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People were keeping a close eye on snowfalls at Australia's alpine resorts throughout the winter in hope to absorb their seasonal hit of snow sports fun.
But with snowfall events light-on this year, visitation numbers fell dramatically due to a mild start to winter across Victoria and NSW.
At the start of winter and late August, the season's visitor numbers plummeted compared to the previous 10-year averages.
Falls Creek was 49,000 visitors or 26 per cent down on the previous 10-year average with 115,928 people compared to a 165,000 average over the previous decade.
Visits to North East resort Mt Hotham were down about 34,000 or 46pc on the 10-year average, and Victoria's busiest resort Mt Buller dropped about 140,000 or 15pc, with 189,943 visits compared to the average 330,000 for a season.
In NSW the variances were greater with Perisher - which on average attracts more than 1 million visits each season - just 610,000 drove through the gates, while at Thredbo there was a 190,000 difference with 290,000 visiting compared to the 480,000 - the seasonal average between 2016 and 2025.
With the low snowfalls across the mountains, seasonal workers were left stranded without work at the beginning of the season.
It had an impact on seasonal jobs with Google Trends data showing Perisher accumulating the highest volume of searches for 'ski resort jobs', different to previous years where Mt Buller took the top spot.
Thredbo and Falls Creek rounded out the top four in job searches via Google.
Falls Creek alpine resort closed the season on 6 September, as the resort has not had any natural snowfalls since 12 August.
Richard Phillips, Vail Australia's vice president and general manager of Hotham and Falls Creek, said he was proud of the Falls Creek team, who kept making snow right through to the final days of the season to give guests the best possible experience despite the challenging conditions.
"Thanks to their efforts, we were able to offer skiing and snowboarding around Ruined Castle through to last week, along with good coverage at Drovers Dream to the last day, supported by years of investment in snowmaking infrastructure," he said.
"Those improvements helped us provide quality terrain for everyone, from first-time skiers and snowboarders through to experienced skiers and snowboarders looking to make the most of their time on the mountain.
"I'd like to thank our mountain operations teams for the hard work, dedication and long hours they've put in throughout the season.
"Their commitment has helped create memorable experiences for our guests right to the very end.
"We also thank our staff, guests and the Falls Creek community for their support this season.
"Epic Australia Pass holders can continue to make the most of their Pass at Perisher, as well as Northern Hemisphere resorts this 2026/27 season.
"We look forward to welcoming everyone back to Falls Creek in 2027."
This article uses Google Trends data to explore search interest in political concerns in regional Victoria. Google Trends data is aggregated and anonymous. Search interest is measured on a relative scale and does not represent total search volume.
