Mt Baw Baw goes “boom”

Visitors have been flooding into Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort since the snow season started, marking one of the most successful seasons in recent history.

As of August 14, the number of visitors to Mt Baw Baw was up 33 per cent on the same time in 2019 - the last snow season before the pandemic at 65,280.

The two years prior, 2020 and 2021, had only seen 8481 and 22,419 visitors as of August 14, respectively.

Mt Baw Baw marketing and activations manager Amon Bradshaw said accommodation at the resort had been “pretty much booked back to back the whole season.”

“Income is significantly up, which is a good thing as well, for the businesses along the way and for the resort,” he said.

Noojee’s Baw Baw Snow Chain Hire manager Christine Jones said the number of visitors went “boom - from nothing to everything.”

“I’ve done this for 10 years now, and I definitely say we probably won’t get another year like this again for quite some time.”

Ms Jones attributed the busy year to closures of other ski hire businesses in the area and people not having had the opportunity to visit the snow for almost three years.

Mt Baw Baw Alpine resort has not had such a successful season in a number of years even before the pandemic.

Mr Bradshaw said it has been “really good to see people back” and enjoying themselves at the resort, and it had also been a good experience for many staff members.

“A lot of staff have been working for the resort for close to three years, and haven’t seen a snow season until this year.”

“It can be really busy and tiring for staff - but fun at the same time,” he said.

Changes are happening behind the scenes at Mt Baw Baw as well, with alpine resort management across the state merging into one body from October 1, 2022.

Earlier this month the State Government appointed Ali Wastie, the current chief executive officer of Bass Coast Shire Council, to head all-new Board for Alpine Resorts Victoria.

The board will oversee all six alpine resorts at Falls Creek, Mount Baw Baw, Mount Buller, Mount Hotham, Mount Stirling and Lake Mountain and replace four alpine resort management boards and the Alpine Resorts Co-ordinating Council.

Environment and climate action minister Lily D’Ambrosio

said the new board would contribute to the state and regional communities by delivering “long-term financial stability to the alpine sector”.

“This new board will provide the strategic leadership that Victoria’s alpine sector needs to deliver tourism growth and to manage the impacts of climate change,” she said.

Mr Bradshaw said Mt Baw Baw had not officially announced any plans for the 2023 snow season yet, however, “there are things on the cards - exciting things”.

“This year’s been significantly busier... visitation has increased by a lot and so we know that there are some things we can do to increase capacity,” he said.

“We could sell twice as many toboggan tickets during peak season if we had more toboggan parks.”

Mr Bradshaw said while weekends at Mt Baw Baw were “pretty much” booked out until the second weekend of September, there were some mid-week availabilities.

“We’re starting to see some availability come up mid-week as we get into the off-peak season.”

“We will typically remain open until the end of September - so there’s still some weekends available late season,” he said.