
Perisher
Australia's largest ski resort with 4 linked areas, 113 runs and 1,245 hectares in the Snowy Mountains. Open June to October.
Perisher is Australia's largest ski resort and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, spanning 1,245 hectares across four interconnected ski areas within Kosciuszko National Park in the NSW Snowy Mountains. The combined resort links Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Blue Cow and Guthega across seven peaks, serving 113 runs on terrain that rises from 1,699m to a summit of 2,054m atop Mt Perisher. The terrain breakdown skews firmly toward intermediates — 60% of runs are graded blue — though the resort's sheer scale means beginners, advanced skiers and freestylers each have dedicated zones across the mountain.
Access is via Australia's only underground rack railway, the Skitube Alpine Railway, a Swiss-designed train that departs Bullocks Flat on the Alpine Way and travels through a 6.3km tunnel — reaching 550m below the surface at its deepest point — to Perisher Valley, with a further connection to Blue Cow. Opened in 1987, the Skitube remains the defining feature of Perisher's access infrastructure and the most practical option for visitors wanting to avoid chains on the mountain road. Perisher is part of the Vail Resorts Epic Pass network, connecting the resort with Mt Hotham, Falls Creek and a global portfolio of ski destinations.
Perisher spreads 113 runs across 3,076 acres skiable of terrain. It leans intermediate at 60%, with 25 beginner runs to find your feet and 20 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
The 2026 season at Perisher runs from 6 June to 5 October, a four-month window that represents one of the longest seasons of any Australian ski resort. Average annual snowfall reaches 2.6 metres, and the resort's position above 1,699m ensures reliable natural snow coverage across the season's core months of July and August. Snowmaking infrastructure covers 4.4 square kilometres of terrain with 240 snow guns, providing early-season and shoulder-period coverage when natural falls are lighter.
The Queen's Birthday long weekend in June has historically marked the official season opener for the Snowy Mountains, with the Snowy Mountains of Music Festival running at Perisher Valley across that weekend each year. The back end of the season in September draws a more local crowd and is well regarded for quieter lifts and softening spring snow. Night skiing operates on selected evenings throughout the season, with the floodlit terrain park accessible under lights.
Perisher sits within Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains of southern New South Wales, approximately 30 minutes from the resort town of Jindabyne and 20 minutes from the Skitube's Bullocks Flat terminal at the Alpine Way. Canberra is the nearest major city, around two and a half hours by road via the Snowy Mountains Highway through Cooma and Jindabyne. Sydney is approximately five to six hours by car, while Melbourne is roughly seven hours. All vehicles entering Kosciuszko Road in winter conditions are required to carry snow chains.
Jindabyne is the primary accommodation and services base for Perisher visitors, offering a full range of accommodation, restaurants, ski hire and lift ticket outlets at lower cost than on-mountain lodging. On-snow accommodation is concentrated in Perisher Valley and is predominantly lodge and chalet style, with ski-in, ski-out access from most properties. The Skitube terminal at Bullocks Flat provides parking for up to 3,500 cars and 250 coaches, with ski hire, a ticket office and a snow school also operating from the terminal building.
Hotels and lodges near Perisher, powered by Stay22.

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We knew when the Bird Bath Pond Skim showed up on Hotham's Instagram that the season was on its way out. It's been a rough one - I only managed two days on snow all year, at Falls Creek - and now Baw Baw, Selwyn and Hotham have all called it, possibly the worst Australian season I've seen in a decade. Hotham's last day of lift operations is Sunday, 6 September, with a Retro Day, Father's Day après and closing sales before the lifts stop turning for good.

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An aerial tram carrying around fifty passengers struck the boom of a construction crane on the route to Pic Blanc at Alpe d'Huez on Wednesday morning, injuring 23 people, three seriously. The cabin tipped on impact before the operator reversed it to right the car. Most of the injured were treated on site, with five taken to hospital in Grenoble, including a pregnant woman assessed as a precaution.

A deadly flood on the Nepal-China border, a decade-old tragedy on Italy's Marmolada, and an unstable glacier right now above a village near Zermatt - three very different mountain ranges, the same underlying story. Warming ice is destabilising terrain that was considered settled for generations, and the results range from catastrophic floods to slow-motion monitoring situations that could go either way.

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A hanging glacier above the Swiss village of Randa, just south of Zermatt, has been shedding large chunks of ice for weeks, with authorities warning more break-offs are likely. A danger zone has been closed off since June, though officials say the village's 479 residents aren't at risk. It's a familiar pattern for this glacier - it's done this before, in 1819, 1972 and 1973 - but a reminder of how closely Alpine authorities now watch terrain once considered stable.

Thredbo is officially 'on the table.' EVT Limited, owner of Australia's most decorated ski resort, has hired Rothschild & Co to review its entire corporate structure - and confirmed Thredbo isn't off limits, even as it books a stronger year of earnings. The resort's own valuation has nearly halved after a brutal 2026 season, and speculation is already running toward Vail Resorts, Alterra, or a New Zealand operator picking it up. Here's what EVT actually said, and who could buy it.
12 live angles across the mountain. Tap any camera to go full-screen.
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