Mount Buller Becomes Latest Australian Resort to Call Time Early on 2026

Mount Buller is closing out its 2026 season this weekend, joining Falls Creek, Mount Hotham and Charlotte Pass in a wave of early closures landing almost simultaneously across Australia's alpine industry, roughly a month ahead of schedule

The resort broke the news with characteristic good humour on social media:

"As we say at Mt Buller - that's amore! Sunday will be our last day on snow. Come and slide, celebrate Dad's Day, and toast one last après. Proceeds from tickets to Mansfield Men's Shed!"

Sunday, 6 September also happens to be Father's Day in Australia, and Buller is leaning into the occasion, with proceeds from final-day ticket sales going to the Mansfield Men's Shed, a community organisation based in the town that serves as the resort's main gateway.

A season cut a month short

Mt Buller's typical season runs from early June through the first weekend of October. This year the resort opened on schedule on 6 June, but is closing nearly four weeks ahead of its planned 4 October finish.

It's far from the only resort in this position. September 6 has become something of a mass closure date for Australian skiing: Hotham and Falls Creek are both wrapping up their seasons on the same day, with Charlotte Pass closing one day earlier, on 5 September. Selwyn Snow Resort closed earlier still, on 21 August, while Mount Baw Baw called it quits two days after that, on 23 August. Within the span of about two and a half weeks, six of Australia's best-known resorts will have all shut their lifts well ahead of schedule.

A record-low season by the numbers

The cause across the board has been the same: a historically poor snow season. Spencers Creek, the benchmark measurement site for the Snowy Mountains with records dating back to 1954, recorded a snow depth of just 31.2cm on 3 September. That compares with a 73-year average of 173.4cm and a median of 166.4cm for this point in the season, putting the current reading at around 18% of the long-run average. It marks an all-time low for this point in the winter, beating the previous record low of 40.4cm, set in 1969, by 9.2cm.

The season's peak depth this year was just 94.5cm, recorded on 13 August, the third-lowest peak on record. A run of storms in late August briefly offered hope, but arrived with more rain than snow, and by the following week the snow depth had collapsed back to 55.9cm, itself a record low for that point in the season.

Analysis of the full 73-year Spencers Creek dataset points to this being one of the worst seasons in Australian ski history by most standard measures, even though the traditional season window technically still has around six weeks left to run into mid-October. Spencers Creek's history does show late-season dumps are possible, with some past seasons gaining 50 to 100-plus centimetres in September and October alone, though current weather patterns make that an increasingly long shot.

The same conditions driving the New South Wales measurements reflect the broader pattern that has hit resorts across the border in Victoria, including Buller itself.

About Mount Buller

Mount Buller is one of Victoria's largest and most established ski resorts, located around three hours' drive northeast of Melbourne near the township of Mansfield. The resort's skiing history stretches back roughly a century, and it now operates 25 lifts across around 100km of trails, with a vertical drop of around 400 metres. It's a partner resort on both the Ikon Pass and Mountain Collective, drawing a mix of international visitors alongside its strong domestic following from Melbourne.

Skiers looking for one last day on the mountain, a Father's Day toast and a chance to support a good local cause have until Sunday to make it happen.