For most people, Australia seems to be a southern country with tropical forests with rivers teeming with crocodiles, parrots, kangaroos and wild dingo dogs. No one could even think of any ski resorts in Australia.
However, in Australia, the people living there are also fond of snow and love to ski, snowboard and sled. And they don’t have to go far for this.
There are ski resorts in Australia too. Moreover, there are not just ski resorts, but popular ski resorts, which tourists are happy to travel to even from those countries where winter and snow are the usual time of year.
And the thing is that Australia is a very large country and on its territory there are quite high mountains, up to 2000 thousand meters. In the rainy season, when all of Australia has normal rainfall, it snows in these mountains. And despite the fact that summer is almost all year round, snow remains in the mountains for a very long time.
The most busy ski season from June to September is the time of the Australian winter. There are quite a lot of people at Australian ski resorts this time of year. There is an influx of vacationers, mainly the local population and tourists from countries from many countries of the world. There are holidaymakers from Europe, it is not rare to meet our compatriots. But when summer comes in Australia, somewhere from November to April, there is a relative lull. In these months, there are few Europeans, and it’s understandable, this is the ski season in the ski resorts of Austria and Switzerland. But, since there are fewer people, naturally the prices for equipment rental and other services with significant discounts.
The most famous and popular ski resorts in the mountains of the Great Dividing Range, this is the state of Victoria (also, check Interesting facts about Victoria).
The main and perhaps the most visited ski resort in Australia is the Falls Creek Falls Creek. It is the advertisement of this resort that can most often be seen in any media. Falls Creek is a 4.5-hour drive from Melbourne. The road goes along an excellent flat highway and only the last 25-30 km directly rise to the mountains. The maximum height of the mountains in this place is about 1800 m., And at an altitude of 1600 m is the ski complex itself. This is a fairly large village, which can accommodate up to 5 thousand vacationers with all amenities. On the slopes of Falls Creek, 92 slopes of various difficulty categories are equipped: 15 light slopes for children and beginner skiers, 55 middle slopes and 22 difficult slopes for extreme and professional. The zones of all tracks are equipped with ski lifts, there are 15 in total. There are all kinds of excellent equipment at the disposal of visitors, the prices are quite reasonable.
No less popular place for skiing among Australians is Mount Hotham Hotham. It is located near Falls Creek. The trip to this resort from Melbourne is also about 4.5 hours. But not far from Mount Hotham, about 20 km there is a small airport. True, it only works in winter, and flights here are only their Melbourne and Sydney. But this is enough to not shake in the car for several hours. The height of Hotham is the same as Falls Creek – 1.8 km. But here the village is located almost 10 km. from the mountain. Special minibuses go to the lifts, so there are no difficulties in this, everything is provided. It can simultaneously accommodate up to 7 thousand people. 80 tracks are equipped on the mountain: 16 easy, 32 medium and 32 difficult, 14 lifts are functioning.
A little closer from Melbourne, about 3 hours drive on the eastern slopes of the Delatite mountains is another Mount Buller ski resort. In principle, it is now Australia’s most popular resort, which receives more than 300 thousand skiers and snowboarders per season. There are fewer routes than the previous two, there are 58 in total: 12 – light, 26 – medium and 20 difficult.
But they are distinguished by an increased quality of snow cover and several lifts are suitable for each of the tracks, there are 25 of them. For the last 10 years, Mount Buller has been officially considered the best in Australia. Prices here are naturally a little more expensive.
Second place for skiing is the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales. Snowy Mountains “Snowy Mountains” are part of the Australian Alps that make up the Great Dividing Range, Australia’s highest mountain range. The highest altitude is 2228 m, it is Mount Kosciuszko. In addition to it, there are five more peaks, whose height is more than 2100 m. In the winter months, from June to August, the slopes of these mountains are covered with snow.
The most famous resort in the Snowy Mountains is Perisher Blue “Perisher Blue”. It is located in the valley of the same name at the foot of the peaks: Pericher – 2054 meters, Pericher Back – 2014 m, Gutega Peak – 1924 m and Blue Cow 1994 meters. This is perhaps the most snowy resort in the country. More than a hundred snow cannons create snow cover on an area of over 1200 hectares.
