Hotham Alpine Resort bid a snowy farewell to the 2012 season on Sunday 30 September, with 5cm of fresh snowfall and seven lifts still turning at season close.

And it wasn’t just the end of the season that was stellar; the resort opened in June with the best snowfall since 2000 and visitation through the resort gates up by 30%*

Hotham Alpine Resort’s Sales & Marketing Manager, Gina Woodward, was elated with the 2012 season, particularly when the resort recorded the best spring conditions in over 20 years, with the average natural snow-depth peaking at 206cm on 8 September.

“Mother Nature blessed us here at Hotham and provided some of the best conditions we have had in years. More than four metres of snow fell throughout 2012, well surpassing the season average of three metres. We enjoyed consistently good snowfalls with the first snow falling as early as April and continuing right up until the season close yesterday, making for prime skiing and riding conditions season-round,” said Woodward.

Winter 2012 at Hotham was all about making the holiday dollar go further with Hotham providing visitors with some serious deals and savings. In addition to a myriad of free activities to ensure visitors could experience Hotham’s snowy splendour, Hotham also launched initiatives including the estore (which allows visitors to book lift tickets, hire, lessons and more online) and the ‘Chuck a Snowie’ campaign which helped to encourage snow visitation throughout 2012 via multiday discounting on lift passes.

Other 2012 snow season facts and figures include:

• Hotham finished the 2012 snow season with 106cm. The last time Hotham closed a season with more than a metre of snow was 2003.
• On the last day of Winter, 31 August the snow depth reached 203cm – the first time Hotham had reached a snow depth of two metres or more since 2004.
• The average natural snow-depth peaked at 206cm on 8 September.
• The coldest temperature reached -8 degrees on 6 July. 

• *ARCC visitor statistics 2012