2023

Thredbo: Sustainability through continuous improvement

Located in Kosciuszko National Park, the Thredbo ski area with its steep, endless slopes is one of Australia's most fascinating destinations for ski enthusiasts. The ski resort is continuously expanding and improving its snowmaking system to ensure that customers enjoy their skiing experience to the fullest. We at TechnoAlpin are very proud to have been able to support Thredbo in its vision for a number of years.

Significant upgrades have also been made ahead of the current 2023 winter season: A new snow gun was installed on the Sundowner slope and four more of the latest generation fan guns were commissioned for the famous Supertrail. Last winter, six stationary and four mobile fan guns were added to the snowmaking facilities. Snow coverage in the Friday Flat region and indeed throughout the entire ski area has been significantly improved courtesy of the mobile systems in particular. And this year's improvements have further enhanced this already positive effect.

Thredbo Resort is committed to preserving, protecting and prioritizing the unique alpine environment. The use of state-of-the-art technology plays a key role in minimizing the environmental impact. The latest energy-efficient snow guns help to reduce the energy required for snowmaking. The new fan guns in particular do not require compressed air to generate snow. This significantly reduces the electricity requirement for air compressors and overall emissions. The water used to generate snow comes exclusively from Thredbo's own reservoir and is returned to the Thredbo River system in the spring. Working in conjunction with Red Energy and Snowy Hydro, Thredbo prides itself on powering all of its snowmaking systems with clean, renewable energy.

Jonathan Batson, who manages Thredbo's snowmaking system, was extremely positive about the TT10 snow guns: "These modern snow guns have improved our ability to generate snow at low temperatures and increase our energy efficiency at the same time. Thanks to the Friday Flat snow guns, we were able to remove several mid-slope lances and use the range of the TT10 to generate efficient snow coverage for the entire slope from one side. The oscillation function also distributes the snow more evenly, which significantly reduces the time taken to prepare the slope in the morning."