The feeling on Mount Hotham is pure excitement and joy that businesses are back open and finally able to operate at full capacity after the industry was decimated by COVID.
But underneath the smiling faces of operators ready to embrace what is tipped to be a bumper season is anxiety and fear of what the future holds.
Mount Hotham Chamber of Commerce president Steve Belli said the cost of insurance for businesses has increased by up to 800 per cent in the past three years.
The rising costs are a result of the Black Summer bushfires that burnt through about 187,000 hectares of the alpine area.
Despite being well equipped with snow guns to combat any fires that could threaten the slopes, Mr Belli said insurance companies were scared of the risk.
He said one business on Mount Hotham already falls into that category and many others are struggling with the high costs as they try to find their feet financially post-COVID.
"Some of these guys owe the resort management board $880,000 of service charges for only four days work. With insurance on top of that, it becomes a pretty difficult exercise," Mr Belli said.
"There's still a lot of businesses that are trying to recover revenue [lost during COVID] so it's a big issue."
Investment impacts
Paddy Hoy's great grandfather established their family-run ski hire business on the mountain more than 80 years ago and during the pandemic he feared the worst.
"We spent everything we had to get operational [in 2020] and then we were open for 3 days. That was a catastrophe," Mr Hoy said.
He said the possibility of losing the business forever was heartbreaking.
While, not as high as some, he said insurance costs for his business had risen exponentially.
"It's pretty obvious to me that we have market failure. We have very few players in the national or international [insurance] market that will participate so there's no competition," he said.
Concerns have been raised that investment into the resort could stop if businesses are not insured.
"The push is to develop the resorts and get them up to world-class standard. We can't see any of that if we don't have insurance" Mr Belli said.
"In the absence of insurance these places will just go into gridlock and they will not continue to operate."
Mr Hoy echoed the concerns.
"It's a nightmare waiting to happen, and we're on the verge," he said.
Staff and accommodation
Insurance is just the tip of the iceberg for these businesses.
A lack of accommodation for workers and a general shortage of staff is also causing issues, with some businesses making the difficult decision not to open this season.
"It's pretty heartbreaking," Mr Belli said, who also operates an on-resort nanny service which will not be opening.
"If it was my only business I'd be screwed, and there are people up here where it is their only business."
A huge amount of skilled workers had also been lost, according to Mr Hoy, who said many had left and moved on due to the inconsistency of work over the last few years.
Call for assistance
Government assistance went a long way during the pandemic but there are calls for more to be done.
"If there wasn't some government assistance last year for the alpine area we would have been packing our bags and off the mountain," said the owner of Chill Bar Cafe, Scott Hamill.
His wife Jodie said businesses were raising already pricey product costs to alleviate some of the stress.
"It is hard because you don't want the customer to pick that up all the time, but we have had to put a few things up this year, " she said.
"[It's] just ludicrous. You buy a property, you want to know you can be covered for fire or flood or whatever it might be, and you just can't get it."
Following severe storms and floods across the country Mr Belli's prediction for next year is bleak, with insurance costs expected to exceed 1,000 per cent.
