Michele thought a handbrake issue caused a car to bump into hers, before realising it was due to ice. Photo: Michele Carter.
When Michele and her husband made a routine trip to the snow, it was the start of an “entirely strange” event.
They were among dozens of motorists caught out when melting ice in a resort carpark sent their cars bumping into each other.
“I’ve been going to the snow for every year of my entire life, and I’ve never seen such an experience like that,” she told Region.
The pair arrived at Selwyn early on Monday (14 July) , and she said the road was clear with no ice or snow covering it.
They were able to pull into the resort and find a carpark, where they discovered there was ice, frozen “an inch thick” with water beneath it.
“As you stamped your foot, you could see a river of water [from the impact]. There were lots of kids stamping their feet, and I was stamping my feet, but we didn’t think anything more of it.
“We went skiing for the morning, and at lunchtime [around noon] we came back to the car [and saw] the car in front had slid and knocked into our car.
“It had even pushed our car back.”
Michele said it was a first-time experience for herself and her husband, but a fellow visitor tipped them off as to what had likely happened.
“We were a little bit mystified [about how it happened],” she said.
“She said she’s been to the snow in American ski resorts, and that happens quite often … or she’d known it to happen often.”
A Selwyn Snow Resort spokesperson told Region they weren’t aware of the incident.
Resort staff clear the carpark each morning, but “cannot continue” once cars arrive during the day.
“Selwyn is in a NSW National Park and is not allowed to use salt [which can be used on roads to melt snow and ice] as it is detrimental to the environment,” the spokesperson also said.
NSW National Parks mandates or strongly encourages motorists to use snow chains, depending on the vehicle. Photo: Thredbo Resort.
The spokesperson also urged motorists to follow safety advice from Transport for NSW and NSW Police.
“What we do is provide chains for sale in our shop at the resort, so if guests have arrived unprepared and weather rolls in during the day, they can simply pop in and purchase chains to fit to their car.”
In NSW, snow chains must be used on all 2WD vehicles driving in Kosciuszko National Park between the June and October long weekends.
They are not compulsory for 4WD and AWD vehicles, but National Parks strongly recommends them.
Michele said her car escaped any damage.
She posted to social media about the incident, with several people commenting their cars had also moved slightly.
“Nobody reported that they had any damage to their cars. We had a good look when we got home and washed our car – there’s the slightest scrape,” she said.
“I think it must have been a slow moving event, as opposed to a sudden [movement] so the car is bumped.
“I didn’t really pay much attention at the time [to other people’s cars], because I thought it was just our car!”
