Explore 5 ski resorts in Australia. Every card links to a full resort page with pictures, terrain and the numbers; the arrow opens the description without leaving this page.
The largest ski resort in Australia, in the Victorian Alps, and the only one where the village is entirely within the snow line and cars are left at the edge. Your luggage goes up by oversnow transport, which sets the tone for the week. The village sits above the runs, so it is genuinely ski in and ski out for almost every bed, and the après scene is the liveliest in the country. The terrain suits beginners and intermediates well, and the cross country network across the Bogong High Plains is the best in Australia by a distance. The season runs from June to early October. Melbourne is around four and a half hours by road, and the drive through the Kiewa valley is worth doing in daylight.
The closest major resort to Melbourne, around three hours away, and the busiest ski area in Victoria as a result. The village sits on the mountain itself rather than below it, which is unusual in Australia, and it has a genuine social life with restaurants and bars. Much of the accommodation is ski in and ski out. The terrain is broad and chiefly intermediate with a good learning area and steeper pitches on the south side, and snowmaking covers a substantial part of it. The season runs June to early October. Weekends fill with Melbourne traffic and midweek is far calmer, and chains are often required on the access road.
The highest village in Australia, sitting along a ridge at around 1750 metres in the Victorian Alps, with the runs dropping away below rather than rising above. That layout means you ski down from your accommodation and ride back up, which takes a day to get used to. Hotham has the steepest terrain in Australia and a strong local following because of it. The Extreme Zone and Mary's Slide are the runs people talk about, and there is good tree skiing in the snow gums. The season runs from June to early October. Weather changes fast on this ridge, so pack for it. Dinner Plain a short drive away is a quieter alternative base with cross country trails, and Melbourne is around four and a half hours by road.
The largest ski resort in the southern hemisphere, in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, made up of four linked areas spread across a wide expanse of high country inside Kosciuszko National Park. The terrain is broad and gentle, because these are old rounded mountains rather than young sharp ones, which makes it excellent for beginners and improvers and less interesting for anyone chasing steeps. The snow gum forests are unlike anything in the northern hemisphere. A ski tube railway runs into the resort through the mountain from Bullocks Flat, which is the sensible way in when the road is icy. The season runs from June to early October. Canberra is around two and a half hours away and Sydney six, and Jindabyne down the valley is where most of the accommodation is.
The longest runs in Australia, with 672 metres of vertical, which is the most on the continent, and the closest thing the country has to an alpine village at the foot of the hill. The village sits in a valley in Kosciuszko National Park with the runs rising above it, and it has a genuine après scene and a food culture that has developed over decades. It is the most European feeling of the Australian resorts. The terrain suits confident intermediates and experts better than most Australian hills, with steeper pitches and long descents, and there is a well protected learning area at the top of the Merritts gondola. The season runs from June to early October. Canberra is around two and a half hours away and Sydney five and a half.
