The first time I skied Mount Buller, it was in the fog – not unusual for an Australian mountain. What surprised my young eyes was seeing someone emerging from the mist and riding the same drag lift as me but coming from the other direction. Was I on the right track here? I was on the ridge of a big mountain, where runs of varying pitch and length peel off either side, before the ridge eventually leads to the summit.
It initially had two lift companies and two ski schools with an odd assortment of lifts; now there’s just one operator, with (mostly) streamlined lifts and sophisticated snowmaking operations to give some security to snow cover. Now when I ski the mountain, it’s sometimes on a day trip, sometimes during a stay of a few days. Wherever possible, I avoid weekends – they’re hectic – whereas a mid-week day trip is simple.
I can pick a good day, hop in the car and have boots on and be riding my first lift just 31⁄2 hours after leaving home. Spare a thought, then, for the first skiers, members of the Ski Club of Victoria, who made their way to Mount Buller from Melbourne a century ago, on June 8, 1924. On that first adventure, the party set out early from Mansfield, making their way to Klingsporn’s farm, not far from the current resort entry gate.
From there, about 8am, they started the hike up the mountain, through the soaring alpine ash forests and their ferny undergrowth, then the gnarly snow gums, emerging above the treeline at around noon to follow a.
