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Australians may have endured one of the poorest snow seasons in recent memory, but Google searches show interest in heading to the mountains remained strong.
Google Trends data comparing five of Australia's major ski destinations over the past five years shows Buller recording the highest average search interest of the group.
Searches for Buller narrowly outpaced Perisher across the full five-year period, followed by Thredbo, Hotham and Falls Creek.
But the annual winter peaks tell a more competitive story.
Buller recorded the strongest search peak among the five destinations in 2022, 2023 and 2025, while Perisher came out on top in 2024 and again this year.
Perisher's 2026 surge was the largest single spike recorded across the five resorts during the period, reaching 100 on the Google Trends index.
Google Trends assigns a value of 100 to the point of highest relative search interest in a comparison, with other results scaled against it.
The five-year graph also reveals just how seasonal Australians' interest in the alpine resorts remains.
Searches for Buller, Perisher, Thredbo, Falls Creek and Hotham rise sharply heading into winter each year before falling away again as the snow season comes to an end.
For Mansfield and Mt Buller, the long-term result is significant.
Despite competing with much larger NSW resorts, Buller has maintained the highest average level of Google search interest across the five destinations during the five-year period.
Its proximity to Melbourne has long made the mountain one of Australia's most accessible major ski resorts, with Mansfield serving as the gateway for thousands of winter visitors.
Last year, a Tourism and Transport Forum survey also placed Mount Buller equal with Thredbo as Australians' most popular intended domestic ski destinations, with each nominated by five per cent of respondents planning a ski or snowboard trip.
But 2026 presented a very different season on the ground.
The Australian Alps recorded their warmest winter on record, accompanied by frequent rain and historically low snow depths.
Mt Buller's average winter temperature reached 1.9C, compared with a long-term average of just 0.1C, while lower alpine elevations struggled to establish a lasting natural snowpack.
Visitor numbers also reflected the difficult conditions.
Mt Buller recorded 189,943 visits during the season, compared with an average of about 330,000, while Falls Creek recorded 115,928 visitors.
Perisher, despite recording this year's largest Google search spike, attracted about 610,000 visits compared with an average of more than one million, while Thredbo recorded 290,000 against an average of about 480,000.
Search interest does not necessarily translate into a trip to the snow, and this year's strong online interest in Perisher came despite substantially lower visitation.
For Buller, meanwhile, the five-year data suggests the mountain has retained a remarkably consistent place in Australians' winter planning.
And while Perisher may have taken the search crown in 2026, Buller remains ahead when the past five winters are considered together.
This content is part of a paid partnership with Google to promote Google Trends. Google Trends data is aggregated and anonymous. Search interest is measured on a relative scale and does not represent total search volume.