Smiggin Hotel & Apartment
- Rating: 3.5 Star
- Location: Ski In / Ski Out / Slopeside
- Room Type: Hotel: Condominium / Apartment; Hotel Room: Studio: 1 Bedroom; 2 Bedroom
Australia’s largest ski resort, Perisher Blue spans an impressive 3,076 acres (1,245ha) and offers thousands of acres of open, cruisy, fun, family friendly terrain with 47 lifts whisking skiers across it’s seven peaks.
In terms of vertical, the longest continuous vertical drop you’ll find at Perisher is on the Ridge Chair at Blue Cow at 355 meters (1,165 ft), which offers up some fantastic challenging terrain, and it can be a leg burner after a couple of laps.
Heading around the resort, Mount Perisher has some adventurous skiing top to bottom, riding Australia’s highest chairlift, along Fall Line, Side Winder and skiers right on Shifty’s. Along the front valley, there are endless options or where you can ride plus there are seven terrain parks across the resort including Australia’s only 18’ super pipe.
Skiing over to Guthega you are in for a real treat, as the treelined skiing and riding is always fantastic after a snow fall, plus it picks up the early morning sunshine so it’s always a local’s favourite at the start, middle and at the end of the day. The grooming on Guthega is as good as you’ll find anywhere in Australia. One of the keys to having a great time when riding Perisher is to enjoy all the various terrain changes across this vast ski area, by picking your lines and skiing each of the seven peaks.
There are countless places to eat at the resort, and you can stay up in the Perisher Village in hotels, apartments or lodges or you can stay in the town of Jindabyne a 30-minute drive away, or you can choose to drive to Bullocks Flat and catch the Ski Tube.
Accommodation, Lodging & Hotels
Matterhorn Lodge
- Rating: 3 Star
- Location: Less than 5 min walk to lift
- Room Type: Hotel; Room sleeps up to 6
The Man From Snowy River
- Rating: 3 Star
- Location: Less than 5 min walk to lift
- Room Type: Hotel: Hotel Room
Resort Statistics
| Skiable Terrain | 3,080 acres (1,245 hectares) |
| Vertical | 355 m (1164 ft) |
| Top Elevation | 2,054 m (6,739 ft) |
| Base Elevation | 1,720 m (5,640 ft) |
| Average Snowfall | 190 cm (75 in /6ft) |
| Intermediate Terrain | 60% |
| Advanced Terrain | 18% |
| Parks | 5 |
| Pipes | 1 |
| Winter lifts Total | 47 |
| Chair Lifts | 13 |
| Surface Lifts | 34 |
| Lift Capacity | 53,990 |
| Longest Run | 4 km (2.5 mi) |
| Nordic Cross Country | 100 km |
| Snowmaking | 31.95 ac (53.4 hectares) |
| Season Opens | June |
| Season Closes | October |
How To Get There
Driving To Perisher
If you’re driving from Sydney its around a six hour drive, if you are driving from Melbourne it’s around a (non stop!) seven hour drive. If driving from Canberra its a three hour drive.
If you’re driving to Perisher from Jindabyne, where there are accommodation options, it’s a half hour drive in good weather; keep in mind that you’re legally required to carry properly fitting chains in any vehicle other than 4WD’s within the National Park.
Flying to Canberra
Canberra is within a two hour flight from Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Flying to Cooma
Regional Express (Rex), in partnership with Snowy Mountains Airport Corporation Pty Ltd (SMAC), has launched Regular Public Transport (RPT) services between Sydney and the Snowy Mountains (Cooma)
Transport While You’re At Perisher
Skitube – Alpine Railway
Perisher’s Skitube is a Swiss designed rack-rail train that takes passengers from Bullocks Flat Terminal on the Alpine Way through a tunnel in the Ramshead Range to the Perisher Resort.
The first stop is the underground station at Perisher Valley and then continues on to Blue Cow through another tunnel through the Perisher Range. The drive from Jindabyne to Bullocks Flat is around thirty minutes.
Photo Credit: © IMAGES SUPPLIED COURTESY OF PERISHER SKI RESORT