Seeing as Tasmania is the most southerly state in Australia, it shouldn’t come as any great surprise to learn that it is the best place for snow-based activities come the winter. June, July and August make up the Australian winter. As you can see, it is the inverse of the northern hemisphere. So what can you expect in terms of snow conditions?
Firstly, there is a distinction between places where the snow settles and places where downhill skiing and snowboarding are realistic proposals. Tasmania has two of the latter which stand out as a cut above the rest: the resorts of Ben Lomond and Mount Mawson. When it comes to Hobart, Tasmania’s most populous town, don’t expect more than a light dusting during the coldest months. That said, a little more than an hour and a half by car will get you to Ben Lomond.
General snow adventures
The snowiest place in the state is generally regarded as being Liawenee, a small inland town mostly devoted to fishing in the Great Lake. This is a good place for for making snowmen and admiring the beautiful surroundings, although not so good for recreating the adrenaline buzz of the Swiss Alps as the area is fairly flat. When it comes to heavy snow and fantastic sights to enjoy on your hike, Tasmania has quite a choice. You can enjoy landscape almost untouched by civilisation as you trek around Mount Wellington, also known as Kunanyi, Mount Field National Park, The Central Highlands, The Hartz Mountains National Park and Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park. These are the same places you will definitely want to return to a couple of seasons later as they can be seen in all their summer glory.
Accommodation
Accommodation for the two main ski resorts of Ben Lomond and Mount Mawson is usually in the form of whatever you have chosen for your stay in Tasmania in the first place. Hobart, being the go-to destination, is only an hour and a half from Mount Mawson. It is a more ambitious three hours to Ben Lomond, along National Highway 1, but it is still quite common for skiers and snowboarders to do a day trip. That said, you have some other options:
Cabins, cottages and holiday homes can be found less than ten kilometres from Mount Mawson, with other lodges, hotels and chalets available within a forty-kilometre radius. Ben Lomond is set in the almost untouched mountainous terrain of a national park, so it won’t surprise you to find that there are no hotels or other accommodation options in the immediate vicinity. Venture out a little more than thirty kilometres and, beyond the park boundary, your choices include hotels, motels and cottages.
As for private homes being let out for tourists, the key word to search for is Maydena. In this place you have homes, cottages and even farm-stays with wonderful views of Mount Mawson off in the distance. In addition, Launceston is the nearer of the cities so you are pretty much spoilt for choice if that is where you are planning to stay anyway.
Package deals
A word of advice if you are planning to search online: There is a Ben Lomond in Scotland, UK, as well, so make sure that your search results are the ones in the right hemisphere before booking.
The type of package deal you can expect for Ben Lomond involves 4WD transport from the Central Business District of Launceston right up to the ski resort, along with accommodation, meals, ski hire and the rental of clothing. They tend to have a minimum number of two guests, so you can see that these package deals are generally run by small, independent firms. Shop around and you will get some real bargains.
With Mount Mawson you are far less likely to encounter that many package deals. What seems to be the case is that the average skier or snowboarder will make the drive from Hobart using their own car and be back the same day. If this is your chosen way to travel, make absolutely certain that your car is in tip-top working condition, the tank is full and you have tyre chains. You are entering a petrol-station-free zone where breakdown assistance is for emergencies only – and they charge for it.
Downhill adventures
Using your skis or snowboard for good old downhill fun is what most people want to do here when it snows. The slopes suit beginners and moderately advanced skiers, so you won’t find any of the death-defying ultra-expert runs here. There are sufficient lifts to get you to the top, some of which need additional straps which can be rented on site.
Ben Lomond has the added attraction of tobogganing, with an actual toboggan being cheaper to hire than a pair of snow boots! There is also the all-important locker hire, invaluable as the alternative would be going back and forth to the car park to get everything out of the boot. This way you don’t have to track down whoever is doing the driving so you can get your hands on the keys.
What you will appreciate most in Tasmania is that the whole downhill experience is practically unspoilt by infrastructure. There are no snow cannons, few buildings other than the occasional wooden shack that you will pass, and little to show that anybody had been there before you save for the tracks of the previous skier. As a result, you will find the ski village at the foot of the slopes to be sufficient for purpose, but not overly luxurious. There will be the chance to get yourself a steaming cup of hot chocolate, and you’ll be nice and warm while you wait for the stragglers in your group to reach the bottom of the slope before you all go up again.
Expect to find a number of cheerful, helpful, hard-working volunteers staffing the place and a laid-back, family-friendly atmosphere, something that will complement your memory of Tasmania in the snow along with the sheer beauty of this timeless wonderland.
