
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.
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.
Mt Baw Baw is a very small ski area in the Victorian Alps of Gippsland, with only about 35 hectares between 1,460 and 1,565 metres and a vertical of just 105 metres. Its 17 runs split 25% beginner, 65% intermediate and 10% advanced, with no expert terrain. Those numbers describe a compact, gentle hill where the slopes are short and the pitches mild. Everything is packed into a plateau setting, so lifts are quick, distances are tiny and the whole hill is quickly understood. It is a place to learn, not a place to chase vertical.
Surface lifts do all the work, including the Maltese Cross T-Bar, the Summit T-Bar, the Big Hill Poma and the Painted Run T-Bar, plus the Tank Hill and Hut Run platters near the base. Named runs such as Tank Hill and Home Run keep things easy to follow. Intermediates make up nearly two-thirds of the terrain, but they should expect short, mellow runs rather than long descents. Mt Baw Baw suits young families, first-timers and beginner to low-intermediate skiers who value a small, friendly mountain. Experienced skiers will run out of challenge within a morning, and may find the toboggan areas more entertaining.
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.
Daily snow reports at Mt Baw Baw go back to 2025, 2 winters on the books. Open the record to compare winters, lifts and piste.
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.
Hotels and lodges near Mt Baw Baw, powered by Stay22.

Mt Rose is going for the first-in-Tahoe title, with the Lakeview Express due to spin at 9 a.m. on Friday, November 6. One main lift, three runs and plenty of snowmaking, sitting on the highest base elevation in the region at 8,260 ft. Here is what is open, what is not (sorry, tubing fans), and how the early North American openings are stacking up.

Europe has had a quiet start to November, but our 10-day forecast has Serre Chevalier on 82 cm and Les 2 Alpes on 71 cm. Two pushes are lined up: a western Alps top-up from Friday, then a bigger, wider system on Thursday, November 12 and Friday, November 13 that reaches Italy and Switzerland. Full leaderboard inside.

Mammoth just moved opening day forward to Thursday, November 5, eight days ahead of schedule. A snowy weekend and cold snowmaking nights did the work, and our forecast shows up to 33 inches more landing on November 13 and 14. Here is what opens, what the weather looks like and where Mammoth sits among the early Ikon Pass openers.

Rain down low, snow up high, and a snow report full of zeros that mostly means ‘not updated yet’. Utah’s first proper storm of 2026-27 is rolling through the Wasatch, Snowbird’s snow stake is closing in on 10 inches, and Brian Head is five days from opening day. Early November snow rarely looks like much, but it is the layer every November opening date is built on. Here is where it stands.

Halloween weekend brings a wet, windy storm to the Sierra Nevada. Our five-day forecast has Dodge Ridge on top with 19 in, followed by Bear Valley at 15 in and Mammoth Mountain at 12 in, with most of it landing on Saturday. A winter weather advisory covers the Tahoe Basin and Mono County until 7 AM Sunday, gusts could reach 47 mph and the freezing level swings between 4,900 and 8,700 ft, so some bases will see rain. A dry spell follows from Monday.

The Rockies get their first lift-served turns of the season early. Lake Louise opens Sunday 1 November, five days ahead of schedule, after a cold October and round-the-clock work from the snowmaking and mountain crews. Terrain is limited to Juniper Express Chair and Easy Street, with two small terrain parks and the beginner area for lessons. Opening-day tickets are over 60% off, with prices rising as more lifts open. First chair is at 9:30 am under the resort’s new lift hours.

A Tyrolean summit lift that has been carrying guests up the Kitzbüheler Horn since 1955 is on borrowed time. Its licence runs to 2045, but a new inspection rule has made refurbishment uneconomic, so Bergbahn AG Kitzbühel will spend around €15 million on a replacement on the same line. It should hold roughly 100 people and keep running in winds that would stop today’s lift. Building starts in autumn 2027, which makes this winter and next summer the last chances to ride the old one.

Niseko Village is replacing a lift from the early 1980s with an eight-person gondola, Tsugaike gets a six-person chairlift, Madarao joins the Ikon Pass and Togari opens Asia’s first private ski resort. Here’s what is actually new in Japan skiing for 2026/27, plus what is still a year or two away.
More Mt Baw Baw intelligence: trail map, lift system, resort overview.