With summer slow to arrive and mid-December snowfalls in the mountains, hopes may have been high for a white Christmas. But the weather turned, to give at least a taste of summer. The only remaining snow is to be found on a few drifts up high or, at Mount Buller in Victoria, on a stretch of machine-made snow where there’s at least enough to build a snowman. In any case, “green season” in the mountains relies on a lack of snow, not an abundance – here are six ways to enjoy the alpine areas of NSW and Victoria.
DOWNHILL ALL THE WAY
Mountain biking at Buller.
Australia’s mountain resorts are in the gravity business. They build and run lifts to get people up the mountain in winter so they ski or snowboard down and do it all over again. So why not run the ski lifts in summer and give mountain bikers the same kind of scope?
The best of the trail networks are to be found at Thredbo in NSW and Mount Buller in Victoria. Thredbo’s layout works perfectly with the lifts, with its Mountain Bike Park and its 40 kilometres of trails for all levels accessed via the chairlifts with the resort’s gondola also running during school holidays (see thredbo.com.au).
At Mount Buller, $1.2 million was spent refurbishing the trails before the last snow season and that’s a network covering 100 kilometres, including the internationally-rated Australian Alpine Epic Trail which has a 1000 vertical metre drop over its 40 kilometres, all the way from the mountain down to the valley below. Shuttles supplied by Blue Dirt bring riders back to the top and run on weekends and daily during the holidays (see mtbuller.com.au).
Falls Creek also has big claims for mountain bikers but a landslide has closed its main access road, possibly until March (see fallscreek.com.au).
GET OFF THE GRID
Camping near Mount Hotham. Photo: Karen Webb
One of the most cost-effective ways to enjoy the high country is to pitch your tent or park your caravan. In the Kosciuszko National Park, free or low-cost camp sites can be found everywhere from Geehi Flats beside the Swampy Plains River to Ngarigo and Thredbo Diggings beside the Thredbo River.
There are even options for people with horses amd a sense of adventure, with a dedicated horse camp in the Park at Geehi – there’s a 21 kilometre trail between Tom Groggin and Geehi that suits horse or mountain bike riders or walkers (bookings required for the campsites, see nationalparks.nsw.gov.au).
In Victoria’s Alpine National Park, experienced four-wheel-drivers have an abundance of options, with the 220 kilometre Wonnangatta Icon Drive travelling through Dargo and over the Dargo and Howitt High Plains before reaching the historic Wonnangatta Valley. There are historic huts and secluded campsites all along the route (see parks.vic.gov.au).
For camping where the access is a little simpler, but the river frontage no less spectacular, try Sheepyard Flat beside the Howqua River that runs beneath Mount Buller’s eastern slopes. And for something with a difference, Alpine Nature Experience has a camp near Mount Hotham with tents suspended from trees or wooden frames (see summer.alpinenatureexperience.com.au).
TAKE A HIKE
The highest point in Australia: the summit of Mount Kosciuszko.
Two of the best trailheads for people to get out there on foot are at Thredbo and Guthega in NSW. The advantage of Thredbo, if you’re not too proud to take the shortcut, is the availability year round of the Kosciuszko Express chairlift (from $49 for a return ride) which takes care of 560 vertical metres of climbing to get you into the mountains. From the top, there’s a well made, family-friendly trail that leads to Australia’s summit – Mount Kosciuszko at 2228 metres. The return trip of 13 kilometres takes four to six hours (see thredbo.com.au).
Over at Guthega, the nine kilometre Guthega to Charlotte Pass walk is part one of the multi-day Snowies Alpine Walk (it’ll eventually link those two areas as well as Perisher and Lake Crackenback), passing over creeks and gullies, alpine heathland and snow gum forests to peaks with big views (see nationalparks.nsw.gov.au).
One of Victoria’s finest is the three-day, 37 kilometre Falls to Hotham Alpine Crossing with camps near historic cattlemen’s huts and a trail that traverses the Alpine National Park between the two areas. Bookings are mandatory for that one (see parks.vic.gov.au).
CAST A LINE
Fly fishing at Thredbo.
The Australian mountains offer some of the world’s best fishing for wild trout and while it may seem prohibitively technical and artful, fly fishing is quite simple to learn in the hands of a guide – in a few hours they can make the complex task of spooling out the line and casting the fly to a place you want it to go a very simple proposition. And even though its a sport dominated by men, they’ll tell you that for whatever reasons, women are far better at adopting the necessary technique.
At Thredbo, Clearwater Guides (clearwaterflyfishingguides.com.au) run the local guiding service for the Thredbo River and other waters nearby.
In Victoria, Riverdowns (riverdowns.net.au) offers guided fishing on rivers like the Howqua near Mount Buller with two hour, half day and full day sessions. Fishing licences are required (see service.nsw.gov.au or service.vic.gov.au).
RIDE HIGH
While the mountain bikers have the downhill trails to keep themselves busy, the road cyclists have all the climbing they could wish for. Victoria’s Seven Peaks ride, compromised by the closure of the road to Falls Creek, is still accessible with all the state’s remaining alpine resorts – Lake Mountain, Dinner Plain and Mounts Hotham, Buller, Buffalo and Hotham, Baw Baw in play. When fully open, the ride covers 160 kilometres with more than 7000 metres of ascents (see ridehighcountry.com.au/7-peaks).
Pre-pandemic, Jindabyne and the Snowy Mountains proved their worth as hosts of L’Etape Australia, a local version of the Tour de France which the organiser of that event, Christian Prudhomme described as “having all the necessary ingredients to provide riders with a true Tour de France challenge.”
Classic rides in the Snowies include an 85 kilometre Dalgety Loop, the 62 kilometre Eucumbene Dam trail, and the 80 kilometre ride from Jindabyne to Charlotte Pass, with views to Mount Kosciuszko the reward at the top of the road (see visitnsw.com).
HIT THE ROAD
Without the pain of carrying chains for winter driving on snow and ice, there’s some sublime motoring to be had in the mountains. Two favourites are the Alpine Way in New South Wales and the Great Alpine Road in Victoria.
The latter can be picked up anywhere from Wangaratta to Myrtleford on the Victorian side and heads up Mount Hotham, through alpine ash and snow gum forests to ride the ridges with views back down the alpine valleys one way and into Gippsland the other. The road runs through Omeo all the way to Bairnsdale, but you can also loop back through Omeo to Falls Creek, given its access from Mount Beauty is currently closed (see visitvictoria.com).
The Alpine Way starts just out of Jindabyne and runs through to Khancoban, with stops along the way to see Lake Crackenback and Thredbo villages, past Tom Groggin Station (there, you’re actually looking into Victoria), the river flats at Geehi and even some of the Snowy Scheme’s hydro stations (see visitnsw.com).
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