Crackenback Farm, Snowy Mountains review: The ice storm

Raymond Gill finds warmth and home-cooked meals in a stylish ski retreat.

'Well, all I can say is good luck," says the man with the indefinable accent as he hands me snow chains at Khancoban's only service station. There was something about the "all" in that sentence that set off an escalating sense of unease as we set forth on the Alpine Way, bound for our lodging at Crackenback Farm, on the other side of Thredbo.

As Victorians who have only ever skied at home, we are used to mountain roads with painted lines to show which side of the bitumen to drive on. We're used to clearly marked parking bays where snow concierges wave you over with torchy baton things, help you put on chains and ask whether you want skim or soy in your latte.

But here we are thrown into the every-man-for-himself wilds of the NSW Snowy Mountains, where for two hours we seem to be the only car tortuously zigzagging around the Alpine Way's hairpin bends and through its gorges, avoiding falling rocks the size of occasional tables.

It's like the opening credits of The Shining. But I'm not in a zippy VW, as in the film. My car contains a family of five and a French exchange student named Pierre, all of whom stay buckled inside as I lie on the ice with my nose in the exhaust, trying to fit chains to the wheels.

The other family we're travelling with - they've sped ahead in their four-wheel-drive - love Thredbo and had heartily recommended Crackenback Farm as the perfect haven. But as we ka-lumph our way through 120km/h winds and driving snow to the thud of chain links hitting the duco, we wonder how we got ourselves into this.

Although we're wary of staying below the snowline and of the daily drive between Thredbo and the ski field, we figure it's worth staying at Crackenback Farm to avoid the tedium of self-catering in the snow. Its tariff includes full breakfast, three-course dinner and afternoon tea.

The lights of Thredbo's village twinkle but after our stop-start, 10-hour trip from Melbourne we have to roll down the final 15 minutes to Crackenback in complete darkness. At last we find the low-slung building, designed by Glenn Murcutt in the late 1970s, with vaulted ceilings, timber-lined interiors and slate floors.

OK, you're thinking Don's Party but you would be wrong. This is more like walking into the mountain hideaway of a rich and stylishly bo-ho uncle. A living area with two stone fireplaces blazing is flanked by groupings of deep sofas and armchairs. The floors are covered with Persian rugs, and low lamps illuminate corners filled with artful objects and idiosyncratic artworks. It's snug luxury without a hint of the twee or corporate about it. All the children staying here are served dinner at 6pm in the main dining area, which allows adults to fix themselves a drink in the well-stocked honour bar, to lounge in front of the fires or watch television in another lounge.