Two things can be true at once.
A family ski holiday is a privilege: a rare opportunity for uninterrupted quality time, a chance to enjoy the stunning ski slopes we’re lucky to have in this country, a barrel of laughs alongside those après Glühweins and hot chips…
And it can also be very, very stressful.
The logistics of organising it all? The packing, and transporting, of the stuff everyone needs? The cost to get everyone those hot chips? The coaxing into ski boots? And all to end up surrounded by children that are totally ungrateful to be on a holiday that probably cost more than a year’s worth of their schooling?
It’s a recipe for serious burnout, particularly for women who often take on the brunt of the planning and packing and convincing little ones to eat a vegetable even just once while on holiday.
I was no different upon arrival at Charlotte Pass this winter: bloody wrecked from the demands that come with life, ready to climb into a snow drift somewhere and lie very still in the hope that no one would shout at me to sing them a Wiggles song, then shout even more for actually singing it.
Thank goodness Charlotte Pass, the best-kept secret in New South Wales, is what burned-out-people’s dreams are made of. This is exactly why.
Nothing to overstimulate you – and I mean nothing
Is anyone else triggered by traffic and crowds and just, you know, all the things? Me too. Which is why the Charlotte Pass tagline of “No cars. No crowds.” was so appealing and ended up being very much the truth.
This is Australia’s only totally snowbound resort in the winter, which makes getting there all the more unique. You board an oversnow vehicle from Perisher’s ski tube terminal (a big snowcat with comfy seating and attached luggage storage) and ride the 30 minutes to get to Charlotte’s, which is much more straightforward than it sounds and feels like an adventure rather than just another mode of transport.
The result is a cosy, safe village with nothing but snowcat and snowmobile traffic. It also has the serious perk of limiting skier numbers: I didn’t stand in a single lift line while there (and I visited over a weekend!). Or share any of the runs with any more than two other people at any given time.
I got so much time and space to soak in the slopes, and the quiet that comes with being deep in national parkland surrounded by those glorious Aussie ski resort trees, and the stunningly beautiful views over the back of the triple-seater chairlift, which give you a direct view over to Mt Kosciusko and surroundings.
While the trail map at Charlotte Pass is small, this too has its perks: specifically for the families who come here year after year. The runs are all spread out across one big bowl and funnel you directly back to the village.
There’s nowhere you can really get lost or separated from your group, which makes it an ideal place to come with kids who are confident skiers and just want to do lap after lap: I saw many parents enjoying a tipple in the bar and watching their kids on the slopes, occasionally going out to check in on whether they were still having fun (and the answer was always yes).
Convenience factor 2000
Is there anything better than arriving at a hotel and just… settling in? We were staying in the all-inclusive Kosciuszko Chalet Hotel, which is not only ski-in, ski-out, but has everything you need thrown into your nightly stay rate.
This includes your oversnow transport, a guaranteed daily lift pass, a nightly three-course meal in the high-end restaurant, daily breakfast, and access to the ‘Frosty’s Corner’ kids club, where you can drop the kiddies off for three separate sessions per day. Their dinnertime session runs until a seriously impressive hour of 9pm, so you can eat your boujee three-course dinner in peace. Think wagyu rump, or sashimi, or kangaroo tartare, with a cheese board for dessert.
The hotel is about a one-minute walk to the rentals shop, which also happens to be where you book in for lessons or sort anything else you need with Guest Services. Just beyond that is the lift, making it wildly convenient for those who are swapping out laps with their partner, just heading out for a couple of runs, or if you need to pop back in to your room to add another layer or have a quick drink.
A stay at the chalet hotel, referred to as the Grand Old Lady of the Mountains, is a story in itself. It was the first commercial establishment to be built in the NSW ski fields and initially attracted crowds of people who believed that the altitude would cure them of various ailments.
Having burned down in 1938, it was rebuilt in 1939, and is now an 86-year-old building with an old-world experience is second to nothing else you’ll have at an Australian ski field.
And if a stay there isn’t quite your cup of tea, there are several other lodges and hotels to choose from, at every price point and preference. All of which are in easy walking (or skiing, or stumbling) distance from each other to grab a drink or even enjoy a meal at places like China King on-mountain, which is randomly Australia’s highest Chinese restaurant.
It’s almost like a cult, the type you really want to join
Charlotte Pass is a teeny-tiny village, the sort you can walk through in five minutes from one end to the other. And only one thousand skiers can be here at any one time: 800 in the on-mountain beds, and a further 200 that can visit for the day via the oversnow transport.
This means you see the same people over and over again. On the chairlift, at the line for burgers at lunchtime, in the bar throughout the evening. But everyone is so incredibly friendly that it becomes a wonderful thing.
This isn’t a ski resort with ego or a better-than-thou attitude; no one’s looking down on you for not having the best gear or the best technique.
Everyone just wants to yap about where you’ve come in from, and oh isn’t it so good that there’s a new chairlift going in next season, and how did you go on your runs today, and wow you did FIFTY EIGHT in one day? (True story – I met a man on the T-bar who had managed 58 of Charlotte Pass’ beautiful runs in one ski day.)
On our last night in resort, a lady walked past me at dinner wearing fancy dress and we asked her where she was going.
“It’s someone’s birthday in the bar,” she said cheerily. “I don’t know whose. But I’m dressed up and ready to celebrate!”
So whether you need a serious dose of small-town kindness, about twenty-seven new friends, or to host your birthday party somewhere where people will come to celebrate you without even knowing your name, this is where you need to be.
All-round bliss
Burnout be gone. This is a place where you can wake up and look out your hotel room window to check out the grooming, or see if the lift is already turning, making it easy to plan your day and take it hour by hour, going by mood and what everyone’s feeling.
You can take it as easy as you like: sit out with all the people on Adirondack chairs with a drink in hand, sit by the fireplace in your hotel, go for a massage at the on-mountain spa. Or adventure as much as you like, even beyond the chairlift, with groomer tours and snowshoe tours also on offer.
All while the kids are in their element in ski school or at kids club, smashing out night skiing laps, taking part in kids flare runs and race days and dinners together.
The real world will still await on the other end, but in this little slice of ski paradise, it feels oh-so-blissfully far away.
