Snowlines: Aussie ski resorts give us the big 'come on over'

Australian alpine resorts, celebrating a record snow season, continue to push for New Zealanders to cross the Tasman to the snow.

Mt Hotham, with its new commuter airport and associate resort of Falls Creek, is the prime attraction but the neighbouring Victorian field of Mt Buffalo is crowing for Kiwi custom too.

Buffalo, 70km north of Hotham on the Great Alpine Rd, is promoting a family holiday package, which includes grandparents, for the school holidays next month.

Mt Buffalo Chalet's special family programme starts on September 8 and runs until the end of the holiday period.

As well, guests at the chalet ski free during September. And to make sure no visitors miss the Olympic action, an Olympics lounge with a large television screen and a continuous supply of snacks and beverages has been set up for the Games period.

Because of the Olympics, daylight saving starts at the end of the month, which means longer days to enjoy the snow and Mt Buffalo National Park.

The packages start from $A342 a person, share twin, for three nights and include all meals. Children's prices range from $A33 to $A186 for three nights, depending on age, and include a three-course dinner and cooked breakfast.

Mt Buffalo can be reached from Melbourne, Albury-Wodonga and the Hotham airport.

Contact: (0061) 800 037 038.

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Skiers and boarders looking for a back-country option can do it in style with the Kat skiing at Falls Creek's Mt McKay in Victoria. A refitted Kassbohrer 200 heated snowgroomer takes 18 minutes to take skiers from the top of Ruined Castle quad chairlift to the top of Rocky Knolls for lead-up runs before hitting Mt McKay proper.

Guide John Sereni says the mixture of runs can be tailored to suit each group where a combination of steep and deep along with less daunting skiing can be arranged.

It costs $A59 and runs two three-hour sessions each day from 9 am and 1 pm.

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Ski and snowboard lessons at the Whakapapa skifield have been customised - literally.

The new director of the ski school, Chris Lo Bosco, has got rid of those group lessons where you can stand around waiting and freezing until the lowest common denominator in your group gets the hang of it.

Lo Bosco, who was a supervisor at Whakapapa last year, has introduced custom lessons, which tend to be halfway between traditional group lessons and private lessons.

A lesson for two people for one-and-a-quarter hours is $50 in total. By contrast, a traditional private lesson costs $62 an hour.

Another Lo Bosco innovation is that all ski lessons must be pre-booked, even if it is only half an hour before the bell rings.

The change means that instead of a mad scramble of up to 200 learners, the ski school can get groups into some sort of order and arrange sufficient instructors.

Lo Bosco, who hails from Heavenly Valley, Lake Tahoe, is something of a rarity among ski school directors in that he is primarily a snowboarder.

The 26-year-old began skiing at the age of 6 but turned to snowboarding as a 19-year-old when he sprained an ankle and could not get his swollen foot into a regulation ski-boot.

Lo Bosco says Whakapapa presents peculiar demands for a ski school because of the large volume of first-time skiers that have to be catered for and the vagaries of the weather. It takes someone used to North Island mountain weather to put up with it, which is why Lo Boscso has tried to employ New Zealand-trained instructors.