Ben Lomond is a day out from Launceston: half an hour on Blessington Road to the Base for gear, chains and a parks pass, then gravel and the hairpins of Jacobs Ladder up to six tows on the plateau. Out of ski season the bookings move down to Cataract Gorge, the Tamar and the Hollybank trails.
Staying in Launceston, where do you hire skis for Ben Lomond?
Launceston has no ski hire shop, so you hire on the mountain road. Ben Lomond Base, about 30 minutes out at the Blessington Road turnoff, sells skis and boards only in a bundle with a lift pass or lesson ($179 for an adult day with lifts in 2026), and it's also where you hire chains and buy the parks pass. The only hire up top is Ben Lomond Snow Sports in the alpine village, 25 to 30 minutes further on. Choose before you leave town.
What can you book around Launceston outside ski season?
Cataract Gorge has the Gorge Scenic Chairlift and its 308 m span, Penny Royal's zip lines and cliff jump, and guided climbing on the cliffs. Launceston Kayak Tours paddles the Tamar from the Seaport, Treetops at Hollybank hires mountain bikes 20 minutes out of town, and on Ben Lomond, Mountain Bike Tasmania guides a 25 km ride down Jacobs Ladder.
Hire on the mountain road
One counter is down at the start of Ben Lomond Road and the other up in the village, 25 to 30 minutes of gravel apart. Both book online, and the resort's Base is the one that hires chains.
| Shop | Adult skis with a lift pass, 1 day | Snowboard with a lift pass, 1 day | Hires | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ben Lomond Alpine Resort, Ben Lomond Base
3420 Blessington Road, Upper Blessington
|
$179 with lifts | $179 with lifts | Skis, boards, helmets, jackets, pants, snow boots, toboggans, snow chains | Book online → |
| Shop | Adult skis with a lift pass, 1 day | Snowboard with a lift pass, 1 day | Hires | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ben Lomond Snow Sports
Alpine Ski Village, at the foot of the snowplay area
|
Price shown when you book | Skis, boards, outerwear, toboggans | Book online → | |
The $179 bundles are the Base's 2026 prices, still listed on the resort's web shop at the end of October. Snow Sports only quotes hire once you pick dates in its store.
Most of it sits around Cataract Gorge and the Tamar, right in town. Hollybank's trails are 20 minutes out, and in summer Ben Lomond belongs to crack climbers and the riders coming down Jacobs Ladder.
Penny Royal runs its adventures on weekends year round, and seven days a week through summer and the school breaks.
About ten minutes across First Basin on a lift that opened in 1972. The middle span runs 308 m between towers, which the operator calls the longest single span of any chairlift in the world.
Their website →Zip lines past the waterfall, a 20 m cliff jump, rock climbing and the Cliff Walk over 14 bridges. Entry is free.
Their website →Introductory climbing and abseiling days in the Gorge, plus the Freycinet sea cliffs and longer trips.
Their website →A 50-minute run into Cataract Gorge, with the Lady Launceston going in on a silent electric drive, and Tamar Valley cruises of 2.5 hours and 4 hours out to the Batman Bridge.
Their website →Ninety minutes in Hobie pedal kayaks on kanamaluka / Tamar River, the North Esk and the Cliff Grounds on the South Esk, in singles or doubles. Electric drives are on hand for paddlers with limited mobility.
Their website →Guided fly fishing days out of Launceston and wilderness trips of 1 to 10 days, with gear supplied and a fly shop in town.
Their website →Half, three-quarter and full days for new anglers on local rivers, the highland lakes and Currawong Lakes, with pickup in Launceston.
Their website →The owner guides trout, bream and surf fishing, and King George whiting in the Tamar estuary.
Their website →Bikes are allowed on the formed road inside Ben Lomond National Park, not on walking tracks or the ski runs.
A zipline tour up to 50 m above Pipers River, tree ropes courses, a 1.5-hour Segway tour at $116, and mountain bike hire for the Hollybank trails in 2 or 4 hour blocks from age 10.
Their website →A guided 25 km ride from the alpine village down Jacobs Ladder and singletrack to the Base, dropping 1,050 m over 5 to 6 hours. Also rides at Hollybank and Trevallyn, and hardtails on weekly rates, all booked by email.
Their website →The Summit Link is a 30-minute return walk, and a 5 km track drops from the village past Carr Villa to the lower car park. The resort calls the dolerite Australia's premier crack climbing venue, and 220 plant species grow in the park, with wildflowers in summer.
Park page →Guided multi-day walking, cycling, paddling and rafting trips around the state, run from an office on Churchill Park Drive.
Their website →Bottom or top
Gear from the Base travels up the mountain with you, because the resort has no hire counter up top. Snow Sports is the one to pick if you'd rather drive up first and sort skis out in the village.
Ben Lomond Road runs unsealed from the Base to the plateau and ends on Jacobs Ladder, a string of hairpins built in 1963 to get the road onto the top. The resort calls it Tasmania's highest road.
Ben Lomond Base to the village
Allow longer when the road is icy or chains are on.
The resort counts it as an hour's drive east of Launceston and Snow Sports allows 1 hour 20. On busy days with a lesson booked, the resort says to allow up to 3 hours from leaving town.
Ben Lomond Snow Sports runs white Landcruiser troop carriers between the lower car park and the village from 8:30am to 4:30pm, with no timetable. The last run up leaves at 3pm, and on busy days you can wait 25 minutes. It returns for winter 2027.
From 1 June to 30 September chains must ride in every car, whether it's a 2WD or a 4WD, and anyone without them gets turned back. You don't need them if you park at the lower car park and ride the bus. Ben Lomond National Park →
Needed all year, bus riders included. A daily vehicle pass is $49.15 for up to 8 people, and a Holiday Pass covering every Tasmanian park for up to 2 months is $98.35. Passes bought online in winter are collected at the Base. Pass prices →
No public transport runs to Ben Lomond. Pepper Bush Adventures runs private nature days in the national park from Launceston or Scottsdale.
Ben Lomond Road is gravel, and some rental companies want extra gravel or alpine cover before you drive it. Diesel and petrol are in Launceston, Scottsdale or Fingal, all more than an hour from the top.
Launceston Airport is 58 km from the resort, about 50 minutes' flying from Melbourne and a little over an hour from Sydney. Off the Spirit of Tasmania at Devonport, the Base is 1.5 hours away.
About 3 hours up the Midland Highway, then through Evandale to Blessington Road.
Tasmania's only commercial ski resort spreads about 30 ha of runs over the plateau above 1,500 m, all served by surface tows. The season usually runs mid-June to late September, and the 2027 dates aren't out yet.
Beginners get a First Timer area of their own, and lessons meet past the Day Shelter and cafe at the bottom of the Summit and Bass lifts. Staying on after a morning lesson costs an adult $59 for the afternoon, paid at the ticket office.
Summit T-Bar and Bass Poma run 9am to 4pm. Fannies T-Bar opens at 9:30am, the Village Poma and Bills T-Bar at 10am, and the Giblin Poma from 11am to 3pm. Walkers and tobogganers can't ride them.
The resort puts it at about 40% beginner, 45% intermediate and 15% advanced. From the top of the tows to the bottom is only about 112 m of vertical.
In 2026 an adult day was $115 and an afternoon from 12:30pm $95, with 3 days at $279 and 5 at $429. Adult rates cover ages 17 to 69, and a child under 5 rides the tows free with a paying adult.
Two routes marked by snow poles, neither groomed nor patrolled: Carr Villa up to the village, steep and about 1.5 hours one way, and the 5.5 km route out to Little Hell, about 1.5 hours there and back.
Guns are towed onto the lower slopes in May and run overnight when the wet-bulb reading allows, then the snowcat spreads the pile and the guns move higher.
A First Timer area, a $130 lesson with hire, and Snow Sports teaching off the lifts.
About 112 m of vertical on surface tows, with 15% of the terrain rated advanced.
Snowmaking tops up the lower slopes, and the resort called 2026 a challenging season for snow.
An hour from a city with an airport, then chains, gravel and the hairpins.
Each mark, 1 to 5, counts the whole day, from the chain hire at the Base to the drive home to Launceston.
Two ski schools teach on the plateau, and a couple of the 25 or so village lodges let the public stay.
The resort's own school, started in 2026. Group lessons of 90 minutes are $70 for adults, a private hour is $100 a person, and the Kids General Development program runs in school holidays for ages 7 to 17. Under-18s in lessons must wear a helmet.
Their website →Group lessons from age 12 and private lessons from 6, on the learn-to-ski slope in front of the Snow Sports building, with a helmet included.
Their website →A club lodge open to the public, 160 m along Village Road with the Summit T-bar out the back door. In 2026 it took bookings from 7 April and stayed open until 30 August.
Their website →Private nature days through Ben Lomond National Park with a vineyard lunch, leaving from Launceston or Scottsdale, plus a Quoll Patrol night tour.
Their website →Coffee and a packed lunch from the Base on the way up, then dinner in town, where the outdoor crowd drinks the same beer the Base pours.
TasCaffe coffee, breakfast rolls, and wraps and toasties to take up the mountain. After skiing there's a fire pit with s'mores, mulled wine, Du Cane beer and Spreyton cider.
At the bottom of the snowplay area, with pizza, pastries and hot drinks. Dinner is for guests who book ahead.
Single malt made in a 1932 hangar at Western Junction, with the cellar door open 10am to 4pm Monday to Saturday.
Launceston's first brewpub, built with bushwalkers in mind, pouring its own beer next to woodfired pizza at 60-64 Elizabeth Street.
Ramen and shochu next door to Du Cane, in a former art deco gospel hall.
Dry-aged Tasmanian grass-fed beef in an old butcher's shop on George Street. Dinner Tuesday to Saturday.
Coffee seven days a week on St John Street, near Princes Square.
In Ritchies Mill, an 1830s flour mill at the mouth of Cataract Gorge, cooking since October 2000.
Down in the Gorge at the Cliff Grounds, where service started on Thursday 29 October 2026 and tables are taken by reservation.
Seafood beside the kayak pontoon on Seaport Boulevard, Wednesday to Sunday from 11:30am.
A deck over one of Australia's oldest slip yards on Park Street, open from breakfast coffee to dinner all year.
The Snow Sports cafe opens again in winter 2027, and the Base keeps shorter hours outside the ski season.
Before you leave Launceston
Most of this list is about the gravel road, and about how little you can buy once you're at the top.
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FAQ
Answers checked October 2026. Prices and rules change each season, so confirm with the operator before you go.
Contact UsNot in the city itself. For Ben Lomond you rent skis and boards at Ben Lomond Base, about 30 minutes out at 3420 Blessington Road, or with Ben Lomond Snow Sports up in the alpine village.
Photos: Duncan Wallace (CC BY-SA 4.0), Peripitus (CC BY-SA 3.0), Lauchlin (CC BY 1.0), Michael Coghlan (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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