The snow-making machines can only do so much, and with less and less of the real stuff falling from the sky, ski field operators are counting the cost — and experts say those who love an icy frolic should get used to big snow years becoming "increasingly rare".
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It is the peak of the ski season, but bare mountains with small white patches are all the eye can see on Ben Lomond in Tasmania.
David Jones, senior climate researcher at the Bureau of Meteorology, said the situation tracked with what scientists had been saying for decades.
Described as the most natural and cheapest ski field in Australia, Mount Mawson is a volunteer-run operation.
The Southern Tasmanian Ski Association relies on selling ski-lift tickets to provide the money to pay for insurance and maintenance of the field.
“It’s very hard because the insurance costs are very high and that’s where most of the money goes that we earn on selling the tickets,” Ms Davis said.
According to data collated by former CSIRO scientist Simon Allen, the snowfall on Mount Mawson has almost halved since the 1960s.
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