The view from the top of Mount Hotham

Mount Hotham (including Mt Hotham Alpine Resort and Dinner Plains)
Popular destination on the Victorian snowfields.
Known as "the Giant", Mount Hotham (1862 metres), in the heart of the Bogong National Park, is 373 km north-east of Melbourne. In the winter months it has a reliable snow cover and consequently is highly regarded by the skiing fraternity who claim it has both excellent powder snow and high-quality downhill skiing slopes. At 1840 metres, the resort is the most elevated in Australia. It is also unusual in that the village (which is 1740 metres above sea level) is located at the top of the forty or so ski runs, which are serviced by nine ski lifts.

Coach services to Mount Hotham operate from Wangaratta, Wodonga and Harrietville. The summit is 1 km from Alpine Road and provides splendid views of Mount Feathertop, the surrounding countryside and the Ovens, Kiewa, Bundara, Cobungra, Victoria, Little Dargo, Wongungurra and Buckland Rivers which branch out in all directions. A cairn and a weather vane honour E.J. Gravbrot who introduced winter sports to Victoria. Mount Hotham caters to inexperienced, intermediate and advanced skiers. Cross-country tracks can be found on Wire Plain and Whisky Flat, with longer trails stretching to Mount Loch and beyond to Falls Creek.

Red poles mark the sides of the roads near Mount Hotham

The European history of the mountain begins in 1854 when Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller became the first European to explore its slopes. He named it after Governor Hotham. European settlement of the area began soon after when several women set up cabins and shanties to house miners in transit between the Dargo, Omeo and Ovens goldfields. 'Mother' Morwell, for example, established a log cabin near Mount St Bernard (1524 metres) and shanties near Freezeout and Freeburg. Mother Johnson Flat, 7 km from Mount Hotham village, is named after a woman who once ran a wine shanty there. Legend has it that, because the St Bernard hospice, built in 1884, was only 3.5 metres high, the mailman occasionally fell down the chimney while searching through very heavy snowfall for the building. Unfortunately it was burned down by a summer bushfire in 1939.

In 1874 640 hectares around Mount Hotham were set aside for public usage. The Petersen brothers made the first recorded ski crossing of the Victorian alps. The public was encouraged to regard the area as a holiday spot by the decision, in the 1910s, of some public figures - such as then governor, Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael, his wife and other prestigious figures - to ski at St Bernard. The Norwegian consul, Hans Fay, and a friend, made the first ski trip across the Razorback from St Bernard to Mount Feathertop in 1912. In the early 1940s Eric Johnson solved the uncertainty which skiers faced trying to lug their gear to Mount Hotham when he began a long-running service carting stores and skiers' packs to Mount Hotham via the Bon Accord Spur on a sled pulled by a horse on snowshoes while the skiers walked. So difficult could the roads be in winter time that no wheeled vehicle is said to have passed through the area until 1883.

Things to see:  

Big D near the ski lift at Mount Hotham

Bushwalking
In summer, when the grassy plains above the tree line of mountain ash and snow gum are adorned with wildflowers, the mountain's walking tracks are popular with bushwalkers, particularly the trek across the Razorback to Mount Feathertop. The Alpine walking track cuts through the village on its passage northwards. Others lead to the Noggerheads, the Red Robin Mine and Mount Fainter. The Mountain Pygmy Possum, thought to have been extinct until its rediscovery in 1966, inhabits the area. This nocturnal animal is unique among marsupials due to its habit of storing food and hibernating. There are a number of brochures available. Contact the offices of Parks Victoria and Natural Resources & Environment at 46 Bakers Gully Rd, Bright for more information. Tel: (03) 5755 1577.

Wildtrek Winter Classic Endurathon
Each July, the Wildtrek Winter Classic Endurathon attracts hundreds of competitors. The 135-km course incorporates cycling on icy roads, plunging through snow and freezing rivers, skiing on obscure alpine tracks and canoeing through turbulent rapids in icy rivers, winding around Mount Hotham, Omeo and the Dinner Plains, the latter being named by bullock drivers who found the level, well-drained surface an appropriate site for setting up camp.

Dinner Plains
Dinner Plains is 11 km south-east of Hotham Heights. Each week of the ski season, a 3-km race is held through the village at twilight. The Dinner Plains Resort was designed as a total Australian concept, inspired by the early cattlemen's huts and built of Australian materials. Dinner Plain Central Reservations can be contacted on (1800) 670 019. Wildflowers House offers 'boutique accommodation' all year round, tel: (03) 5159 6400.

Horseriding is available from Dinner Plain Trail Rides, tel: (03) 5159 6445. Summer Alpine Walks can be contacted on (03) 5159 6556.

	Hotels
	Snowbird Inn Hotel Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 9525 5777 or (03) 5759 3503 Rating: **
	Resorts
	Dinner Plain Resort P.O. Box 48 Dinner Plain Mount Hotham VIC 3898 Telephone: (03) 5159 6451 Facsimile: (03) 5159 6515
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Zirkys Lodge Guesthouse Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3518 or (03) 9816 3762 Rating: ****
	Apartments
	Alpine Haven Holiday Apartments Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3522 Rating: ***
	Arlberg Hotham Apartments Great Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5986 8200 or (03) 5759 3618 Email: arlberg@satlink.com.au Rating: ***
	Fountains Holiday Apartments Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3522 Rating: ***
	Hotham 1750 Holiday Apartments Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3522 Rating: ***
	Lawlers Apartments Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3606 Rating: ***
	Razorback Holiday Apartments Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3522 Rating: ***
	Lodges & Chalets
	Hoys Hotham Chalet Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 2622
	Jack Frost Alpine Lodge Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5755 1467 or (03) 5759 3586 Rating: **
	Restaurants
	B J's Restaurant Fountain Lodge Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3585
	Fountains Bar & Restaurant Alpine Way Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3400
	Isobar Diner Great Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3066
	Last Run Bar Lawlers Crt Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3633
	Swindlers Balcony Bar & Restaurant Great Alpine Rd Mount Hotham VIC 3741 Telephone: (03) 5759 3691