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Ski Australia - Victoria

Mount Hotham Resort Reviews


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Visitor reviews for Mount Hotham Ski Resort

Mount Hotham Ratings

Overall: 3.4. Based on 25 votes and 17 reviews.

Rate this resort

Snowsure: 3.3

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Mount Hotham is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 3.8

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Mount Hotham has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 3.8

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.1

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 3.9

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Mount Hotham

Public Transport: 3.5

  • There are no buses or taxis to Mount Hotham
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 3.9

  • No places to stay in/near Mount Hotham
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 2.8

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 3.4

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Mount Hotham

Ski in/Ski out: 3.5

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 3.3

  • There are no child care facilities at Mount Hotham
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 4.1

  • Mount Hotham relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 3.4

  • There are no snow groomers at Mount Hotham
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Mount Hotham are groomed daily

Shelter: 2.8

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Mount Hotham is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 2.9

  • If snow conditions are poor at Mount Hotham, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 3.8

  • Mount Hotham usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 3.7

  • The staff at Mount Hotham are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Mount Hotham are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.2

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 3.6

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 3.9

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 3.1

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 3.8

  • No intermediate terrain at Mount Hotham
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.0

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 3.2

  • Not even a kicker at Mount Hotham
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 3.9

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Mount Hotham
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 3.0

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Mount Hotham has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.5

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 3.4

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 3.3

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 2.3

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 2.9

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 3.1

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 2.6

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 3.2

  • Overall, Mount Hotham is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 2.5

  • Overall, Mount Hotham is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

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July 04, 2020
Damo
Hotham will reward if you look beyond the boundaries. Easily the pick of Vic resorts. Powder capital of Australia
May 20, 2020
Damo
Occasionally, amazingly accurate. Especially within 24 hours. Anything beyond a few days is pure guessing.
July 01, 2013
Rebecca
It's funny all the negative comments I see here. Each to their own, however, I think a lot of you have your nose out of joint because you have probably come at a time where there hasn't been particularly great snow fall. We can't predict the weather, there may be days when the resort is better than others. As for people saying its too expensive, you'll find all the other decent resorts in Aus are the same price, if not, very close! As for cost of food etc- of course it's going to be a little more pricey, it's like going to a theme park or the footy, I paid $14 for a pie and a bottle of coke at the footy! If you are planning a holiday at the snow, you need to be prepared with extra cash, just like any resort!
September 19, 2010
Karl from Ski Switzerland Switzerland
If you love freeriding, Mount Hotham is one of the best ski resorts in the world. I should know as I have skied every major Australian and NZ ski resort, many resorts in western Canada, western USA, Italy, France, Austria and Switzerland. I normally visit around 25 different international ski resorts per year. If you are prepared you may encounter rain, slush, elephant snot, Australian Powder, Canadian corduroy and champagne powder. You will enjoy the good, the bad and the ugly at Mount Hotham. Like all Australian ski resorts conditions and weather are variable, but Mount Hotham has many secrets. Secrets so good, that when the conditions are perfect, there is not a better place to ski. Try the following during the worst possible snow storms only with a local or a Mount Hotham ski ambassador. Inbounds 1. Blue Ribbon as you can hide from the wild weather, 2. Notice Board, The wall of death and the pipeline off the Village loop, 3. The Canyon and Brockhoff off the HV chair. Prepared for backcountry and very wild weather. Take a friend, when the Gotcha chair is closed and walk up Green Line and ski the following only if you know the terrain and can ski any run in any condition: 1. Gotcha, The ridge, and Mary's Slide. As soon as you drop off the ridge you are in a paradise full of untouched powder! 2. Coles Bowl and the remaining runs skier's left are great if the bottom funnel of Mary's has been skied out. 3. If the Orchard is closed, don't fear, ski all the way down Keogh's down to Orchard load cross the Swindler's platform and follow the creek back to Swindler's trail. It eventually joins the official Valley trail from Mary's Slide. Where to go when the storm clears? HV 1. HV as it typically opens on certain in-peak season at 7:30am. Check with Guest Services. It is good everywhere. 2. Wendix is untracked, because most people turn right at the top of HV. 3. Try skier's left of Imagine, over the ridge is untracked, then continue to top of Brockoff and feed right back onto Patroller's drop. Unfortunately, HV is usually skied out in one or two hours, so, Extreme and Orchard are next on the radar. As soon as Gotcha opens, well, take the lift... 1. Ski the Extreme zone. 2. Ski into Orchard and enjoy intermediate cruising, 3. After Orchard is done ski Boarder's Valley, skier's right of Spargo's trail. Snowboarder's take this option, because they run out of momentum as Spargo's trail enters the flat, wooded section of the run. 4. One tree hill is quite nice. If this is what you like then, ask Guest Services or a local to show you the Golden Point area. Do not enter this area without local knowledge. There are no reference points through the woods and you could easily lose your bearing. The area is skied out very quickly, so, be sure you can ski any run in any condition. What's next? If you don't mind a walk then try... 1. Australia drift and Avalanche Gully. 2. If you like this alot, Dargo west face and try Parachute Drop (Instructor's Gully) way beyond the Drift T-bar. 3. Done it all...ski HG AKA Harris Gully, but, you should have backcountry experience before skiing down the other side ridge beyond the Drift T-bar. 4. There are more bowls including Dargo bowl, and Diamantina or South West face to Baldy Hollow beyond the Telecom tower on the summit. Further afield... 1. P Gully - the north facing bowl skier's left of the summit, 2. Eagle's ridge - the southern rim of P Gully, and 3. Women's Downhill off the south face of Mt. Higginbotham. As you can see, there is plenty to offer the freerider!
August 24, 2010
Andrew
Geez people talk garbage. As far as patchy snow goes, if Hotham (Mount Hotham) is patchy it's a fair bet all resorts in Oz are patchy. As far as lift tickets and value for money goes, name me one Oz resort thats prices aren't comparable with Hotham. The lifts are not old. Hotham has 7 modern quads whose speed is normal for fixed grip in the areas they serve (ie, Big D is slow as it services the beginners & kids area). As far as terrain goes, the Heavenly Valley area throws up around 300m mixed skiable vertical. Buller, Falls are similiar and Perisher is not much more. Thredbo is the only Oz resort with decent vertical but it's base is far to close to the snow line. I'm sure most of those comparing us to Europe have never been there. The mountians there are three times higher, ten times as vast and further north than we are south and their lift prices are cheap because of the length of their season and size of their market. You people need to stop these contests and join reality.
June 08, 2010
Leigh Flower from Ski USA - California USA - California
Mount Hotham is a great resort for views. It sits right on top of a ridge so you get an amazing view over the eucalyptus forests. I went up there on a weekend trip with Mountainhound (mountainhound.com.au) who take you up there and organise everything so I didn't have to wait for lift tickets, hire gear etc. It was great!
May 29, 2010
Tim Pritchard
Do not go to Mount Hotham if you are looking for steep terrain (those who say it's the steepest they've seen, obviously haven't seen much!!) While Mary's slide isn't bad there are not many other steep runs and as for vertical decent, it really struggles. I am Victorian, have been going to Hotham for some 10 years now and love the place, but it's not because of the snow or pistes. It's a great fun-in-the-sun ski resort with good food and decent parties. If you're extremely lucky you'll get 10cm of fresh in a short trip but more often than not you'll be skiing man-made snow. I guarantee that if you go with the right group of friends you'll have a lot of fun, just don't expect short lift lines and powder... nor expect to leave Mount Hotham with much money in your wallet...
May 11, 2009
Andy
Is skiing at Mount Hotham value for money? No is the simple answer; an Adult 6day (peak) lift pass is $512AUD (288EUR), ridiculous price for what is on offer. The biggest and best ski resorts in Europe only charge around 200EUR for a 6day pass.
August 14, 2008
Craig woods
I find it hard to understand the comments made by Jenny, I am Victorian and a ski instructor working at Mt Hotham. This season has seen wonderful snow and although we had a late start to the season this can happen anywhere in the world! Just look at what happened in North America last year and in Europe the season before. The cover at the moment is at about 1.5 metres and growing. Maybe if Jenny came to Mt Hotham she would be surprised to find Australia's powder capital in great condition and perhaps even try her luck on some of the steepest terrain that I have seen anywhere. Craig
August 14, 2008
james penny
It is frustratingly hard to find accurate and objective information on ski resorts especially in Australia. Ozzies seem to get really defensive about their resorts and try to big them up, making out they are fantastic when they're clearly not. I was over in NZ recently and there are so many Victorians there who simply refuse to ski in Victoria because it's so bad. You look at the piste maps, the length of the runs and the lack of modern lifts and you quickly figure out that (despite the glowing reviews) Victorian ski resorts are not up to much.