"?
Season 2017 was already humming along just fine thanks very much. Then a blizzard this week really upped the ante. As much as 140 cm of snow fell in four days in the NSW resorts. Victoria had lots too.
The result of all that September snow? This.

And this.

And this.

It's looking pretty difficult to have any sort of outdoor meal at Perisher right now. This before-and-after sequence of images of the BBQ area at the Dulmison Ski Club lodge was supplied by a skier named Tony who's been skiing Perisher with his wife Kathy for 40 years and said it was the deepest snow he'd seen.


Oh well. If you can't eat outdoors, you can always jump off the roof.

And this.

The image above of a chairlift stuck in snow was at Perisher. Over at Thredbo, they had to dig trenches to stop the same thing happening on the Cruiser Chairlift.
Meanwhile the scene at the top of Australia's longest chairlift, Thredbo's Kosciuszko Express, was like something out of Antarctica. This throwaway phone pic was taken by Sydney photographer Tyson Millar. You can view more of his much higher quality (and very artful) stuff here, or @tysonmillar on Instagram.

Virtually all major Australian ski resorts have announced that the season will be extended into October. Some of the smaller ones have too. Charlotte Pass in NSW was due to close Septmeber 17. It'll now stay open until September 24.
The only problem might be reaching the check-in counter of the Kosciuszko Chalet Hotel. Good luck with that.

For the record, the official independently measured NSW snow depth is now 233cm -- although it's likely more like 250cm now, as the last reading was on Tuesday. That's the highest level since 2000.
Before we leave you on what should actually be quite a fine, almost spring-like weekend in most of Australia, here are our two favourite images of this week's blizzard. They're from Mt Mawson, a tiny ski hill in Tasmania where all they have in the way of uphill transport is a couple of rope tows operated by the ski club.
Let's just say that if the club members want to ski without hiking up the hill this weekend, they've got a lot of digging to do. A lot.


Best of luck, guys.