The Point to Pinnacle will not finish at the summit of Kunanyi/Mount Wellington on Sunday, after the City of Hobart closed the mountain ahead of forecast snow.
Runners and walkers will instead follow an alternative course finishing at the Longley Tavern in Longley.
Event organisers announced the change in a statement on Saturday evening. They said the council had made the “pre-emptive decision” to close the mountain because of the conditions expected on race day.
According to the statement, the organisers had been working with the Bureau of Meteorology and the City of Hobart to monitor the forecasts. Snow was possible down to 1,000m during the race, lowering to 700m later in the day.
The event relies on 65 buses to take participants to the summit and bring them back down.
If snow falls as forecast, organisers said there was a risk the buses “could become stranded or unable to safely access or leave the mountain”.
“While we understand this will be disappointing for many participants who have been looking forward to reaching the top of kunanyi / Mount Wellington, this pre-emptive decision has been made by the City of Hobart with public safety as the priority,” the statement said.
The Point to Pinnacle team thanked the council for working with them.
“Sometimes the weather doesn’t go quite as planned and unfortunately, this is one of those occasions,” the team said.
