PERISHER Resort have just experienced their busiest season ever. After two years of pandemic restrictions, and accommodation credits rolling over, there was an appetite for people to visit the snow.
The Snowy Mountains Magazine spoke with new general manager of Perisher, Belinda Trembath. Overseeing her first winter after relocating from Hotham, a sister resort in the Vail Resorts stable, Belinda was taking on her new role after the resignation of Peter Brulisauer.
SMM. Your first winter in Perisher was extremely busy, what were your initial thoughts on the season?
BT. It was great. I think really grateful for the start we had and obviously mother nature delivered and we've got open early, got away in what is normally a marathon of a season. I guess we got away in a sprint and stayed in that sprint for the winter, which was a real credit to the team. One of the things that really stood out to me was, we were getting ready to open and just the firepower of Perisher’s snowmaking system. How fortunate we are for the investment that's occurred in that over the years and, I guess, the reputation that it affords us as the most reliable ski resort in the country really, in terms of getting open early and staying open as late as we can.
SMM. Looking back on four months of winter, what is the one major difference compared to your previous resort of Hotham in Victoria?
BT. For me it's most definitely the expanse of the terrain at Perisher. I think there's nowhere else, certainly in Australia and I'd include New Zealand as well where you can really have a day out in the resort and explore four very unique areas. And I just think that's something that is incredibly unique. Obviously the size and the scale of the resort is well beyond what I've been used to in the past but there are well established teams that run each of those areas and provide the best experience that we're able to provide.
But for me, I guess it's the hidden secrets to. As you get to know the place and you get to know how people who ski it, and everyone does tend to ski in a pattern, which we're going to work hard to change up so that we can disperse people better, but to me there's some wonderful hidden gems.
SMM. We need to talk about visitation, it was the busiest season ever at Perisher, can you divulge any visitation numbers or percentages you increased this season?
BT. I can't divulge any numbers or percentages. But you know, obviously there's some information in our annual results. But it was a busy year. We anticipated that it would be. The real challenge for the team that we set out to prepare for was coming off the last two years where certainly at Perisher, we were fortunate enough to operate through the 2020 season, but with obviously really low visitation to the COVID restrictions, and then sort of building on that a little bit in 21. Actually, for the team to get back into the rhythm and the broader community.
The highlight for me was the sustainable visitation across the seasons. I spent the last 25 years trying to figure out how to remove those troughs that we typically had at the end of July and through mid-weeks. And we were able to do that this year. And just see that consistent visitation right through the season. It was incredible. And something that I hope you know, Australians will continue to take holidays through the midweek and to choose those last two weeks in July.
SMM. Perisher is the biggest resort in Australia, so the Skitube would have been at peak capacity?
BT. Yeah, there's no doubt. I mean Skitube was busy. We were driving people proactively to Skitube through our pre arrival communications. We definitely had a few days there at capacity. And I think you know the challenge for our team is to continue to refine how we manage that capacity, whether it be putting additional folks down there to help with parking so that we're maximising the parking spaces that we have because we have got a lot of carparking down there.
SMM. How did the Perisher slopes handle the big crowds, especially on the weekends? From a first season perspective, were there areas you noticed that you say, we need to fix this?
BT. One of the challenges we've got is that the majority of folks arrive in Perisher and they come across the bridge from the Skitube building and day car park and obviously we've got a lot of infrastructure in Front Valley. Whether it be you know, chairlift, t-bar, bunch of learning lifts or carpets. Then you've got the terrain park and so it looks quite busy.
But once we were able to disperse people across the resort, with the exception of the folks that like to for some reason all head to the Ridge chair on a Saturday morning, when there's nobody over at Mount Perisher. I think that the resort handled the crowds really well. Is there more we can do? Absolutely.
SMM. The Epic Australia Pass covers three Australian resorts and has great international access. Considering the busy winter, will there ever be a cap on pass sales, season or day tickets?
BT. No, I don't think so. Certainly not something we are contemplating at this stage. The pass is obviously a cornerstone of our business strategy. And we're really proud of the fact that we've been able to encourage people to ski more often.
We're seeing people ski mid week, we're seeing people ski in those off peak periods and if that is providing a more sustainable visitation pattern for the industry then, for us, that's a win. We appreciate that it's certainly bringing people back more and more and perhaps that's putting pressure on some of the infrastructure, and we'll work hard to keep pace with that.
More of the interview will be published in the 2023 autumn edition.
