DURING the January bushfires, the northern most alpine resort in Australia, Selwyn Snow Resort, was destroyed enforcing the company to announce it would not be able to operate for the 2020 winter season.
More updates will be released during our winter, but Selwyn have committed to rebuilding the resort and demolition work is currently underway.
Andrew Dunkerley, General Manager of Operations recently said, “As far as making it bigger and better, it’s probably the opportunity to iron out a few of those kinks the resort had - where it didn’t flow as well, such as having ski hire where it was.”
“We want to develop something that is going to flow a lot better and suit the century that we are in - being 2020, a lot of technological advancements have come since Selwyn was initially built.”
The initial assessment shows that the lifting infrastructure has gone relatively undamaged. The top of New Chum has been damaged including the motor and housing burnt out. Full inspections by engineers are underway and advice will be ongoing.
State Government and National Parks have been involved in the conversation and they are supportive of the rebuild given Selwyn is a big part of the snow community and local towns such as Adaminaby, Tumut, Talbingo and Tumbarumba. The impact of losing a winter season has been taken on by John Barilaro MP and his team and they are looking at how they can help the surrounding communities through this period.
Permanent staff have all stayed on to assist with the planning and rebuild process. They are essential to this process and the plan is to have the workshop up and running first. Seasonal staff with return contracts have been offered positions at Charlotte Pass Snow Resort for 2020.
Selwyn Season Pass holders will be offered the ability to transfer their season pass at sister resort Charlotte Pass at no additional cost or alternatively receive a full refund on any payments made to date.
The town of Adaminaby and many of its smaller businesses will be affected including the ski hires who relied on the snow visitor renting equipment to supplement their year round income. Many of the accommodation houses will notice the loss in revenue, although at present Snowy Hydro have committed to securing a big portion of beds for their Snowy 2.0 staff.
During the same January bushfires, the township of Cabramurra suffered extensive damage with 36 houses lost. These same houses were being occupied by Snowy 2.0 staff who have been working at nearby Lobs Hole.
When news of Selywn’s predicament was publicised, it was encouraging to see the outpouring from the snow community who had visited the resort in past years. We are sure they will all revisit once the resort opens again.
