Tasmania — Like much of Australia, Ben Lomond Alpine Resort is having a successful season. The question is what its future will look like.
ABC News Australia reports that Ben Lomond is set to begin negotiations with the government over a new operating lease agreement. This is because the ski resort operates inside Ben Lomond National Park. Although Australia hasn’t had the most favorable stretch of recent winters, this has been a solid ski season for the country.
Ben Lomond has recently seen an enormous increase in usage. Sales are up 120% compared to last winter. This is impressive, considering that sales jumped 280% for the 2024 ski season compared to the previous year. The ski resort plans to invest between AUS$500k and $1 million this upcoming offseason, with the acquisition of new rental equipment and a couple of new snowmaking guns planned.
Other plans for the future include the addition of more T-bars (the ski field currently has only surface lifts), upgrading the generators, expanding snowmaking capabilities through new storage methods, and extending snowmaking to the southern slopes.
However, there are doubters who question whether Ben Lomond Alpine Resort can have a viable future. The President of the Tasmanian National Parks Association, Nick Sawyer, is against the snowmaking expansion over the potential overuse of power and water.
“It just seems wildly optimistic in the time of global warming to be trying to develop an area that’s only ever been a marginal ski resort into a slightly less marginal ski resort,” said Sawyer to ABC News Australia.
A 2023 government report also raised doubts about the ski field’s viability, predicting that the number of days with sufficient conditions for snowmaking would be cut in half by 2050. The operators dispute this study, saying that they currently have a “very viable” business following the acquisition of four snow guns last year.
These viewpoints don’t appear to be deterring Ben Lomond’s operators in the short term. However, with how finicky Australian winters can be, I can see why people say its long-term success is debatable.
Image Credits: Ben Lomond Alpine Resort, ABC News Australia
