Mount Buller Ski Resort has two separate sides to the mountain, with the aptly named Southern Slopes having a mostly south facing aspect, and the Northern Slopes having a very sunny aspect. Mt Buller has 300 hectares of skiable terrain, but often the whole ski resort is not open due to poor snow conditions. This is somewhat characteristic of Australian ski resorts, but particularly common at Mt Buller due to limited snowfall and the many northerly aspect slopes.

The upper parts of the Mt Buller ski area have sporadic trees, whilst further down there are plenty of alpine ash trees, which make for some lovely skiing and riding.

Mt Buller Lifts

Mount Buller Resort has the largest lift network in Victoria which is a good thing considering the lifting capacity required to manage the weekend crowds. Of the 13 chair lifts, 2 are high speed 6-packs that whisk people up from the village and service the beginner terrain. The high speed Northside quad chair transports people from the day car park to the slopes, is a sightseeing chair lift, and also services some epic runs when the snow’s good. An assortment of fixed grip chairs, surface lifts and magic carpets make up the rest of the lift fleet.

Lift Tickets

Lift tickets at Mt Buller are renowned for being incredibly expensive, but with the advent of dynamic pricing, you can make some significant savings if you buy early and head to Mt Buller at a low-demand time. Expect to pay top dollar on weekends in the main part of the season.

Teenagers up to the age of 18 are charged child prices which is a bonus.

Mt Buller is accessible off the Ikon Pass, although you can’t redeem your pass at the Horsehill ticket office, which can add a significant amount of time for day trippers.

Mt Buller Snow and Weather

Mt Buller receives only 2.4 metres of snowfall on average per season. It tends to do well compared to Hotham and Falls Creek from the southerly storms, when snow fall volumes are relatively small. Meanwhile during the NW storms that dump snow on Hotham and Falls Creek, Mt Buller usually only gets the dregs.

Mt Buller relies heavily on its good snowmaking infrastructure, and a decent proportion of the trails can be supplemented with manmade snow.

The Mt Buller skiing slopes have a variety of aspects so the snow quality can vary significantly, but this is handy when the melt-freeze cycle has set in, so that you can chase the sun around during the day to avoid icy slopes. The variety of aspects is also beneficial to find some relative shelter when the wild weather hits, and it certainly hits with full force at Buller because it’s a stand-alone peak. Low vis days are common, and the tops of the runs don’t have a lot of trees or other visual cues to aid with navigation.

Mount Buller Ski Resort doesn’t tend to do as much grooming as most of the other Australian ski resorts, which is great for those that love moguls, but not so good for retaining the snow cover.

Mt Buller Skiing for the Beginner

Mt Buller is a good place to learn how to ski or snowboard, with the proviso that it’s a weekday or the fringes of the season. The main green run, Bourke Street, was initially named because it’s a main thoroughfare, but now it’s way, way busier than the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne. It’s a really challenging place to learn to ride considering the density of the weekend crowds, and that some people think it’s OK to walk down the middle of the ski runs.

The two 6-seater chair lifts are a godsend for reducing lift queues, but the result has been to increase the skier traffic on Bourke Street and Baldy above it even further.

Another small limitation is that getting to the village can be exhausting for those new to the snow, and then beginners having a snowsports lesson have to walk up a hill to get to ski school.

Day trippers should head up the Northside Express chair where there is a novice area with 2 magic carpets. Nearby is the Burnt Hut Spur green run, which has a consistent gradient and less traffic than Bourke Street.

Intermediate Skiing Mt Buller

A significant proportion of the terrain at Mt Buller is dedicated to intermediates, although many of the runs are on the Northern Slopes, so it’s a bit hit and miss as to whether the runs will be open or have good snow. Thankfully the grooming team do a good job of rounding up every last bit of snow to pack onto the blue runs. Little Buller Spur and Wombat are nice cruisers, or head to The Summit for more pitch.

Mt Buller is a challenging mountain for strong intermediates transitioning to becoming advanced, because it’s a big leap from the blue runs to the mogulled black runs. Strong intermediates would be better placed at Mt Hotham where there are various steep groomed runs to practise carving.

Parks & Pipe

Mount Buller Ski Resort has a few terrain parks designed for different skill levels, including a half pipe.

Advanced Skiing Mt Buller - On-Piste

Mt Buller has some phenomenal terrain for advanced skiers and boarders, but it all comes down to how much snow there is and how fresh it is. Grooming of black runs is not commonplace, so for most of the runs it’s in the hands of the snow gods (and the sun gods on the Northern Slopes).

Federation is an iconic Mt Buller ski run, yet the lower parts are often bereft of snow. The Dam Run is a damn fine run on an epic powder day, and then the next day it may be showing bare earth. Some of our favourite runs are off the Grimus lift, which provides a mix of piste and off-piste lines.

Expert Ski and Snowboard Terrain

There’s not much in the way of super steep terrain in-bounds at Mt Buller. Fanny’s Finish (the first line of the Chutes) can feel rather challenging, but that’s often just due to the enormity of the moguls and the snow conditions.

Off Piste Skiing and Riding

Some of the lines between Family Run and the Wombat chair are named runs, but they feel off-piste and there are definitely plenty of great patches for exploring amongst the trees. Skiers’ left of Little Buller Spur also provides some fun skiing and riding around rocky outcrops before diving into the trees.

Sidecountry

Mt Buller has some steep challenging out-of-bounds terrain just to the skiers’ right of Fanny’s Finish and beyond the Summit Hut in The Chutes. Incredibly rocky and technical terrain, the lines are named Chute 1, Chute 2, Chute 3, then it fans out to Main Street and West Ridge. The main downside is that it’s rare that the snow cover, snow conditions and weather align to allow this terrain to be skied. Reportedly various deaths have occurred in this area due to inadequate cover on the gnarly terrain.