I am so so so ridiculously tired of people asking me if you can ski in Australia. OF COURSE YOU CAN SKI IN AUSTRALIA. It’s like me asking a Canadian if you can swim in Canada. Australia may have a warmer client, but we do have the four seasons! It does snow! You might have to drive higher up the mountain, but you can get decent snow and decent snow resorts and runs. I met some Canadians down in the land of Oz who loved skiing in Australia!

Alpine Resorts in Victoria, Australia

In Victoria alone, there are SEVEN alpine resorts: Mt Buller, Hotham, Mt Baw Baw, Lake Mountain, Mt Stirling and Falls Creek. In the late winter of 2008, my friends and I whipped on over to Falls Creek for the weekend. Now when I say whipped on over – I mean a cruisy four hour drive (350 kilometres) from the heart of Melbourne – but it was sure worth it.

Falls Creek: 1,780 Metres High

Falls Creek is known to have better runs than the very popular (and often very packed) Mt Buller. The Falls Creek resort lies between an altitude of 1,210 and 1,830 metres, with the highest lifted point at 1,780 metres high. It also has a wide range of runs for beginner/intermediate skiers and snowboarders alike, but best for proficient skiers as it has the wide open vistas and rolling hills unique to the High Plains in Victoria. This is great because it is much less crowded and there are very short chair lift queues even on the busiest of weekends.

When we went in mid September (late winter in Australia), we didn’t have the greatest conditions with fresh powdery snow which was a little bit of a bummer but the snow was much better conditions than I got when I went skiing in a late Canadian winter (was too icy). Also, the skies are clear and blue with no wind. It was so beautiful to sit and absorb the atmosphere.

You can also cross country ski, go tobogganning, snow tubing and there are many bars/cafes to hang out at. And if you’ve done all that, you can sit in your resort hot tubs and relax or just stare out into the beautiful mountain ranges.

Gorgeous, ain’t it? Now you need not wait for summertime in Australia to head on over – you can go in the winter and test out the runs yourself.

For more information:

Official Falls Creek Website: http://www.fallscreek.com.au/