About Disabled Wintersport Australia (DWA)

Established in 1978, DWA is the National Sporting Organisation (NSO) body responsible for Adaptive Winter Sport in Australia, and every year assists thousands of individuals with disabilities to participate in winter sports.

DWA members range from recreational skiers to Australia’s Winter Paralympians. Membership with the organisation entitles members to concessions on lift tickets and private lessons at all ski resorts in Australia.

Becoming a DWA member provides you with access to the below services at Hotham:

• Adaptive Equipment Hire: Access to DWA's modern, state of the art adaptive equipment including sit-ski's, outriggers, and additional equipment at very modest prices.
• Discounted Lift Tickets: access to DWA discounts on single and multi-day lift tickets.
• Adaptive Snowsport Guides: DWA's Volunteer Adaptive Snowsport Guides help facilitate the on-snow experience for members, from getting safely around the mountain and using equipment, to loading and unloading the lifts and communicating with mountain staff.

For more information about DWA please contact DWA directly at www.disabledwintersport.com.au or call 1300 265 730.

VISIT DWA

Epic Australia Adaptive Pass 

The Epic Australia Adaptive Pass provides unlimited, unrestricted access to Hotham, Falls Creek and Perisher for the 2023 Australian snow season. As well as access to the best resorts in North America for the 2023/24 Northern Hemisphere season.

All Disabled Wintersport Australia members and Companion Card holders are eligible for the Epic Australia Adaptive pass and will be automatically verified after providing documentation. All other requests will be assessed on an individual basis.

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Hotham Adaptive Lift Tickets

DWA and Companion Card Holders receive 50% discount off the applicable rate at the time of purchase for lift tickets, skitube and private lessons.

Guides/Companions receive 50% off regular full day pricing.

Please follow these steps to purchase your discounted lift tickets online

• Create or sign in to My Account
• Contact us with a copy of your current DWA membership card or companion card
• We will confirm when your discount is linked to your account via the email address provided
• Sign in to the online shop, and purchase your discounted tickets. The discount will be applied once you have added lift tickets to your cart and assigned these lift tickets to your name.

Hotham Ski & Ride School has instructors trained to provide adaptive snowsports lessons to people of all abilities. Their friendly, enthusiastic, and experienced instructors can help you advance and develop your adaptive skiing/riding skills and make your visit to Hotham even more enjoyable.

At Hotham we offer 50% off private lessons for guests who are Epic Australia Adaptive Pass holders, DWA members, or Companion Card holders.

To book an adaptative private lesson please contact us in advance so that we can discuss your specific requirements and capabilities with our Ski & Ride School.

Requesting Adaptive Snowsports Equipment

DWA provides specialist adaptive winter sport equipment at Mt Hotham for DWA members. The types of equipment provided is based on expected use, and we continually reassess the equipment mix to ensure maximum availability.

Adaptive equipment can be requested by DWA members by visiting DWA's website and completing the online Equipment Request form.

Requesting a volunteer DWA guide

DWA has a growing number of volunteer guides local to Hotham, who have been trained by DWA to assist members with on-snow activities. DWA volunteer guides assist DWA members to ski or ride with friends and family, making a snow trip a truly shared alpine experience. Some examples of on-snow support include:

• Chairlift loading / unloading,
• Tethering of sit ski to provide additional stability and support on snow so you get more skiing/riding time.
• Enhance your on-snow experience by expanding the areas accessible to you by providing “bucketing” support through sections of more difficult terrain.
• “Piloting” support where the DWA member requires complete support to enjoy the on-snow experience.
• Audible communication for Vision Impaired DWA members

DWA members can request a volunteer DWA guide by heading to DWA's website and completing the online Guide Request form.

Please note:

• DWA volunteer guides are not snowsports instructors and cannot teach/instruct you. If you would like lessons with a trained instructor, please see the “Lessons” tab.
• All guides are volunteers, which means availability cannot be guaranteed.

While DWA make every effort to fulfil guide requests, they rely on members providing reasonable notice (via a Guide Request) to maximise the likelihood of a guide being available. We recommend providing 1-2 weeks’ notice.