Christmas Hills: The main Dinner Plain trail passes the Christmas Hills area about 1.5 km from the village and just opposite the main Slaty cutting car park. It is an area well covered with trails and has lots of nice sheltered bowls for playing around with the family.

Wire Plain and the Biathlon area: This is a great area for beginners, has well groomed trails and is sheltered from the weather. There are a number of trail loops which are designed for biathlon (skiing and shooting) competition and training. Its safe as the shooting range is well off the trails and provides some interesting viewing if a competition is on. It is a nice area to ski around and is easily accessed by the village bus or by a 2- 3 km ski from the village.

Mt Loch and beyond: Take the bus to the Loch car park (every hour). Great skiing is available towards Mt Loch and beyond. Beware of the weather however, as this area is isolated.  Remember your map and compass and survival kit.  Skiing around the base of  Mt Loch provides access to Derrick Hut, Swindlers Spur, and Spargo's Hut.  For the fitter and more adventurous, you can get down to Dibbins Hut but you need good snow cover.  Beyond Mt Loch to the north lies Machinery Spur and the track down to Red Robin Mine (and Kiewa Valley).  The sides of Mt Loch can be icy, so match your skiing ability with the snow conditions.

JB Plain: To the south east of Hotham, near Dinner Plain. JB Plain is skiable in good conditions with views to Mt Tabletop. Mt Tabletop is also a good summer walk.

Boiler Plain: Access is from the bottom of Paw Paw Plain. A good summer walk and easy to follow in summer. A bit of challenge in winter but good if you are a strong cross country skier.

Aqueduct trail: The Aqueduct trail starts near the bottom of Blue Ribbon and goes to the Brandy Creek mine. Another good summer walk.

Hotham summit and beyond: The real summit of Mt Hotham is the fire tower about 1 km to the south past the top of the summit run. Great views across the razorback and to Feathertop. There are some good bowls to the south of here and you can ski south west down the ridge to meet the road at either the Diamentina shelter near the Razorback or further down. Don’t forget you need a car shuffle or someone to pick up if you don’t want to ski back up the ridge. Beware of the weather however as this area is isolated and not a good place to get lost.

The Razorback and Mt Feathertop: The Razorback is great skiing if the snow is good. If its icy stay away. The Big Dipper (a big dip in the ridge about 2 km from the road) might need a bit of traversing for the less confident but when the snow is good its worth getting past it as the next few kilometers along the ridge is beautiful skiing. Best on a sunny day with good snow (like all skiing!).

If you continue on you will eventually get to Mt Feathertop. It is 14 km one way from the Hotham road to Mt Feathertop so its a long hard ski for a day. Only suitable for fit, experienced skiers who start early and are well prepared. The ridge up Mt Feathertop must be treated with caution as is usually has a large cornice and a crevasse often forms behind the edge. Be very careful as a number of people have fallen to their death off this cornice.

Downhill skiing and snowboarding

There are lots of good brochures on downhill skiing at Mt Hotham available from travel bureaus etc. so we haven't repeated too much here. Here are some brief notes on the new lifts and runs constructed in 1997 and some of the old favourites.

Gotcha lift: This is principally an access lift to the Mary's Slide, Keoghs and the Orchard areas. It provides access to some extreme skiing (black diamond and double black diamond runs) in the Mary's Slide area and to the intermediate runs around Keoghs and the Orchard. It has also opeed up considerable area of beginner to intermediate skiing on the ridge leading up to the Charles Derrick memorial cairn.