Hooked on Hotham
Cara wagstaff finds Victoria’s Mount Hotham is packed with fun for families, first-time skiers and experienced powder hounds.
Mount Hotham feels different from other ski resorts. For starters, the village is atop the mountain, fitting for Victoria’s highest alpine resort. So we begin at the top, ride down and then get a chairlift back up to finish our day.
As we weave along the Great Alpine Road to the resort, we’re excited to catch glimpses of the snow-dusted village. As the snow increases we pull over to fit chains to our Honda CR-V and find Hotham staff already on hand to help.
Village vibes
The mountain’s hub is a pretty confection of design and architecture, with pastel buildings fitted with gently-sloping roofs. At Hotham Central we check in to our accommodation and pick up our passes, a breeze as we’ve booked online and our details are ready in the system.
We’re staying at Schnapps Apartments, just 100 metres from the Village Chairlift and a short walk from Hotham Central. The modern apartments are nestled on the aptly named Hot Plate Drive, which proves to be useful for walking home when the roads start to get icy. Our two-bedroom apartment has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the mountain, perfect for early morning
snow-condition checks. Each bedroom has an ensuite and the kids’ room has bunk beds which can sleep up to four. While our apartment is well kitted out with a full kitchen and dining room, we prefer to enjoy the excellent restaurants and cafes on the mountain. The Bird is a favourite; its lunchtime nachos are the perfect fuel for an afternoon on the slopes.
Absolute beginners
At Victoria’s highest elevation of 1861 metres above sea level, Hotham is designed to meet the needs of all families, with 13 lifts serving 320 hectares of skiable terrain. For groups of different abilities, including beginners, there are two learning areas: The Summit and The Big D, which is exclusively for kids. While most resorts have their kids’ learning areas around the main lift, The Big D’s quieter location – a short shuttle bus ride from Hotham Central – eliminates the distraction of advanced skiers whizzing past, helping budding snow bunnies to focus. The Mighty Mites programme is for kids aged from three to five and Kids’ Club is for children seven to 14 for both skiing and snowboarding. There’s also Day Care for tots from three months old.
The Big D is also home to a Burton Riglet Park. Using the area’s natural features, the park assists young riders aged three to five develop balance on their snowboard, ready for their progression to Kids’ Club. The Big D is the place to be on Wednesdays and Saturdays as Harry the Snowdragon makes an appearance at 4pm to entertain little ones with singing, dancing and photo fun.
Piping hot
Deciding to polish our skills, we book a family lesson at Hotham Central. Our instructor, Laura, takes us straight into The Funnel, a black run that feels like a mini half-pipe. We come out on a goat track and slide down to Heavenly Chairlift, our base for the lesson.
Laura helps us with our posture and getting a feel for the different types of terrain as we work our way across the bowl to increasingly steeper runs. Our two-hour lesson finishes back at Hotham Central to dry our mittens and jackets as a whiteout starts to creep in.
The afternoon sees us exploring even more of the resort’s incredible terrain. There are excellent blue runs at the Orchard which slice their way through forests of glorious gum trees. It’s a must to stop for a warming hot chocolate at Snake Gully Hut, and to soak up the incredible views over the village from the runs off the Drift and the Summit, which also provides access to green runs for beginners, and are perfect for kids.
As the sun goes down, we take our rumbling bellies to Yama Kitchen & Bar for dinner. Yama offers a fusion of Asian cuisine ranging from Korean bibimbap to Japanese kangaroo tataki. The food is made for sharing, which kids love. We go a little overboard on the ordering but it is all too delicious to pass up, and when it comes to dessert we even manage to squeeze in a dish or two more.
More snow fun
Hotham offers plenty to keep little ones entertained. There are free dedicated snow-play and tobogganing areas at both Hotham and nearby Dinner Plain, a charming village 20 minutes away, with a snow park, tube runs and a gentle ski run for beignners. If your family does decide to visit Dinner Plain, the dog-sled tours are a must. The kids will adore being whisked across the soft snow by the resort’s furriest staff members. It’s the perfect way to cap off a week of brilliant snow and family fun.
Hotham Report Card
Info Hotham’s winter season typically runs between June and September. Check the website for official opening dates. mthotham.com.au Getting there Hotham is an eight-hour drive from Sydney or 4.5 hours from Melbourne. We drove down in a Honda CR-V. honda.com.au Stay hothamholidays.com.au/accommodation