Ultimate guide to Australia's ski and snow season in 2024

Whether you ski, snowboard or go for the après fun, we have a snow plan for you.

Whether you ski, snowboard or go for the après fun, we have a snow plan for you.

An early winter dump has seen snow lovers across New South Wales and Victoria ditching work to lap up the first powder days of the season, and they’ve been able to do so thanks to a few resorts, such as Mouth Hotham and Perisher, opening ahead of schedule.

If you’re yet to make holiday plans, now’s the time, with resorts offering plenty for diehard skiers, as well as families, luxe travellers and people who love to party. 

Perisher offers kids lessons.

Taking the family to the snow?

Skiing and snowboarding are among the most wholesome, fun pursuits you can do with your kids, and both are achievable for those on a budget. 

Australia’s ultimate family resort, Perisher, is also our largest. The wide and well-serviced Front Valley is hugely popular, and one of the best ways to experience it is during night skiing. This season, you can ski under lights on Front Valley on Saturday and Tuesday nights, and at Smiggin Holes, around the corner, on Wednesday. 

Smiggins, as it’s affectionately called, is also a fabulous spot for beginners, young and old, because it’s less crowded and runs are mellow and short. 

For accommodation, The Station (a Perisher sister property in Jindabyne) has long been a family favourite. Yurt-style rooms are large with multiple beds, while the resort has a buffet restaurant, takeaway pizza and a bar. Another hotel option is Rydges Horizons’ self-contained apartments, within walking distance of Jindabyne’s shops and cafés.

Thredbo's Thredboland for kids.

Skiing at Charlotte Pass Snow Resort is a much more intimate family experience, with all runs leading back to a village bowl. You can often find stay-and-play packages linked with the main accommodation, the historic Kosciuszko Chalet Hotel. There’s a kids’ club, children’s flare run, night-skiing and snowshoeing. Plus, children aged four and under ski for free.

If you’re after somewhere to take the kids for snow play or to book them into ski lessons for the first time, Victoria’s Mount Baw Baw is a good option. The toboggan park and magic carpet were recently upgraded, and the resort promises tobogganing all season. You can also sign the family up to go snowshoeing with a dingo, and there are ski and snowboard lessons from age three. 

Thredbo's GH Mumm long lunch.

Best things to see this snow season 2024

Positioning itself as Australia’s premium resort experience, Thredbo's Kareela Supper Club by Pommery Champagne is always one of the highlights of the season. Visitors can ride the gondola (Australia’s only ski one) to Merritts Mountain House, where they will board a snowcat and tour across the mountain to Kareela Hutte. 

Once there, they’ll watch the popular Saturday-night flare run and fireworks while enjoying Champagne and canapés, before returning to the village. It’s bound to be a magical experience and there’s nothing else like it in Australia. Not visiting on a Saturday? No worries. Kareela Hutte is also the setting for four-course dinners on Wednesday nights, via snowcat.

Cashed-up snow-lovers can also enjoy luxury in pedestrian-only Falls Creek in Victoria with a stay at Astra Lodge. Repeatedly voted Australia’s best ski boutique hotel, few ski properties match the sophistication, style and level of service that Astra offers. 

Inside the Astra Lodge.

Rooms are contemporary, the on-site dining is as good as you will find in any city and the ski locker room is world-class (goodbye broom closets). Oh, and it’s ski-in, ski-out. What’s not to love? 

If you prefer to ride at nearby Mount Hotham, check out the village of Dinner Plain for large alpine lodges that are a dream stay for groups and families. This is a romantic little community, where private homes and rentals are hugged by snowy gum trees, and where you can unbuckle your boots for a lazy afternoon in one of the restaurants (call into The Hub for a produce platter and beetroot chai).

Best apres-ski in Australia 2024

When it comes to partying, Thredbo steals the show. The après-ski scene there goes off, starting with live music on the snow at Merritts on Friday and Saturday afternoons – a great way to end a day on the slopes. 

There’s also First Base, a vintage après party run on three dates in collaboration with Canadian Club (pull out your fluoro onesies). For students, there’s Kosciuszko Pale Ale Uni Week in mid-July, with special lift passes and events.

If you’re more interested in cocktails and fine dining, head to Mount Buller, where you’ll find a sophisticated Melbourne-esque party scene. One of the best places to chill with mates is at Moosehead Whisky and Blues Bar, a speakeasy set-up that opened last season in the ABOM building. Go for the late-night drinks and regular performances by seriously good Melbourne musos. 

If you prefer DJ tunes, there’s a new booth on Spurs Smokehouse’s outdoor deck, while seasonal skiers will vouch for the nightclub in the Kooroora Hotel, which has a DJ and laser light show, and will keep you dancing until 3am. As for those cocktails, you’ll find them at the new Asian-leaning restaurant Harry Burns on Buller’s main ski run, Bourke Street. 

Thredbo First base apres-ski event.

The best time to visit the resort is midweek – there are shorter lift (and bar) lines. The resort also has the most on-mountain beds in Victoria, so you can party into the wee hours knowing your accommodation is only a stroll away (and that morning egg and bacon roll isn’t too far either).

Best places to go skiing and snowboarding in Australia 2024

If you spend every winter watching storms roll in and are ready to ditch work as soon as fat flakes fall, Mount Hotham is your mistress. Hotham’s intermediate and advanced terrain is among the best in the southern hemisphere, and snowboarders will love riding the gullies off Heavenly Valley chairlift. If you’re after tree runs, you’ll find them at Blue Ribbon, while there’s also extreme off-piste terrain and accessible side country. 

One of the biggest selling points for Hotham is its dedicated women’s programs. Every winter, the resort runs female-only ski and snowboard camps for passionate riders keen to improve their skills in a supportive environment. 

At night, crash at Sambuca apartments, so when you wake you have immediate views of the weather conditions. 

Mt Buller terrain park.

Advanced skiers and boarders will also get their thrills on Mount Buller’s steep, shaded southern slopes, while there’s a tonne of advanced tree-lined runs to duck in and out of, too. 

If competing is your jam, there are a number of opportunities, including Buller Slopestyle, open to juniors and over-15s. If you’d rather sit on the sidelines, you can watch winter Olympians race against World Cup athletes in the ABOM Mogul challenge.

For serious park riders, Perisher has made a name for itself with its big booters on Front Valley. Slopestyle Terrain Park has a line-up of large and extra-large features, so it’s only for expert riders. The resort also has rider-cross courses and a mini pipe.

Hit the slopes in Queenstown, New Zealand.

What about New Zealand?

New Zealand’s ski season officially starts this weekend, with Queenstown – a three-hour flight from Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne – the centre of the action. 

Cardrona is generally the first resort to open, with Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Treble Cone following shortly. 

Fiona Boyer, a Queenstown local and general manager customer at NZSki, says Australian families love The Remarkables, a 45-minute drive from Queenstown, where wide open slopes feature 30 per cent beginner runs and 40 per cent intermediate.

The ski school takes kids as young as four for lessons (other resorts start at five years) and kids aged seven and under ski for free with their parents (ski school will cost extra).

Treble Cone, the South Island’s largest ski area with 550ha of skiable terrain, is the pick for advanced skiers – with 45 per cent advanced runs and 45 per cent intermediate.

Non-skiers will also be happy in Queenstown. Stomach-lurching thrills abound – paragliding, bungee jumping, a 960m downhill luge, jet boating and skydiving – with more relaxed options including cruising on Lake Wakatipu, dinner in the sky on the Skyline Gondola, golfing on one of six courses within a 20-minute drive of the city, or hiking the surrounding mountains. Wine lovers will enjoy the Queenstown Wine Trail, while gin aficionados can try award-winning products at the city’s first boutique tasting room, Gin Garden, which opened last year.

“It’s the all-round experience that Queenstown offers that really makes it one of the most incredible places,” Fiona says. “I can be skiing in the morning, then drive 20 minutes downhill to be golfing in the afternoon. You’ve really got the best of both worlds.” – Kate Allman

See also:

5 tips for taking kids to the snow for the first time

Unusual problem at top US ski resort

Taking the kids to the snow? Here’s a one-stop shopping guide

I’ve skied all over the world, but I’ll never miss a winter in Thrdbo

Originally published as Ultimate guide to Australia's ski and snow season in 2024