Victoria’s premier ski resort holds many adventures like skiing, tobogganing, snow walks, snowboarding, sled dog tours and a ‘Gnome Roam’, discovers ANURAG MALLICK
For a town with a population of just 242 mountain folks, it sure felt crowded at Mount Buller. We are used to seeing more people at a traffic signal in India. Yet, between July and September, while the rest of the world sweats in summer or drowns in rain, it is winter in this part of Australia. In this Red Earth country with soaring temperatures and the wild outback, it’s hard to imagine a realm of snow!
Like thousands of adventure enthusiasts, we drove up via the charming towns of Mansfield and Yea (yea there’s a place called that; it also has a funky public convenience sprayed with ‘ToilArt’). At base camp Mirimbah, travellers pick up wheel chains to drive through the snow (mandatory for overnight visitors) and hire ski and snowboard equipment. Flecks of white on the eucalyptus trees soon gave way to a blanket of snow that draped the alpine vegetation. Switching to the free shuttle service at the parking lot, we proceeded to the festive Village Square Plaza.
Shuffling up the frozen steps past the Clocktower, large crowds in colourful ski jackets thronged the plaza with restaurants, shops and free wi-fi. It was a short walk to Mt Buller Chalet Hotel near the Bourke Street ski run; one could literally ski-in and ski-out. A stuffed bear and moose graced the lobby, alongside ski memorabilia and a chair made of skis. The friendly manager Harry, a local legend of sorts, welcomed us warmly. We feasted on rib eye steak and Tasmanian seafood at the plush Black Cockatoo restaurant and set off to conquer Buller.
A quick change into hired snow gear and we found ourselves on a ski lift for a ‘Discover’ lesson at the Ski & Snowboard School at the Northside Discovery Centre. The only thing we managed to discover was how bad we were at skiing as we grudgingly eyed the rest of humanity zip down the slopes with consummate ease and screech to a halt in a spray of snow, meters away from us. It was the moment from the old Bullworker ads when the macho guy kicks sand in the face of the wimp. Our dreadful attempt at building a snowman made things worse, so we shamelessly posed with someone else’s hard work!
We weren’t the first rookies on the mountain. Mt Buller’s spectacular scenery and abundant flora and fauna had first attracted aboriginal tribes eons ago. They brought young men to the peaks as part of initiation rituals and rites of passage. In traditional ceremonies, they roamed the mountain ranges they called Marnong (literally ‘hand’ in the Taungurong language) and told them stories about creation and Dreamtime tracks across the land.
Explorers Hamilton Hume and Captain William Hovell were the first Europeans to record a sighting of the peak on a 16-week adventure in 1824. Two years later, surveyor Thomas Livingstone Mitchell identified and named it after Charles Buller, an official in the Colonial Office in London.
Soon, gold miners, timber merchants and bushrangers headed up the mountain while cattle traders used them as grazing grounds. In 1913, Frank Klingsporn widened the track for the movement of cattle, which opened the way for summer tourism, horse riders and hikers. The old bridle track is still used for mountain biking. After early forays by the SCV (Ski Club of Victoria) and the introduction of the towrope in 1949, tourism in Australia’s first Alpine village snowballed. Today, it gets more than 300,000 visitors in winter and 130,000 in summer.
The Summit Road loop took us to the Arlberg Hotel as we walked across to the Shakey Knees ski run, past the historic Hotel Pension Grimus to Northside Express Chairlift for a scenic chairlift ride. Around us nearly 300 hectares of skiing terrain spread out as the 1805 m high peak towered above. After endless rounds of tobogganing at the Horse Hill Snowplay Park, we donned our outsized snowshoes and clomped around the countryside on a Snow Walk.
Mt Buller is simply a mountain of activities. Take a ‘Snowplay in a Day’ tour or go on a ‘Gnome Roam’, a family-friendly walk in search of Mt Buller gnomes strewn across the village. In between, catch a movie at Australia’s highest cinema Alpine Central, drop by at the National Alpine Museum on the evolution of skiing in the region, take a scenic helicopter flight over Mt Buller and Mt Stirling nearby and pamper yourself at Breathtaker Spa Retreat, the only spa in town. The region is also an excellent mountain biking destination with the 40 km cross-country Australian Alpine Epic trail, the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
However, we were off to Cornhill Road for the ultimate thrill of a 16-dog sled ride with Siberian huskies. Brett and Neisha of the Australian Sleddog Company briefed us on how to guide, brake and turn the sled. After our Mountain View Run Tour, we got to pet our team and play with the pups! Of all the things, the words of Frank Zappa’s song kept ringing in my head “Watch out where the huskies go, and don’t you eat that yellow snow.”
FACT FILE
Getting there
Fly Singapore Airlines to Melbourne and drive 248 km (3 hrs) to Mount Buller, 90 km from the nearest town Mansfield, from where MMBL (Mansfield-Mount Buller Bus Lines) has a regular bus service. www.mmbl.com.au
When to go
July-August is peak winter season though spring from September has great deals, less people on the slopes, shorter lift queues and warmer weather. In summer, go on hikes and cycling trails.
What to Do
Skiing, Snowboarding & Snow Walks
www.mtbuller.co.au
Australian Sled Dog Tours
www.sleddogtours.com.au
Where to Stay
Mt Buller Chalet Hotel
www.mtbullerchalet.com.au
Breathtaker All Suite Hotel & Spa
www.breathtaker.com.au
Hotel Pension Grimus
www.pensiongrimus.com.au
Tip: Pick up a B-TAG top-up card for easy access to lifts, lessons, rentals, facilities and Snow Dough (for retail therapy) www.bullerstore.com.au
For more info, www.visitvictoria.com
Author: Anurag Mallick. This article appeared on 22 Sep 2018 in the HT Cafe supplement of Hindustan Times newspaper.
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