Days 246-247- Skiing at Mansfield

Days 246-247- Tuesday and Wednesday, August 28th, 29th- Skiing at Mansfield???!!!

It's a long story. So I'll begin here. The nearest large ski resort is 3 hours north east of Melbourne, just past the town of Mansfield, Victoria.

Mount Buller Website: http://www.mtbuller.com.au/

Skiing in the Victorian Alps is great and the scenery is breathtaking and so different from anywhere else I've skied in my life- Mansfield (Ontario), Blue Mountain (ON),Killington (VT), Smuggler's Notch (VT), Banff (AB), Tremblant (QC), even Austria.

Let me tell you about the differences:

The price...it's really, really expensive to ski here!
The Eucalyptus trees...the fragrance of the snow gum trees, which keep their leaves in winter, is like skiing in a pot pourri shop.
The snowballs...yes, snowballs! Australian kids always throw snowballs when they ski or board since they have not grown up with them and it's always a novelty.
The sun...the sun is so strong here that a spring skiing face tan is guaranteed.
The temperature...it rarely falls below minus 5 at Mount Buller so corn snow is pretty standard, although early winter there are major falls of drier snow.

Our Photocast of the skiing at Mt Buller can be seen by clicking here.

Last Friday during school sports awards assembly, the snowsports competitions were announced and all the competitors were given a send off, as the races were starting on Monday at Mount Buller. We had not been able to get to the mountain to ski yet this winter. So, on the way home, I decided that I would request a leave for 2 days to go.

On Monday morning, I was granted a 2 day leave to head up to the "snowfields." I emailed Colleen, who was able to clear her busy Writer's Festival schedule to come along. We quickly headed to the skateboard shop in the Glen before closing, and hiredskiis for Colleen and I, and boards for the boys, along with other accessories (snowpants and helmets!).

Tuesday, we arose to a warm and sunny day. After packing the car, we headed north east on the Maroondah Highway. The drive up is beautiful, past Healesville (where my school's outdoor centre is located as well as the Healesville Animal Sanctuary), past Toolangi Forest (where Matheson went on a watershed field trip earlier in the year), past Yea (a beautiful Victorian town), and beyond Bonnie Doon (made famous in the Oz film "The Castle" in which characters repeatedly sing "we're going to Bonnie Doon").

Arriving in the town of Mansfield around noon, a ski/farming town of a few thousand just 50 km west of the mountain, we changed into ski clothing. It seemed a little strange, as there was not a flake of snow around, it was sunny and warm (+15).
Leaving the town, the long, winding mountain road rises steeply to the base of Mount Buller and the alpine village. Normally, in winter, cars must stop part way up and pay for mountain access and put on snow chains. On a cold snowy day, this drive would be extremely dangerous. Today, it was easy.

We carried our gear to the chairlift, loaded our skiis/boards onto the back of a chair and hopped on. A few patches of snow were visible! But instead of going up the mountain, we started down! Eventually, the chairlift changes direction and heads up to "The Spur," the most westerly side of the mountain. From here you can ski Burnt Hut. Eventually, you make your way up and over towards the village, and the main run, called "Bourke Street," which is lined on one side by all the hotels and condos. Lifts and runs go off towards the south, and these slopes keep their snow longer.

Tuesday afternoon, we stayed on the north side, and the sunshine was glorious and the snow soft and very spring like!
Matheson was boarding for the first time, and his patient teacher, Kevin, taught him everything he knew in 3 runs, and he was standing up, making turns all the way down in no time. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! We managed to get in a half day on Tuesday before we had to descend the Horse Hill Chair back to the parking lot and take the road back to town for dinner, and a good sleep (not before watching the total eclipse of the moon!).

Wednesday, we packed up the car, grabbed breakfast in town and set out again, back up the mountain. This time, we explored various runs on the south side, such as Wombat, a much longer intermediate run. On Little Buller Spur, the Victorian Girl's Downhill race was being run, and we sat and watched for a while, cheering on the Wesley Ski Team. Kevin and I also took "Boomerang" to the back of the mountain, and ascended the Summit chair. The views were even more spectacular! The runs to the south were ravaged by bushfires just 6 months ago, and if it were not for the snowmaking machines being used to spray water last summer, some of the resort would have been lost.

We took photos in front of Mt Buller's year round webcam (click here to check it out!), ate lunch in the village, bought a few souvenirs, and then skied our way back over to the west on the Emirates and Tirol chairs. What a fantastic day!


Photo of Rod Standing on Bourke Street from the Webcam Deck Taken by Colleen

It was a long drive back home in the dark, but the 2 day break made it all worthwhile. The Victorian Alpine country is really
spectacular and to be able to ski on this continent, and experience a different kind of skiing, was a very memorable experience.