NEWS
Southern Cross offers the opportunity to hear, share and experience the great news of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We welcome bookings from both members and non-members, including small groups. We provide husband/wife married couple, family, and shared male & shared female accommodation in 8 guest bedrooms. We have short devotions at breakfast and Bible discussions most evenings.
Staying at Southern Cross is a unique experience. We are a comfortable, affordable and friendly Christian lodge, right on the snow at Smiggin Holes (part of the Perisher snow resort) in Kosciuszko National Park. During much of the snow season you can ski/board in & out, maximising your time on‑snow.
Request Bookings through till October 2026
Stuart & Vanessa Herriman are managing Southern Cross catered accommodation from 27 December 2025 until at least 16 January 2026 and possibly from 02 till 15 April 2026. Also see www.southerncrossalpinelodge.au/summer-autumn. Catered accommodation may be available at other times, with self-catered accommodation otherwise available to approved small groups – ASK.
2025/26 Summer and 2026 Spring, Easter & Snow Season requests can now be submitted per www.southerncrossalpinelodge.au/booking-conditions right through till October 2026.
Our catered 2025 snow season was from Thursday 05 June till Tuesday 07 October 2025.
The June LWE free Perisher Peak Music Festival was on again, as well as the Saturday 07 June Blessing of the snow church service. The regular Sunday noon BBQ & 12:30pm church service was at the Perisher Alpine Church till end of the 2025 winter/spring snow season. For 2026 snow season booking arrangements, see www.southerncrossalpinelodge.au/booking-conditions.
Our BOOKING REQUEST FORM is our preferred method for you to submit your Southern Cross booking request(s). For more details click : Booking Procedures and Booking Conditions, vacancies,
www.southerncrossalpinelodge.au/rates-members, www.southerncrossalpinelodge.au/rates-nonmembers and www.southerncrossalpinelodge.au/rates-friends.
For details about Southern Cross Alpine Lodge membership, including in
our Preferential Booking System (PBS), see www.southerncrossalpinelodge.au/membership.
Southern Cross provides the following information & analysis for our members and guests, but does NOT warrant its accuracy and does NOT recommend any particular retail or rental outlet. You need to do your own careful research, including comparing various lift ticket etc options and prices.
2026 Epic Australia Passes – BUY BEFORE the next Price Increases
| 2026 Epic Australia Pass Current Prices | Prices are after 16 October 2025 increases | |||
| Age at 6 June 2026 | Season Pass | 4 Day Any Day | ||
| Under 5 | $0 | na | ||
| (1) | 5 to 17 | $645 | $339 | Special pricing will apply |
| (1) | 18 to 64 | $1,135 | $599 | to add extra days to |
| (2) | 65+ | $885 | $465 | 4 Day Any Day passes |
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4 Day Any Day passes appear to be more economic than consecutive 4 Day passes, and before even allowing for their extra benefits, including Northern Hemisphere 2026/27 access, Epic Australia Season Passes appear to be more economic than 5 to 7 day passes. If you plan to ski/board every day for a week, or for more than a week, or will be age 15 by your first on‑snow day, or still age 16 or 17 on 6 June 2026, or plan to ski/board Northern Hemisphere in 2026/27, then an Epic Australia Season Pass may be best for you. If you are planning a leisurely week or less, perhaps with a rest day or two, maybe an Epic Australia 4 Day Any Day Pass would work better for you AND you could also consider a Charlotte Pass Day Trip. |
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| (1) |
For Epic Australia passes, child rates apply to age 17 as at 6 June 2026, whereas child rates may only apply to age 14 (as at first day of pass) for day and other consecutive multi‑day passes. |
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| (2) | There will also be an age 70+ season pass (BUT excludes Epic Benefits) ‑ 2025 prices were $249 (or $468 incl Ski Tube). The age 70+ pass is not subject to price increase, and may be bought at any time during the season. | |||
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Before purchasing Ski Tube passes, including season pass add‑ons, we suggest that you carefully read www.southerncrossalpinelodge.au/getting-here/JindabyneToSmiggins and consider the very affordable Cooma & Jindabyne to Perisher bus service. |
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2026 Day & Multi-Day Lift Tickets, Hire and Lessons etc
2026 Day & Multi-Day Lift Tickets, Hire and Lessons etc will be published sometime early 2026. In 2025, 3 day & longer multi‑day passes included lift access from 3.00pm the day before the first full day. Purchasing 7 or more days in advance of the first full day appeared to maximise your advance purchase discount, but please do your own research. Epic pass discounts on hire & lessons is applied during the last steps in the on‑line purchasing process. Age 70+ $249 (excluding season ski tube which was $219 extra) season passes were available throughout the 2025 snow season.
For something different how about leaving a day free for a Day Trip to Charlotte Pass
www.charlottepass.com.au/discover/day-tripper were available again, BUT NEEDED TO BE BOOKED WELL AHEAD – 2025 prices were from $164 adult; $109 child; $130 senior; $20 Infant.
THERE WERE ALSO TUESDAY AND THURSDAY SPECIALS.
Rhythm Smiggins (across the car park from the Smiggins Hotel) give 10% discount for on‑line pre‑purchased ski/ board/ clothing rentals . Also see www.rhythmsnowsports.com.au/pages/rhythm-membership which gives members 10% discount on rental and retail purchases - otherwise, walk‑in discounts no longer apply. And there are many retailers in Sydney etc, Cooma, Berridale, Jindabyne and probably where you live, including Anaconda Stores and Aldi has a snow gear sale per www.aldi.com.au/special-buys/2025-05-17/ski-snow-gear. Aldi Cooma often has snow gear throughout the season, but may not have all items and all sizes.
The following was Southern Cross on Saturday 30 August 2025.
Above are Southern Cross images in recent years; below is Perisher Front Valley on 5 October 2021 – click each photo to expand
.jpg)
2026 Annual Membership Fee is $150 if paid by Friday 27 February 2026
Southern Cross Alpine Lodge members’ 2026 annual membership fees are due 1 January 2026,
and are $185 for existing members, discounted to $150 if paid by Friday 27 February 2026.
There is also a husband/wife couple discount – where a married couple are both members, then each
of their 2026 membership fees is $92.50, discounted to $75 each if both are paid by 27 February 2026.
If you attend a working wee, then your membership fee is waived the subsequent year.
The first year membership fee for new members in 2026 is $740 (or $370 each for husband/wife couples).
Pay your membership fee in conjunction with a summer or autumn catered booking and receive a $67 credit
towards that booking. Please contact us if you have any questions about membership fees.
Our last Working Bee was from Friday 25 April 2025
Thank you to everyone who achieved so much during our last working bee from Friday 25 April 2025. If you would like to volunteer for a future working bees, please contact us. Working bees are lots of fun, help us contain our costs and so also our accommodation fees. Southern Cross members who attend a working bee will also have their next year’s membership fee waived.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING was held on Saturday 24 May 2025
The last Southern Cross Alpine Lodge Annual General Meeting was on Saturday 24 May 2025. Following this meeting, Southern Cross directors are Ann Collins, Stewart Vella, Chris Hinchliffe, Jen Morrison and Brian Gaetjens. After over 42 years’ service, Graham Morrison retired from being a Director and Chair of Southern Cross, but remains an active member. The following were the documents for that meeting :
www.southerncrossalpinelodge.com.au/images/uploads/SCAL-AGM-Agenda-20250524.pdf
www.southerncrossalpinelodge.com.au/images/uploads/SCAL-AGM-Proxy-Form-20250524.pdf
www.southerncrossalpinelodge.com.au/images/uploads/SCAL-AGM-Minutes-20240525.pdf
www.southerncrossalpinelodge.com.au/images/uploads/SCAL-Directors-Report-2024.pdf
www.southerncrossalpinelodge.com.au/images/uploads/SCAL-Financial-Report-2024.pdf
www.southerncrossalpinelodge.com.au/images/uploads/SCAL-AGM-GrahamMorrisonReflections-20250524.pdf
Clicking the above links should open each document in a separate tab in your Internet browser, and we suggest you then save each document on your computer or tablet, as they are generally not as easy to read and navigate on phones. Once saved to your computer, you can then open them with your PDF Reader which is generally more flexible than reading them within your browser. Note that, although within those documents there are various cross-links, these cross-links generally open in a single (rather than separate) browser tab.
Please contact us if you have any questions about our 2025 AGM or the above AGM material.
2019 lifts operated until Sunday 13 October 2019
The above pictures were taken 07 October 2019.
The above pictures were taken 07 October 2018.
e above Front Valley and Mid-Station pictures were taken 10 June 2015.
Perisher 2017 & 2018 & 2019 Snow Seasons Were All Extended
Perisher has invested heavily in snowmaking, resulting in Perisher lifts almost always opening by the June LWE or even earlier.
Great September snow snow allowed Perisher to extend 2017/8/9 lift operations until Sundays 8 October 2017, 7 October 2018
& 13 October 2019, with Southern Cross also extending its fully catered & no minimum numbers self-catered accommodation.
Snow cover was not as good in October 2020, but Perisher was the last Australian resort to close – on Monday 5 October.
The 2023 & 2024 seasons closed near the end of September, and in 2025 the ski lifts closed after Monday 6 October.
There was still plenty of cross-country skiing, especially out of Charlotte Pass, throughout October, as well of course bushwalking.
Thank you to ALL our chefs, hosts, members and other guests who help make Southern Cross ministry such a success every year.