This summer, the lift that was first built in 1967 will be stripped out and replaced with a new "high-speed" gondola boasting a six-minute ride up the mountain.

"The chair's about 23, 25 minutes now, it's very scenic," laughs Thredbo's Caroline Brauer.

Of course, when the Merritts chairlift first arrived on the mountain more than 50 years ago it was state-of-the-art, shipped all the way from America to much fanfare.

Last month, the resort auctioned off all 112 of its historic chairs, raising more than $200,000 for local charities.

Snowy Mountains local Elizabeth Timmins won her bid for chair #56.

"I remember watching the Merritts Chairlift being built," she said. "It's great to have this slice of Thredbo history. I think we'll mount it in our paddock."

Manager Stuart Diver said he was overwhelmed by the community response, as the auction capped off a particularly impressive season marked by huge snow storms in August and September.

Sadly, a man was killed in August, after being hit by a low-hanging branch, while in July a skiier plummeted to the ground when the Gunbarrel Express Quad chairlift failed.

At Perisher, where the "Polar Express" blizzard briefly shut down lifts, the season has been extended until this coming Sunday. It's the longest in memory, the resort said. Snow was still piled up more than 2.25 metres in September.

While scientists predict global warming could shave up to 80 days off the snow season by 2050, recent market analysis suggests real estate on Australian mountaintops is still booming.

Ms Brauer said snow-making technology had evolved a lot over the years, helping extend seasons when natural falls fell short and winters narrowed. "It's really been refined down to a fine art now," she said.

In July, Thredbo became the first snow resort to power all its major operations using renewable energy.

At the time, assistant manager Annalisa Koeman reflected that climate change was already "taxing the unique, fragile alpine environments" of Australia's high country.

Not long before the Merritts chairlift opened, workers still shovelled snow round the clock to "keep the village from disappearing". But this past summer was the hottest in memory on the mountain, Ms Koeman said.

The resort has now partnered with Protect Our Winters, a group of professional athletes and snow enthusiasts who lobby for action on climate change.

Thredbo's new gondolas, opening next winter, will seat eight people each and lift about 2000 an hour - quadrupling the old lift's capacity.