I've been skiing at Charlottes for 45 years. It is a fantastic place. It's rather limited for downhill but perfect for cross country skiing, alpine touring and snow shoeing. No other resort has such great access to the main range.
It is perfect for kids because it is very difficult to lose them, everything slopes to the village and kids are easy to spot from the village.
No cars. No crowds. No noise. Wonderful!
Well, I’ve been coming to Charlotte Pass since 2013 with my family (wife and 2 daughters). It’s a great place, people here are awesome, we stay in a chalet for 7 days each time.
Over the last few trips, the skiing is becoming worse and worse. Super expensive, they charge full rates for lift tickets and the facility is unable to function even at a basic level. Snow patrol / lift management is under supported. Lifts are from the 1960’s and constantly fail.
Not opening on time or remaining functioning with reliability. There’s only 4 lifts to maintain and upkeep. It is a pathetic failure of upper management to continue to ignore its ski guests.
I don’t write a review like this lightly. This is 5 years of hoping it will improve but no.. As a family we won’t be returning and strongly advise any potential visitor. If you want to ski then look for other options.
If you want a holiday in a beautiful family friendly location then Charlotte Pass is fantastic. But a warning if you want to ski, it’s become very disappointing.
For this trip, there’s plenty of snow but lifts aren’t running (there’s 1 lift called a Poma that is running about 150m with a deep lift line, and I can walk to the top of it faster than you can get the lift there?) I’m 3 days in and haven’t caught a lift yet..
I think the owner of the Charlotte Pass resort lease is squeezing chalet (owners? ed) so they leave and they just buy them up 'til he owns them all, then the lift situation will likely improve.
I’m just gutted.
This is cottage industry at its worst. They take your money no matter what the weather is doing. Got there to find out it's pouring down with rain all day and too wet to ski. They then tell you there is going to be trouble getting back out.
Sorry but Kosciusko NP should not have given this place a licence to operate. Been to a few mountains world-wide but this takes the cake Thor the cake for the worst! Embarrassing is a word that comes to mind.
My wife and I booked a 2 nights accommodation and 2 day beginner lessons with Charlotte Pass Ski Resort last week (July 2014). Bookings were made online and via telephone. We arrived at about 4pm on day 1; checked in. We asked about our ski lessons the next day and were told it was at 9.30am.
The next day we went over to the ski school at 8.30am to allow ourselves sometime to trial fit the ski boots. We were told we needed to book our lesson time with the school, and the first available lesson was 12.30pm. We were so disappointed as we were real beginners and could not do much without the lesson. So wasted the whole morning of day 2.
As the weather was not terrific, we decided to cut short our holiday in Charlotte Pass and changed our over-snow transport to 8.45am on day 3. We were at the hotel reception at 8.30am and told the staff and porters we are on the 8.45am transport to ski-tube terminal. Knowing the lack of communication / logistics in the resort, we reminded them numerous times. Each time we were told to wait right there. Time passed and two over-snow carriages came and went. At 9am we made the staff call up the transport side and were told the transport had gone and we would have to wait for the next one i.e 9.30am. I was totally dissatisfied and complained to the hotel manager. We insisted that we wanted to go down immediately and the manager radioed one of the over-snow to turn back. The manager apologised as she walked past us, but not a bit of sincerity.
To cut a long story short, real bad communication and logistics.
Very disappointed, Kosi chalet management didn't care about problems we had. TV was not working; we just wanted the news. Half the mountain was not open, not much snow making goes on. Mountain ops were poor, no snowboard equip so old 1 snowboard instructor. I feel ripped off when I go to NSW snow fields but this was extra harsh. The food was outstanding but it out classed the chalet. Stick to Perisher or Thredbo.
Went to Charlottes Pass a few years ago and loved it so much we are returning again. With few day trippers the slopes are not crowded which makes for enjoyable skiing for beginners through to intermediate skiers. We had great snow the year we were there and the lodge we stayed at had great food and a welcoming atmosphere.
Charlotte Pass is the best ski resort in NSW, hands down. Went there last year because Perisher was just slops and I found perfect ski conditions and fresh cover and nobody out. I couldn't believe how great it was.
After going to Charlotte Pass I will never go back to ski at Perisher.
Charlotte Pass is a fantastic ski resort. Very private and quiet. I usually ski in Europe and could'nt believe that Australia could have so much snow. There may not be many slopes to go on, but for the beautiful village ambience it's worth it. We stayed at Aliji Lodge and would highly recommend it. Food at Charlotte Pass was outstanding.
For a family ski resort you can't go past Charlottes Pass. Short lift queues and very friendly people. Even on years when snow conditions have been poor we have always found plenty to do. Can easily go off-piste with the kids and explore new areas without putting anyone at risk. For what it lacks in runs it makes up for in wide open spaces and runs with barely anyone on them. For a small resort its got it all.
The perfect spot to ski with the family, snow is as good as Perisher and Thredbo, little to no queue, losts of space, have been skiing there for years. Whilst there are only a few lifts you can find lots of of piste challenges, it is up to you.