A friend on the opposite part of the planet sends along this, and wonders whether it’s an outlier or a harbinger of bad ski seasons to come:

The non-profit group that runs southern Tasmania’s ski-tows is facing a loss of thousands of dollars after a snow-free winter.

With the season due to end in three weeks, the ski-tows at Mt Mawson have not opened once this year, and the ski runs are covered in green growth.

Southern Tasmanian Ski Association spokesman Julian Oakes says the group still needs to pay for insurance and summer maintenance, without any income.

“It’s been disastrous really,” he said.

“We have had no tow operation at all this season, and early April it was looking promising but then the weather didn’t follow through and we’ve had very little snowfall and there’s no cover there at the moment.”

This follows a poor season last year.