Skiing in the Australian Winter 2009

If your reading this article your asking one of two questions

1) Those Aussies are stupid water skiing in winter
2) Is it going to snow this year...please bring me some good news!!

If you asked question 1, SnowKat thanks for coming to this awesome blog...but laughs in your general direction as you are clearly a better comedian than me.

For those people however, let me give you some background on skiing in Australia.

You can Travel to Australia and ski in Victoria at Mt Buller, Falls Creek or Mt Hotham. You can also ski at the resorts of Thredbo and Perisher Blue in New South Wales.

Skiing in Australia occurs between the months of June (yes, I here you laughing - OK, July) and October..(OK...late September)

Mt Buller
Approximately 3 hours from Melbourne, Mt Buller is the home ski resort of the SnowKat and the Skiguide team. We grew up skiing at Mt Buller and learnt from a young age how to ski in all snow and weather conditions. The major problem with all Australian ski resorts is snow reliability. With a skiable vertical of around 400 metres between 1400 metres and 1800 metres, the resort is small by world standards and suffers from borderline snow temperatures. Mt Buller has an extensive snow making system to counter the occasional lack of snow which improves the mountains snow reliability. The season runs form the first weekend of June until early October depending on snow conditions. The best time to ski in Australia is Late July to Early September and while some seasons may only see an average snow depth of 50 cms, it is not unusual for snow depths to be around the 2 metre mark....the trick with skiing in Australia is being flexible and picking the right time to go. Large dumps of snow are usually how the Australian Alps get their snow, we have been lucky enough to be there during some of these periods, where in the right conditions, Mt Buller can receive up to a metre of snow in 24 hours.

So, back to Question 2 - will it snow in 2009....well, things went off with a bang in the last weekend of APril with up to 50cms falling in most resorts with Mt Buller opening Bourke Street for skiiing in the first weekend of May...the snow has since melted however and we are back to grassland....So...when will the first snow settle and set in for the winter?

Best Ski Resorts in the World

Thinking of skiing in Europe (Austria, France, Switzerland), Canada, Japan, USA, South America, New Zealand or Australia and are overwhelmed with the massive amount of choice there is in considering where you will go? Don’t know where to start looking?

Skiguide.com.au does all the searching for you and provides information on some of the best ski resorts in the world that we believe you must travel to at least once in your lifetime.
The team at Skiguide.com.au has over 30 years skiing experience covering the globe. We have traveled far and wide, including Canada (Whistler Blackcomb, Kicking Horse, Fernie) USA (Aspen/Snowmass, Vail, Jackson Hole) France (Chamonix, Valdisere, Tignes, Three Valleys) Austria (St Anton and the Arlberg region) New Zealand (Coronet Peak, The Remarkables) as well as heli-skiing in Canada (CMH - Bugaboos), Alaska (Valdez Heli) and New Zealand (HMH). From our vast knowledge and experience we have only selected the greatest and largest ski resorts in the world for you to enjoy and learn about further.
Glacier skiing, Heli-Skiing, Kat Skiing, Atmosphere and Off-Piste Skiing are all included in our summary.
In this time of world wide web technology, Skiguide.com.au believes that anyone wanting to organize their next ski holiday can do so over the internet. For this reason we provide information and links for everything you will need to book your next ski holiday.
The criteria we have used for our ski resort selection is based around:
Vertical Drop
More than 1000 metres, or the largest vertical drop in the country of selection.
Ski Runs
More than 150 km of ski runs, or the longest in the country of selection.
Annual Snowfall
The resorts with the greatest annual average snowfall in their respective country.
Ski Lifts
Those resorts with the greatest capacity or with majority high speed quad (or larger) chairs, gondolas and cable cars.
Uniqueness
Resorts that might offer something unique from other resorts, such as Glacier skiing, Heli-Skiing, Kat Skiing, Atmosphere, Nightlife, Off-Piste Skiing.In this time of world wide web technology, Skiguide.com.au believes that anyone wanting to organize their next ski holiday can do so over the internet. For this reason we provide information and links for everything you will need to book your next ski holiday.This includes airlines, transfers (Bus, Train and taxi), car hire and accommodation.While most ski resorts individual websites (to which Skiguide.com.au has links) provide a wealth of information on accommodation and also provide a comprehensive and effective booking system, we believe that Skiguide.com.au offers you absolutely everything you will require from leaving your home to arriving at the front door of your selected accommodation at the ski resort of your dreams.We believe that you need to spend at least two weeks at any large ski resort so that you can really appreciate all that resort has to offer, including endless ski runs, huge off-piste skiing opportunities, and simply being able to absorb and enjoy all the atmosphere and memories that come from a lengthy ski holiday. Two weeks also increases your likelihood of skiing in what we all are in search for, magical Powder! Whilst we can not guarantee you will find waist deep powder on all of your ski holidays, Skiguide.com.au will attempt to put you in the right place at the right time.

We list our best ski resorts in the world - what are yours?