Perisher NSW is a leading Australian ski resort with plenty of bells and whistles. By Australian standards, Perisher Ski Resort is mega, with the largest skiable terrain and the greatest numbers of lifts in Australia as well as the Southern hemisphere. Perisher Resort (formerly Perisher Blue) became so big through the amalgamation of the inter-connected ski areas and villages of Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Guthega and Blue Cow.

Now owned by Vail Resorts, Perisher Ski Resort is on the Epic Pass lift ticket system, which provides huge benefits to season pass holders who can access a raft of Vail Resorts elsewhere in the world.

Pros and Cons of Perisher Resort

Pros 

• Perisher Australia is a large resort so you won’t get déjà vu doing the same run repetitively.
• The Perisher Ski Resort terrain is incredibly well suited to intermediate riders.
• Whilst Australia isn’t known for its powder, Perisher snow quality fares better than other Aussie ski resorts thanks to aspect and altitude.
• It is a very family friendly resort and there is plenty of space for snow play.
• One of the strengths is the terrain parks, with multiple parks for differing abilities as well as a pipe.
• Perisher has extensive cross country skiing trails.

Cons

• Not steep, deep or cheap. Skiing in Australia is typically expensive by the time you add in chains, park entry fees, accommodation, and meals charged at a snow currency, but Perisher seems to be particularly costly.
• The abundance of surface lifts is handy for windy days, but the rest of the time the T-bars are just plain annoying.
• This is a tame mountain with little on offer for upper advanced and expert riders.
• Perisher Resort can get crazy busy, particularly on weekends and school holidays.
• The village at Perisher Valley isn’t really a village, as the lodges and hotels are so spread out, and there is very little happening in the evenings other than to hole up in your ski lodge.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective

• There is negligible overnight parking at Perisher Valley so most multi-day visitors have to drive to the SkiTube, wrestle their luggage onto the train, then get oversnow transport from the Perisher station to their accommodation. At least you can avoid driving in the snow and putting tyre chains on.
• If you plan to visit the Perisher Ski Resort for just a single day or a few days, the lift passes will hit the hip pocket. Thankfully the Epic lift pass provides amazing value for frequent visitors, although one downside is that it’s made Perisher busier.

Snowboard and Ski Perisher - Terrain

Perisher Ski Resort spans seven peaks, providing 1,245 skiable hectares, which to put it in perspective is about 4 times the size of Mt Buller and Mt Hotham, and 25 times bigger than Charlotte Pass and Selwyn. Much of the Perisher skiing is spread out horizontally, and like most other Australian ski hills, the continuous vertical drop is small at only 355 metres.

Perisher Resort has 47 lifts, which includes a mega 8-pack express chair lift and 3 fabulous high speed quad chairs. However in total there are only 14 chair lifts, and there are a plethora of T-bars and other surface lifts that are a bit of a drag, particularly for snowboarders.

The terrain stats are pretty indicative of Perisher Resort's offerings with 22% beginner, 60% intermediate and 18% advanced trails. Perisher has lots of groomed runs and an emphasis on blue cruisers, and a couple of the black runs may also be groomed and suitable for strong intermediate riders. Overall it’s a pretty gentle mountain, and Smiggins in particular is mellow.

You won’t find much in the way of steep (or deep) at Perisher Resort. Most black runs are over in the blink of an eye, and the ratings of the few double black runs are designed to boost your self esteem, unless of course the moguls are shoulder high. For advanced and expert skiers and snowboarders, there is a little bit of tree skiing and also access to the backcountry.

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Perisher Snow

Perisher claims to have the most reliable snow of the Australian ski resorts (which isn’t saying much). The snow is reasonably well retained because many of the slopes are southeast facing and the base elevation is relatively high. Perisher also claims to have the highest chair lift in Australia at an elevation of 2,034 metres, with “chair” being the operative word because Thredbo has a surface lift up to 2,037 metres.

Where is Perisher Australia?

Perisher is located in SE New South Wales in the Kosciuszko National Park of the Snowy Mountains. The Perisher Valley village is mostly snow-bound and there’s negligible overnight parking, so getting to and around Perisher can take a bit of effort. See the travel to Perisher page for more information on location and how to get there.

Perisher Accommodation

There isn’t that much ski-in ski-out accommodation at Perisher, and many lodgings require a walk to get to the lifts. There are various Perisher hotels and apartments, whilst the most predominant form of accommodation is ski lodges, some of which are open for public bookings (some with meal packages and others are self-catering). Most of the accommodation is very spread out across Perisher Valley, and there are also some offerings at Smiggin Holes and Guthega – see the Perisher accommodation page for more information.

Perisher Accommodation Listings

Perisher vs Thredbo

If you’re wondering if Thredbo or Perisher is better, the two NSW resorts have plenty to offer, but are somewhat different and it depends on your priorities.

Perisher Ski Resort has much more terrain, with a predominant theme of short snaking blue runs that are ideal for low to mid intermediate riders. Perisher is also better for those progressing from beginner to intermediate, and it is ideal for park rats. Thredbo skiing includes some steeper fall line long groomers ideal for strong intermediates, and more advanced terrain. Whilst Thredbo is smaller, it has more diversity of terrain and is more picturesque. Perisher has many more lifts which include a high proportion of T-bars, whereas Thredbo has less lifts, but a few are high speed and provide access to a good proportion of the terrain.

Perisher tends to be much busier, especially around Front Valley, in part due to the inexpensive Epic Pass, whereas the Thredbo season pass is very expensive (and it’s only partially accessible off the Ikon Pass). With respect to a cost comparison of Perisher and Thredbo, both are expensive with respect to on-mountain accommodation, lessons and food.

In comparing Thredbo versus Perisher with respect to the villages, Perisher doesn’t really have a village, but rather a large collection of ski lodges that are not in close proximity to each other. Most people stay in their lodge at Perisher in the evenings and it has very limited dining and drinking options outside of your lodge. Perisher sits above the snow line, so it’s ideal for the full snow experience and activities such as cross country skiing or general snow play (tobogganing is banned at Thredbo). Thredbo Village is usually not snow-covered and it’s easy to wander around to explore the shops and many restaurants and bars. It takes a lot of effort for most overnight visitors to travel to their Perisher lodge (Skitube then oversnow transport) compared to Thredbo where you can park near your door.

You can also see our Australian ski resort ratings to see how we’ve rated the two resorts on various factors.