I mainly resort ski at Hotham but my mother in-law lives near Baw Baw now, what’s it like up there I have never been and have no idea what the terrain, lifts, or type of skiing goes on there. would like to find out though if conditions are good
It’s a small, fun place for beginners and kids when the snow is good. It is nothing like Hotham, Falls or Buller and doesn’t pretend to be.
It's small and mostly beginner terrain, but why not give it a try. Skiing imho is about a lot more than adrenalin. Long long ago as a very low intermediate (circa 1975) at baw baw i finally learnt to side slip properly. I decided to try maltese cross and soon realised i was out of my depth. I'd never really got the hang of side slipping but i was proficient by the time i got to the bottom
Good for tobogganing, snow play, beginners, chookfootters and Nordic touring. Chill vibe and a steep road approach in the last section.
It's a low key, small mountain with short runs, fun for beginners and lowish intermediates, as people have described above, with touring options onto the plateau. As curra relates, Maltese can be exciting, depending on conditions. All lifts are pomas and T bars, so not really boarder friendly (but some still go). Suggest you wait until Maltese and summit T-bars are running (not yet as of this morning's msg) or terrain will be very limited. But it's close by, so worth a look. P.S. I take my free heel skis up there, so it's a little more of a challenge and can get out of the resort for a change of pace/scenery.
Sounds like a good low key fun day trip to me. Might be a good one to try and introduce the wife to the sport without having the trek and steep terrain of Hotham to contend with. Not sure about t bars or Pommas as first time lifts though haha that’ll probably make her cross! What are the fees to get in and park and use lifts?
My kids and started at Baw Baw. The platters were easy for them on skis, be harder on a board though. Lift passes and lessons much cheaper and far less crowded to learn than the major resorts.
$58 park entry. Tickets are $35 on Wednesdays, $55 midweek and $80 on weekends I think. Might be $60 weekends at the moment with the limited terrain. And summit t-bar was opened today too. Maltese cross is the one you really want running though for the best terrain there.
I learnt how to ski at Baw Baw in 1984 with my siblings and my husband. We were in our early 20’s. Fun times. Great memories. The platter lifts are very user friendly. The T bars for a beginner were terrifying. My sister and I would hang on like grim death, threatening each other not to bring the other down, and screaming loud and hysterically if the pair up ahead fell. “GET OUT THE WAAAAYYYY!” we would shout, fearful they would take us out too. If you’ve never been there it’s worth a look for a fun day. Be warned though, the drive up for a passenger is vomit inducing.
Which direction are you coming from @Young Angus? If you're willing to share a car pool with a 4 year old I might be up for a trip at some point.
@Young Angus, you absolutely have to ski Baw Baw at some point. We've only got 4 downhill resorts in VIC, and there's something about Baw Baw that's awesome, it's not the slopes, snow, or the village, but there's a Gippsland vibe that is only there at Baw Baw. Oh, and don't take the tourist road, South Face road is much better. (My avatar is my then 4 year old son at Baw Baw, skis on for the first time with 30cm fresh snow just before season opened 2015, absolute magic - we had the mountain to ourselves).
That all sounds so great, and something we definitely have to try and a must for trying to introduce my wife to skiing and get her interested. I love the fact it’s a little lower key than the big ones. I think if we were going up we’d be coming from Warragul, my wife and I live in Ocean Grove but her mum is in Warragul so we’d visit and just head up for a day. I love the fact it’s a mountain that is so close to her mum’s place, even if it is a little smaller, I’m up for something with a slightly different vibe for sure. No such thing as a bad day on the hill...any hill!
As above, "south face road" awesome little hill, nothing like Hotham, only add on is the view on a clear day overlooking Gippsland to bass strait is a bit distracting
Car pooling for hours in close proximity and talking ( more breath output when talking) and physical distancing don't compute. A decent surgical mask is good for about 20 minutes. When it gets moist it stops being effective. Now as for Baw Baw, Champagne run and the Maltese run run off the Maltese T-Bar. They are short and the T-Bar is slow but I can enjoy them for a couple of hours. Like an easy blue unless very icy or with a few bare patches. Took my kids there for a couple of years to get them re-accustomed to downhilling before going to bigger hills and their first couple of lessons were at Baw Baw. Before that I'd be visiting on an xc touring day from Mt St Gwinear to Bawbs and back again. LOTS of snowplayers - maybe not this year - it seems to be where most of the marketting budget has gone the last two years with other ads on other language radio stations. I think that push improved the food offering at a the couple of venues that serve food as they moved to cater for the new market segment. South Face road (drive through Erica where tere is decent xc ski gear to hire ten turn off onto the South Face Road. It is dirt and can get muddy but it is much better for avoiding becoming a vomit comet car. The other way is very slow and very winding. The access road from the ticket booth up to the car parks is VERY steep and expect to be fitting chains when there is just a bit of slush on the road. Can be frustrating but too many cars and mini buses with novice visitors get into trouble on the access road. As mentioned before Wednesday can be cheap for a lift pass so try to go then. Try not to go on weekends when it i crazy busy with snowplayers and lift tickets are expensive for what you get. Good luck getting there this season. Maybe we can travel out of Melbourne in September.
At Bawbs, you can: See the sea from the resort, therefore Surf and ski on the same day Ski to another “resort” (if you can call it that) Aparrently, pat a dingo Admittedly dot pt 3 applies to Hotham but How many other ski fields offer this?
I do ike to go to the other "resort" and ski from it to Baw Baw and back (and no "resort" entry fee at MSG is nice) but I certainly wouldn't call it a resort. It does sometimes has a donut van, maybe that elevates it to a resort under a loose definition. Somwhere else for @Young Angus to go if he wants a low cost outing and can go uphill on his favoured sliding device.
yup cheap 'wicked' Wednesdays, and the S face road, on a perfect August day is the go for bumming off school with the kids.
I XC skied for free out of season in October and Nov. in 2019 at BB on the XC trails. Mt. St. Gwinear offers XC access to BB village. I have stayed at BB in green season and done some walking there. I am a member of the friends of Baw Baw. The whole area is lovely .
For the downhiller, BB needs a unusual attitude in bounds. There is no vertical to waste. Work on efficient turning. "I will turn without slowing" is the motto. Gets you in...
That was my plan to work on my turns on Wed. in August at BB but it will most likely be more realistically possible in August 2021.
These days it is best to say wagging school or playing truant / having a sickie etc. and keep bumming and kids out of the same sentence if possible.
