Mount Hotham Snowboarding

Something that few people realise is that Australia isn’t just scorching heat as stereotypes suggest. Beautiful landscapes come alive with the winter snowfall. Plenty of people head to Mount Hotham snowboarding and skiing.

Even though it snows in Australia, plenty of Aussie nationals have never seen the white stuff. Equally, the majority have never been to Mount Hotham snowboarding. Partly because not everyone prefers to snowboard, and partly because one of the best places to do so is at Mount Hotham. It’s a 4.5-hour drive from the heart of Melbourne.

In broad terms, you need to head to the Victorian Alps. It is part of the Great Dividing Range in Australia and reaches an elevation of 1,861m. It would be akin to European only being able to ski in Switzerland.

I opted to make the journey to the mountains, staying at accommodation in the nearby town of Bright. Granted, it was because I wanted to go snowboarding.

The drive up Mount Hotham is picturesque and beautiful. My poor attempt at taking pictures from a moving car wasn’t too successful. Although, I did manage to conjure up something salvageable:

You’ll need to carry tyre chains with you if you’re planning to drive up Mount Hotham. Otherwise, you risk getting stuck in the snow which certainly isn’t a good idea. You could opt to get the coach up the mountain instead. This is how I returned for some more Mount Hotham snowboarding throughout my trip.

Taking great snaps when you’re going to Mount Hotham for snowsports isn’t easy. I was pretty new to photography at this point and the photographs I have don’t do it justice.

From the slopes there are some exquisite views, though I didn’t fancy trying to get access to my phone in case I dropped it. My shoddy snowboarding would have thwarted any attempt to retrieve it. Especially considering Mount Hotham is where I learnt to snowboard. I was a complete beginner.

The views up top are spectacular though, go and see for yourself. In case you can’t, you can check out Mount Hotham on Instagram. I’ll also leave you with one of my favourite snaps from the trip. The place we were headed to is beyond the ridge in this picture. Please excuse my blurry twig:

You can find plenty of useful information about Mount Hotham snowboarding on World Snowboard Guide.

If you’ve already got a trip planned, or you’re thinking about going, you can check out prices for lift passes here. Or, you can do what I did and book in your first snowboarding lesson at Mount Hotham.

You might need to bring your own equipment, and I can recommend renting it from some of the shops in Bright. It’s cheaper than buying it for a few days if you’re not convinced you’ll enjoy your Mount Hotham snowboarding.

That also allows you to have a mess around on the flatter areas on the mountain before you hit the slopes. I tried to collaborate with another beginner, and she convinced me to try the Poma lift. It turned out to be hilarious.