Victoria, Australia
Mt Baw Baw
Visit Melbourne's closest alpine resort, perfect for beginners and families. Easy access, affordable skiing, and ideal learning environment just 2.5 hours from the city.
Season 2026
Opens
20 June 2026
Closes
7 Sept 2026
Days open
79
Annual snow
3m
The Overview
Mt Baw Baw Alpine Resort offers a compact yet complete snow experience just 2.5 hours from Melbourne. As Victoria's closest downhill ski area to the capital, it provides an accessible alpine getaway without the long drive. The resort features gentle slopes perfect for beginners and families, alongside more challenging terrain for experienced skiers and snowboarders. With accommodation options ranging from cosy lodges to self-contained apartments, Mt Baw Baw delivers an authentic Victorian alpine experience on a smaller, more approachable scale.
105m
Vertical
17
Runs
86 acres
Skiable
3m
Annual snow
The Terrain
17 runs across 86 acres skiable
Mt Baw Baw spreads 17 runs across 86 acres skiable of terrain. It leans intermediate at 65%, with 4 beginner runs to find your feet and 2 advanced or expert runs when you want to push.
Terrain split
17
runs
17 runs across 4 grades
Beginner4 runs · 25%
Intermediate11 runs · 65%
Advanced2 runs · 10%
Expert0 runs · 0%
Time it right
When to visit Mt Baw Baw
The Mt Baw Baw snow season typically runs from early June through September, with peak conditions usually occurring in July and August. The mountain receives an average annual snowfall of 1-2 metres, supplemented by snowmaking facilities on key runs. Beyond the winter months, Mt Baw Baw transforms into a bushwalking and mountain biking destination from November through April. The changing seasonal landscape offers wildflower displays in summer and stunning autumn colours in March and April, making the mountain worth visiting year-round.
Season 2026
20 June 2026
Opens
7 Sept 2026
Closes
79
Days open
3 m
Annual snow
Getting there
Getting to Mt Baw Baw, and where to stay
Located in the Baw Baw National Park within Victoria's Great Dividing Range, Mt Baw Baw sits approximately 120km east of Melbourne. This positioning in the western Gippsland region makes it the closest alpine resort to Melbourne, accessible via a scenic drive through the Latrobe Valley and Yarra Ranges. The mountain stands at 1,567 metres above sea level, often catching snow when nearby peaks miss out due to its unique position. The resort area borders magnificent old-growth forests and sub-alpine woodlands, providing a distinctive ecological setting unlike other Victorian ski fields.
Where to stay
Search all stays →Hotels and lodges near Mt Baw Baw, powered by Stay22.
Latest News
From the SnowStash desk
Aerial Tram Collides With Crane at Alpe d'Huez: 23 Injured
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.
28 Aug 2026
Why Glaciers Are Collapsing - And What Happens When They Do
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.
27 Aug 2026
Pitztal Glacier Set to Reopen for the 2026/27 Ski Season on 26 September
Tyrol's highest ski area is gearing up to open a full month ahead of most of the Alps. The Pitztal Glacier is scheduled to start its 2026/27 season on Saturday 26 September, running through to 2 May 2027, with the lower-altitude Rifflsee area following in December. High-altitude terrain up to 3,440 metres gives the glacier a head start on snow, though as always, the actual opening extent will depend on how September's weather plays out. Early online ski pass bookings can save up to 30%.
26 Aug 2026
Unstable Glacier Above Randa Puts Zermatt-Area Village on Alert
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.
26 Aug 2026
Thredbo Is 'On the Table' as EVT Reviews Its Whole Business
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.
25 Aug 2026
Ski-E-O! Is the Ski Resort Tycoon Game We Didn't Know We Needed
I'm not a gamer. I'm a skier and snowboarder who happens to have a laptop. So when a ski resort management game called Ski-E-O! landed on Steam, I wasn't expecting to lose an afternoon to it - but here we are. Real mountain terrain, a full weather system, storms that roll in and wreck your snow base, avalanche danger, and enough depth to make RollerCoaster Tycoon feel simple by comparison. Early access lands in November. Here's what a few hours in the free demo actually looks like.
23 Aug 2026
Sugar Bowl, California, Rebuilds Its Historic Village Gondola
The rumours are true: Sugar Bowl is tearing out its Emerald gondola, in place since 1983, and replacing it with a new 8-person Doppelmayr system - nearly doubling uphill capacity to 1,800 people an hour. It's the fourth generation of a gondola line that dates back to 1953, when Sugar Bowl became the first resort on the West Coast to run one at all, and it's just one piece of a $100 million overhaul touching lodges, parking and snowmaking. Here's what's changing, and what's staying the same.
23 Aug 2026
Two Confirmed Dead as Search Continues After Swiss Alps Fire
The death toll from Thursday night's fire at Restaurant Beverin in Thusis, Switzerland, has begun to firm up. One Swiss outlet, citing Graubünden Cantonal Police, reports that two of the five people initially reported missing have now been confirmed dead, leaving three unaccounted for. The building's collapsed stairwell and structural instability have slowed recovery efforts throughout. Here's what's changed since the fire broke out, and what's still unconfirmed.
22 Aug 2026
Current conditions
Snow Report
Updated 27 Aug 2026
1565m
summit
+0cm
new snow · last 24 hours
Overcast-2°C / 7°C · W 13km/h
Snowfall
24 hours
0cm
48 hours
0cm
7 days
0cm
Base depth
0cm
Season total
72cm
Total lifts8
Live open status isn’t available right now.
20 June 2026 - 7 Sept 2026
Hour by Hour
Next 47 hours· Updated Aug 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Scroll for the full outlook · Open-Meteo
7-Day Outlook
1,565 mUpdated Aug 28, 2026 at 5:02 PMOpen-Meteo
Days 1–7
0.0cm
Days 8–14
0.0cm
Fri, Aug 28
Drizzle
Temp7° / -2°°C
Snow0.0cm(90%)
Wind13 km/h W
Live snow from the resort feed; forecast from Open-Meteo, via Supabase.
Understanding the Mt Baw Baw snow report
Planning a day at Mt Baw Baw? Our snow report combines official mountain data with live weather so you know exactly what conditions look like right now, from the 1460m base to the 1565m summit.
Snow measurements
Base depth, summit depth, and recent snowfall are the core numbers to watch. At Mt Baw Baw, summit conditions (1565m) can differ noticeably from the base, so we break both out separately rather than showing a single average.
Weather conditions
Current weather conditions affect snow quality. Cold temperatures with low wind typically preserve snow quality, while warm temperatures or rain can impact conditions negatively — something worth watching closely at Mt Baw Baw's 1460m base elevation, where temperatures run milder than the summit.
Data sources
Mt Baw Baw snow data is collected through a combination of on-mountain reports and weather forecasting services, giving you both official resort updates and independent forecast data in one place. The mountain is served by 8 lifts in total.
When to check
Conditions can change overnight, so mornings and late afternoons are the best times to check back on Mt Baw Baw.