Rumour has it the team from Perisher are planning a midnight heist of Thredbo’s famous bell.
You know, the one that sits on top of the once “highest lifted point in Australia” until this season – Perisher’s new $26million Mt Perisher 6 chair at 2042m will take that honour by five metres when it runs for the first time this winter.
We can see it now, Thredbo will wake up, discover the Commemorative Bell for the highest lifted point gone, and Perisher will take the credit. Akin to college football mascots in the USA before a home game.
Truth or rumour, the theft sure would make one hell of a marketing story and some great competitive banter between New South Wales two biggest snow rivals.
I for one, am here for it.
Remember the Snowmass and Snowbird trash talking on Twitter (now X) back in 2018? It was gold and garnered 1 million Twitter views and got the creative juices of the marketers flowing. Win win for them and for those following along.
Steamboat and Snowbird trash talk each other on twitter and it’s magic
The Aussie snow industry needs more cross promotion public fun, when resorts lean in to their rivalry and get their community behind them and have a good old laugh.
We know they have it in them – who can forget Thredbo’s hilarious social media music videos last year? The country music clip to announce “High Noon is Open” was genius. Then there was the rap style video from Selwyn Snow Resort declaring themselves still open while the snow melted around them and the resulting mashup challenge we then threw out to all the resorts.
Mt Buller took up the challenge and cried into their scotch as they sang a blues ballard to the end of the season. Absolute gold! And a great way to bring humour to a heinous early end of winter.
However Perisher, Hotham and Falls Creek remained in dignified silence, perhaps devising plans to film a sound bath video using the Thredbo bell this season. Better yet, building 1000 hand held bells to be rung by skiers and boarders as they descend from Mt Perisher 6 for the first time in 2025.
Time is running out for good-natured hijinks and antics, though, with a great snow start to the season and some more forecast next week, that new chairlift may be turning earlier than it’s official opening ceremony in July.
I can hear Thredbo’s marketing team brainstorming now. Do we put the bell on a five metre pole and call it the Highest Lifted Bell in Australia? Should we get Peking Duk to carry the bell to the top of Perisher?
So many questions.
