Australia’s highest lift ready as ski resort rivalries heat up after snow

It’s a debate as old as the ski industry in Australia – which snow resort is best? This winter, Perisher lands a fresh blow in the battle for alpine supremacy with a new chairlift that snatches a title long held by its NSW rival, Thredbo – the highest lifted point in the country.

The $26 million high-speed, six-seater chairlift takes skiers and snowboarders to a height of 2042 metres above sea level. That’s an important five metres above Thredbo’s Karel’s T-Bar, and the iconic bell marking its altitude.

Mount Perisher 6 chairlift, the highest lifted point in the country, following a snow dump.Credit: Vail Resorts Australia

The upgrade reduces ride time to the top of Mount Perisher to just 5.6 minutes by replacing two nostalgic – though very dated – former chairlifts. One of those sported a chain you would loop across your lap as a “safety bar”, and the other had a knee-busting approach to the loading zone that shanked many unwitting riders.

“This is a history-making season at Perisher with our new Mount Perisher 6 chairlift spinning for the first time, almost halving lift times and opening up exciting terrain,” said Perisher’s resort services director, Andrew King.

Thredbo, June 6, 2025: A welcome dump of snow arrived ahead of the June long weekend.

A recent cold snap created the best start to ski season in years over the just-gone opening weekend. But the new lift will not spin until there’s consistent natural snowfall – likely in July.

Victorian resorts are making the most of the weekend’s snowfall, helped by a timely forecast: a blizzard arrived on Saturday, building into a 90-centimetre dump over 10 days, with another storm front expected over the weekend. Mount Hotham has received two feet of snow since Friday.

Drew Jolowicz, local Hotham skier (pictured), makes the most of fresh snow on June 9, 2025.

For commitment-phobes unsure of their travel dates, there’s more flexibility around advance lift tickets this year. Perisher, Falls Creek and Hotham are offering a new Epic Australia four-day season pass for $629, essentially dropping the per-day lift ticket cost from $264 (walk-up price) to $168. This pass must be bought before 18 June but can be used at any of the Epic Australia resorts, on any four days non-consecutively through the season.

Thredbo, armed with a new marketing slogan for 2025 of “Thredbo’s still better”, was offering a similar four-day Flexi Pass for those who bought before June 1. Whether or not it snows, Thredbo continues to pledge its FOMO-inducing apres scene with activities like champagne-breakfast skiing on First Tracks, and snowcat-transported dinners under moonlight. A string of free music parties include big names like Peking Duk and Sneaky Sound System.

The Thredbo Triple Crown Slopestyle and Big Air events are now sanctioned by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). Watch for world-class athletes here in August, ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics.

But the big new shiny thing at Thredbo is internationally sanctioned skiing and snowboarding events, scheduled just months out from the 2026 Winter Olympics in February. A new partnership with Snow Australia brings two FIS freestyle competitions – big air and slopestyle – to the NSW resort in August.

“Not only does this help athletes gain FIS points, but it also enhances their ability to qualify for international events like the Europa Cup and, ultimately, the Olympic Games,” said Johnny Lipzker, Snow Australia sport development coordinator.

At Mount Hotham – Australia’s original home of FIS boardercross and the Freeride World Tour – there’s a new terrain park and freestyle zone opening this season. The resort will host night skiing on Wednesday and Saturday evenings from 6.30pm, while FIS ski and snowboard cross races come to Hotham between August 16-20, 2025.

Melbourne culinary heavyweights will descend on Mt Buller’s Villager (pictured) and Little Villager eateries.

Melbourne’s “local” mountain, Mount Buller, will bring city food culture to the slopes with new pop-up restaurants from titans like Chin Chin, Marmont and Movida. Then the new village shuttle timetable will make sure you get home afterwards by extending operating hours to 10pm nightly.

But for many Victorian families, the biggest relief might be reduced schlepping time at Falls Creek and Mount Buller when carting ski gear to and from accommodation. Both Falls Creek Sports and Buller Sports are offering a back-saving service to store your equipment for free if you rent from them.