The massive dump of new snow instantly puffed up the mood of skiers, snowboarders and snowshoers.
The flakes began to drop late Thursday evening, it became an onslaught from the sky, and outdoor recreation facilities woke up Friday morning to a new lease on life.
It amounted to a hill of fluffy opportunity for the Hart Highlands Winter Club (HHWC), but only for today. It certainly made their spring goodbye party one for the record books.
"This dump is fantastic for conditions as we did have some spots starting to open up where we were unable to reach with snow making this year," said HHWC spokesperson Jess Hudson. "(Today) will be our last day of the season and our 100th day - a new record. The snow storm was unexpected and great but we had already planned to shut, given hill conditions last week and allowing our staff to have Easter with their families."
The 100 days of operation were not only a smashing of the old records, it was also a stark contrast to the most recent years of HHWC life. Last winter the Winslow Drive facility was only able to open on 17 days, the year before that it was a 27-day season and in 2014-15 the Hart lifts ran for just 39 days.
Then came their snowmaking machine, and that turned their fortunes around, in combination with the weather.
"We would not of been able to open until probably close to February without the snow making," Hudson said. "We have not had to use or make snow since February. We did not get the machine till late in the fall so this coming year, as soon as we get minus-10 we will start making snow and hopefully open even sooner."
The Otway Nordic Ski Centre (ONSC) was also starting to put away their equipment for the year, but they hauled it all right back out on Friday morning just in time for a groundswell.
It was blue, sunny skies, it was a long weekend's Friday, and the school district's spring break was still in full effect.
"Sorry, we've got a wave of people here, I'll have to get someone to call you back," said whomever answered the phone in mid-afternoon. A few hours later it was general manager John Bowes who rang back with the good news.
"It was a really big dump, somewhere between 20 and 30 centimetres," he said. "We definitely had to groom today with the big machines. It was a full winter day. In spring."
The fresh snow also got a wash of cold temperatures that will preserve the base that much longer.
"It should extend the season through all of next week which is nice because we had a lot of cancelled school groups throughout the season because of cold temperatures, but this will let us get some of those in after all," Bowes said. "We have the conditions for basically any kind of nordic skiing you want to do, so you shouldn't put any of those skis away just yet."
This weekend will now have an annual Easter event like none other at Otway. "We are calling it a Skister Egg Hunt on Sunday," said Bowes.
The snow and chill must have felt more like Christmas for all the winter enthusiasts of the area.
