Dinner Plain has cemented its place as the best place to toboggan in Australia with the opening of its very own Snow Factory—meaning more snow, more often.
The Pea Shooter Toboggan Slope, located at 1,500m altitude on a protected hillside among the snow gums of Dinner Plain Alpine Village, has long been a winter favourite for families, most notably for its affordability. (There is no resort entry fee to visit Dinner Plain and a day pass to the toboggan slope costs just $10, with children under 3 free with a paying adult.) And now, with the introduction of the Snow Factory—a huge state-of-the-art snow machine capable of creating snow in all sorts of temperatures—the Pea Shooter has some of the most reliable snow in the Australian Alps.
Steve Belli, who runs Café Play and Toboggan Hire at the base of Dinner Plain’s ski slope—and who brings you the DP Snow Report each day—said the Snow Factory was off to a great start and that conditions on the toboggan run were looking good ahead of the July school holidays.
“The Snow Factory has been received well by people. They’re using the slope a fair bit,” he said.
Tobogganing aside, he said there were plenty of other great reasons families loved to visit Dinner Plain, like its free snowshoe and cross-country ski trail network, sled dog rides, and beginner ski lessons, as well as family-friendly pubs, the Onsen, and Australia’s highest moonshine distillery, Big Muster Distilling Co.
He said while accommodation bookings for the July school holidays were filling fast, there were still lovely chalets available, plus good deals to be found through August and September.
Visitors to Dinner Plain these school holidays will also be rewarded with some unexpected entertainment. The snowstorm that blanked Dinner Plain in deep snow over the June Long Weekend forced the Dinner Plain Fireworks & Snow Dance (held annually to celebrate the opening of the ski season) to be postponed. The outdoor snow dance with DJ Eddy will now kick off at the family-friendly time of 4.30pm on Saturday 12 July, with fireworks lighting up the sky at 7pm.
