Australians are enjoying the best ski conditions for 20 years after record snowfalls buried resorts as spring began. More than 140cm fell on Thredbo in five days over the past week, a record for September, in what skiers have dubbed the Blizzard of Oz.
Top international ski jumpers pose next to a Toyota RAV4 buried overnight in heavy snow that forced the One Hit Wonder competition at Thredbo to be cancelled
By Friday the snow was 233cm deep and still falling, covering slope markers, obstructing chairlifts and forcing patrons to dig themselves out of chalets.
The conditions forced the cancellation of a major AFP World Tour stop, One Hit Wonder Big Air, planned for the week as snow covered the 30-metre ski jump.
So much snow landed on the jump that a RAV4 4WD parked next to it by event sponsor Toyota was completely buried in one night.