Perisher Valley, NSW, Australia (Monday June 8, 2009) - A last minute storm got enough of a 'base'--in Australia 8 inches seems to qualify--to get Perisher Blue up and running for snow-hungry riders Down Under.

"Twenty-one centimeters of snow fell in Perisher village overnight Sunday night, allowing the ski resort to offer top-to-bottom skiing on the Front Valley on Monday via the Village Eight Express chairlift after 95 snow guns fired up on Sunday night across Perisher Valley and Blue Cow. Perisher was the only Australian ski resort to have lifts in operation over the long holiday weekend...

Elsewhere around the country's ski regions, Falls Creek logged 10 to 15 centimeters of new snow, Mt. Buller officials report 10 centimeters, and Thredbo has tallied 15 centimeters, enough to give resort operators optimism that skiing and riding will be available before next weekend."

With Mt Hutt, NZ, already operational, the southern season is underway. Tussock thrashers get after it, it's go time!

Source: First Tracks Online