Skiing in Victoria, Australia takes place in the

Australian Alps The Australian Alps are a mountain range in southeast Australia. The range comprises an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion,

located in the

State of Victoria Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

during the southern hemisphere winter. Victoria is the State with the greatest number of ski resorts in Australia. The highest peak in Victoria is

Mount Bogong Mount Bogong, located in the Alpine National Park and part of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, is the highest mountain in Victoria, Australia, at above sea level. The Big River separates the massif of the mountain from t ...

at 1986m. The first ski tow was constructed near

Mount Buffalo Mount Buffalo is a mountain plateau of the Australian Alps and is within the Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria, Australia. It is located approximately northeast of Melbourne. It is noted for its dramatic scenery. The summit of the h ...

in 1938. Victoria has a number of well developed ski resorts including Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Mount Buller. Cross country skiing is popular in such national parks as Mount Buffalo National Park and Alpine National Park.

Overview

A hospice was built at Mount Saint Bernard (Elevation 1540) around 1863 along a track developed to link the Victorian gold fields. Snowshoes were developed locally to assist winter travellers and a larger hospice built around 1884. Recreational and practical skiing was being practised in the area by the 1880s and 90s with skis made from local timbers, and making use of single steering poles. The first winter traverse of the Victorian Alps was made in 1900, via the Hospice and Mount Hotham. The Hospice operated as a recreational ski location into the 1930s, but was destroyed by bushfire in 1939. Skiing began at Mount Buffalo in the 1890s and the Mount Buffalo Chalet in Victoria was constructed in 1910. Australia's first ski tow was constructed near Mount Buffalo in 1938. Buffalo's first ski lodge was built at Dingo Dell in 1954. A bushfire in 2006 forced the temporary closure of the resort and negotiations are continuing over a new lease on the property. A stone cottage was built at Mount Hotham in 1925 to cater for a growing interest in sport of skiing and a Club was built in 1944 with the first ski tow installed in 1951. A ski hut was erected at

Mount Baw Baw Mount Baw Baw () is a mountain summit on the Baw-Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range, located in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The name is from the Yarra-Yallou, Gunna-Kurnai people of Gippsland. It is of uncertain meaning, but possibly ...

, just 120 km East of Melbourne, in 1945 and a ski rope tow added in 1955. The first ski lift went into service at Mount Buller in 1949, and in the same year rope tow was installed at Falls Creek. In 1957, Australia's first chairlift was installed at Falls Creek, and the area is today the largest ski resort in Victoria. The Mount Buller Interschools Event claims to be the largest interdisciplinary snow-sports event on earth. In 2008 it attracted 3500 participants. Snow play is also available at Mount Donna Buang.

Cross Country & Back Country Skiing

Dedicated Cross Country ski resorts are located at Lake Mountain, Mount Stirling and Mount St Gwinear in Victoria and popular areas for back country skiing and ski touring in the Alpine National Park, Yarra Ranges National Park and the

Baw Baw National Park The Baw Baw National Park () is a national park located on the boundary between the Victorian Alps and Gippsland regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately east of Melbourne and north of the Latrobe Valley. Th ...

include:

Mount Feathertop Mount Feathertop is the second-highest mountain in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is part of the Australian Alps, and located within the Alpine National Park. It rises to and is usually covered in snow from June to ...

, Bogong High Plains,

Mount Howitt Mount Howitt, also known as ''Toot-buck-nulluck'' in the Gunai language, is a mountain in Victoria, Australia, named for Alfred William Howitt. Located in the Wonangatta Moroka Unit of the Alpine National Park approximately 170 km north-e ...

, Mount Reynard and Snowy Plains. The Kangaroo Hoppet is a leg of the Worldloppet cross-country race series which is conducted on the last Saturday of August each year, hosted by Falls Creek in Victoria. The showpiece 42-kilometre race attracts thousands of spectators and competitors. The Australian High Country is populated by unique flora and fauna including

wombats Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials of the family Vombatidae that are native to Australia. Living species are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . They are adaptable and habitat tolerant, and are ...

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

echidnas Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae , living in Australia and New Guinea. The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only l ...

, and the Snow Gum. The Alpine regions are subject to environmental protection, which has limited the scope of commercial development of skiable terrain, however Australia has extensive

cross country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

terrain.

Ski areas

Downhill ski resorts

* Mount Hotham * Falls Creek *

Mount Buller Mount Buller is primarily a resort town on the slopes of Mount Buller (Victoria), Mount Buller, within Mount Buller Alpine Resort, an unincorporated area of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It is located approximately n ...

* Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort *

(backcountry skiing)

Cross country resorts

* Lake Mountain * Mount St Gwinear * Mount Stirling *

* Mount Donna Buang (mostly tourist snow)

Resorts proposed for development that never occurred

* Mount Torbreck * Mount Stirling (downhill skiing proposal)

Back country ski areas

Popular areas for back country skiing and

ski touring Ski touring is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas. Touring is typically done off-piste and outside of ski resorts, and may extend over a period of more than one day. It is similar to backcountry skiing but excludes the ...

in the Alpine National Park, Mount Buffalo National Park, Yarra Ranges National Park and the

include: *

* Bogong High Plains *

* Mount Stirling *

* Mount Reynard * Snowy Plains

Gallery

File:Mt-Hotham-Village-2008.jpg, Mount Hotham Village File:Falls-creek-ruined-castle-and-terrain-park.jpg, The Ruined Castle chairlift and terrain park, Falls Creek, Victoria File:Baw-baw-view-gippsland.jpg, The view across Gippsland from

, Victoria File:Mt Buller village Stevage.jpg,

village, Victoria. File:Mt Buller Bourke St Stevage-2008-28-11.jpg, Bourke Street, Mount Buller File:Mount-feathertop-from-summit-track.jpg,

File:Mt bogong 01.JPG,

File:MountBogong.JPG, Mount Bogong File:Mount Buffalo Chalet.jpg,

Chalet File:Mt Buffalo, Victoria, Australia.jpg, Mount Buffalo

External links

* Information on all ski lifts to have operated in Victoria in th
Australian Ski Lift DirectoryThe Australian Alpine Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skiing In Victoria * Victoria Sport in Victoria (state) by sport