‘Overwhelmed’: Thredbo website crashes as would-be skiers flock in
Thousands have missed out on lift passes for Thredbo's 2020 season. Photo: Instagram: @_carlyt
The website of one of NSW’s most popular alpine villages melted down on Thursday as thousands of people scrambled to get lift passes.
After weeks of uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, Thredbo’s online store opened on Thursday with one-day passes for the slopes priced at $159.
The resort’s management was forced to slash capacity on the mountain this year, to allow for social-distancing.
In a Facebook post, Thredbo said its website had been overwhelmed in these “unusual times”.
Overseas tourism is still banned in Australia as the coronavirus crisis continues worldwide, restricting many keen skiers and snowboarders to the domestic slopes.
“We have been overwhelmed by demand for the first release of the 2020 lift passes,” the post read.
“At one point we had as many as 25,000 visiting our online store to purchase lift passes, the largest volume we’ve ever experienced on our store.”
NSW’s other major ski resort, Perisher, will begin selling passes on Monday.
Infrastructure at the Selwyn snowfields, including lifts and snow machines, were destroyed in bushfires last summer.
Tweet from @Dish85897195
People vented online about Thredbo’s ticketing system, claiming they had been stuck in the queue to buy passes for hours.
“Guys, I’ve been in the line since 9.30 this morning, I’ve been bumped twice, I was at position 103 but your website crashed, and I’m still not even close to getting tickets,” one comment read.
Another comment included a screengrab of an apparent error message from the online system after the user claimed they had waited hours in line.
“Waited in line for 4 hours, and this is where I got taken to. Thanks Thredbo Resort for telling me that my time is so not important and meant to be wasted,” it read.
However, other people expressed gratitude that the 2020 snow season was able to go ahead at all, amid the strict lockdown measures rolled out earlier this year as NSW coronavirus cases surged.
Thredbo’s 2020 snow season officially opens on June 22.
