Snow banked up to the balconies of a lodge and a car buried to its windows: winter 2014 gave Falls Creek, in the Victorian Alps, the kind of scenes Australian skiers dream about. The season opened in late June with fresh snow falling, and the snow kept building through the winter.
The 2014 snow season at Falls Creek
Falls Creek opened for the 2014 season around 25 June, with snow falling through opening day and more lifts, including the Sun Valley chairlifts, starting in the following days. Local reports were already calling it the best school-holiday skiing in years.
Natural snow is never guaranteed in the Australian Alps, which is why Falls Creek relies on snowmaking early in the season, fed by water from Rocky Valley Lake. In a winter like 2014, storms build a deep natural base that covers the terrain between groomed runs and frosts the snow gums.
Falls Creek at a glance
Falls Creek sits inside the Alpine National Park in north-east Victoria, spread over slopes from about 1,500 m to 1,830 m.
- Elevation: the village is at 1,600 m, the highest lifted point at 1,780 m, and Mount McKay, reached by snowcat, rises to 1,842 m.
- Lifts: 16, with capacity for about 28,000 skiers an hour.
- Runs: more than 76, split roughly 17% beginner, 60% intermediate and 23% advanced.
- Longest runs: Wishing Well (3 km, advanced) and Wombats Ramble (2.2 km, beginner).
Cross-country skiing and the Kangaroo Hoppet
Falls Creek is a major cross-country centre too. Its 65 km of groomed trails spread across the high plains, with the 21 km Rocky Valley Dam Loop the longest. On the last Saturday of August, the resort hosts the Kangaroo Hoppet, Australia's round of the Worldloppet series of international ski marathons.
In summer the same high country is walking territory. The Falls to Hotham Alpine Crossing, a 37 km, three-day hike, starts here.
A short history
Skiing at Falls Creek grew out of the Kiewa hydro-electric scheme. Workers built the first ski lodge in 1948, a rope tow followed in 1951, and in 1957 Falls Creek installed Australia's first chairlift. Cattle grazing on the surrounding high plains, a tradition dating from 1851, ended in 2005. In 2019 Vail Resorts bought the resort.
Getting to Falls Creek
Falls Creek is about 350 km by road from Melbourne. The last town on the way up is Mount Beauty, roughly 30 km below the resort. Carry snow chains for the mountain road in winter and check road conditions before you leave.
For more travel ideas, read our cold-city guide or browse the ski-trip shortlist framework.
Related reading
- Ten Australian Travel Ideas: Choose a Region, Then Give It Time
- Lake Hillier: The Landscape Behind the Pink-Lake Photograph
Sources
- Wikipedia: Falls Creek, Victoria
- World Snowboard Guide: Falls Creek 2014 season opening
- Photographs: Falls Creek Alpine Resort
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