Visitor Information -- The Mount Beauty Visitor Information Centre, 31 Bogong High Plains Rd., Mount Beauty (tel. 03/5754 1962; www.visitalpinevictoria.com.au), has all the information you need about activities and also an accommodations service. It is open daily 9am to 5pm (except Good Friday and Christmas Day). The Falls Creek Resort Management office, Slalom Street (at Bogong High Plains Rd.), Falls Creek (tel. 03/5758 1200; www.fallscreek.com.au), also offers loads of information and is open daily 8am to 5pm during the ski season, weekdays 9am to 5pm other times.

Getting There

Getting There -- Falls Creek Coach Service (tel. 03/5754 4024; www.fallscreekcoachservice.com.au) runs buses to the ski resort from Melbourne every day during the ski season (mid-June to late Sept), departing Melbourne at 9am and arriving at Falls Creek at 3pm. The round-trip fare is A $170 for adults and A$128 for school-age children and includes the resort entrance fee. The company also runs shuttle buses to and from Albury (A$95 round- trip for adults and A$80 for kids), just over the border in New South Wales and accessible by train or air from Sydney, and between Mount Beauty and Falls Creek. Reservations are essential.

If you're driving from Melbourne, take the Hume Highway to Wangaratta, and then through Myrtleford and Mount Beauty to Falls Creek. The trip takes around 4 1/2 hours. From Sydney, take the Hume Highway to Albury-Wodonga and follow the signs to Mount Beauty and the snowfields (about 8 hr.). If you're driving yourself to Falls Creek, you are legally obliged to carry a pair of snow chains. These can be hired for a small charge from either of Mount Beauty's service stations and several ski rental stores. There is no petrol at Falls Creek, so make sure you fill up before setting out. If you arrive in the ski season, a resort worker will direct you to a car park and bring you back in a little buggy to the resort entrance, where you can take a caterpillar-tracked Oversnow taxi to your hotel. It costs A$19 one-way and A$34 round-trip for adults; A$13 one-way and A$23 round-trip for children 5 to 15. Or you could attempt the short but (probably) slippery walk yourself.

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