Falls Creek is thrilled to announce a major snowmaking upgrade on its Drovers Dream run, as part of its ongoing investment in the guest experience at Victoria’s largest ski resort, which has seen significant funding into this area of operations during the past six years.
“The Drovers Dream snowmaking project will transform the experience for guests in early winter, opening up this amazing beginner and intermediate terrain for guests earlier than we have ever done in the past, and keep it open longer into the season,” said Richard Phillips, Vice President & General Manager at Falls Creek. “It will be a significant improvement for our snowsports school offering, particularly during early and late season conditions, and will also improve snow coverage and possibilities at our terrain parks.”
Drovers Dream is the perfect learning terrain for beginner skiers and snowboarders. It runs alongside two progression perfect terrain parks and has some of the best views of Rocky Valley Lake, making it one of the most popular runs on the mountain. Increased snowmaking capabilities and 12 new snow guns here will provide guests with more terrain and lifting access from opening day through to closing. It will also even out the flow of guests in early and late season by providing incredible beginner and low intermediate terrain options including Drovers Dream, Main Street and Australia’s longest green run – Wombat’s Ramble.
Falls Creek’s Snowsports School Senior Manager Danny Foster is excited about the upgrades, saying: “This project will provide incredible teaching terrain from very early in the season and our instructors will be over the moon to return to Falls Creek in 2025 with this enhanced terrain offering to deliver amazing lessons to skiers and boarders of all ages and abilities.”
The new, automated and energy efficient modern snowmaking guns will allow the snowmaking team to be able to maximise snow production opportunities as the temperature drops without the lost time associated with older technology and infrastructure. The project will also include partial realignment and placement of the new snow guns along Drovers Dream to provide improved skiing and boarding terrain in this area.
Michelle Lovell, the Falls Creek Chamber of Commerce President said: “Snowmaking during the 2024 winter was exceptional at Falls Creek and provided great skiing and snowboarding on all key terrain when Mother Nature didn’t deliver. The Falls Creek community, our businesses, and our guests are excited to see another round of investment that will create a reliability second to none in Victoria and further lift our skiing and snowboarding experience.”
“This snowmaking upgrade will help to provide our guests with an even more reliable skiing and boarding experience at Falls Creek, adding to the incredible snowmaking efforts our teams did for our guests in previous seasons,” said Betony Pitcher, Falls Creek’s Field Marketing Manager. “Our 2025 Epic Australia Pass is on sale now and we hope this news will give guests the confidence to buy now while the price is at its lowest.”
Over the past six years, Vail Resorts has invested heavily into the guest experience at Falls Creek, with a focus on snowmaking systems and grooming fleets, as well as snow fences across the resort.
“These are all important functions to ensure we can make snow, move snow and catch snow all season long,” said Mr Phillips, “ensuring our guests experience the best possible snow conditions.”
Other recent investment projects at Falls Creek include:
- Replacing snowmaking compressors with new machines in our central pumphouse located at the base of Towers chairlift, improving efficiency and reliability.
- Adding six new automated snowmaking guns across the resort and two modern, energy efficient PistenBully snow grooming cats to our extensive fleet.
- Replacing all snowmaking on Main Street with a modern automated system to maximise snowmaking opportunities, allowing the run to open earlier and close later each season.
- Adding additional automated snowmaking on Wombat’s Ramble, improving efficiency and output.
- Replacing snowmaking pipes at the base of the Ruined Castle chairlift, allowing for increased water flow and maximised efficiency of our snow guns in this area.
Lock in the 2025 Epic Australia Pass to ski and board Drovers Dream all season long with unlimited access to Falls Creek, as well as Hotham and Perisher. The Pass also includes access to over 75 world class resorts in Japan, Canada, the US and more, as well as fantastic Pass holder benefits and discounts.
Keep an eye on our social channels for more updates on the Drovers Dream snowmaking project this summer.
