MT BULLER AFTER DARK By day during winter, Mt. Buller, in Victoria, is a snowy playground for skiers and boarders but have you ever wondered what happens at night after the lift operators have called "last lift?" No? Well Chris has and he's on a mission to investigate the ski field after nightfall
ABOUT MT BULLER Mt Buller is located approx 250km north east of Melbourne (about a 3hr drive). The resort covers over 300 hectares of skiable terrain and features a trail for all skill levels. The ski runs range from the wide beginner s slopes of Bourke St and Burnt Hut Spur, to black runs like Chamois. The resorts three Frank Terrain Parks are designed for all skill levels, with a dedicated snow grooming team to maintain their condition.features With 22 lifts, Mt Buller has the largest lift network in Victoria, including thirteen chairlifts (three of which are high speed detachables) four T-bars, two rope tows and four magic carpets. For snow play fun, Mt Buller has two toboggan parks, complete with their own snowmaking machines to keep the kids happy all winter long. The Mt Buller Village is situated at the heart of the mountain, offering ski in, ski out accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets, there is something to cater for all needs. Over 30 bars and restaurants provide a range options; from quick snacks to fine dining and a choice of nightlife. Mt Buller is also home to Breathtaker on High Alpine Spa Retreat, Australia s highest day spa and a range of off-piste activities from cinema, to retail therapy and rock climbing. There are also heli tours and sled dog rides available. Go to www.mtbuller.com.au to book your visit today.
ABOUT AUSTRALIAN SLED DOG TOURS AND SIBERIAN HUSKIES After the sun sets, Chris first stop is to meet Brett from Australian Sled Dog Tours. Brett offers a year round service for any visitors to the Mt Buller resort. He raises and trains Siberian Huskies to become sled dogs, even taking in rescue dogs to give them a home. His tours include a meet and greet with the team of huskies, a photo session and a sled dog tour. Chris meets the Husky pups just before they go down for the night. The pups will be running sled tours in a years time. Siberian Huskies are among the most well suited dogs for extreme cold weather. They have been bred for hundreds of years to withstand arctic and subarctic temperatures, a bit of chill in Victoria is not problem at all for them. They have even evolved to constantly circulate warm blood directly from their hearts to their feet pads. This means that their pads, which are almost always
exposed to the cold snow, are kept very warm eliminating the risk of frostbite. Huskies are an active, intelligent and resilient breed of dog that were pivotal to the development of hunter-gatherer societies of the Siberian Arctic. They were introduced to the Americas by Russian fur traders in Alaska as sled dogs in the early 1900s. To book your sled dog tour go to www.sleddogtours.com.au. Prices start at $195 per person for a one hour tour including meet and greets with the dogs. ABOUT MT BULLER S SNOW FACTORY The next stop for Chris is Mt Buller s snow factory and snow grooming team. Every night, this graveyard shift team ensures that the ski runs are picture perfect for all the guests the following day. Chief among their jobs is the production of more snow. This year, the snow making team are adding a new weapon to their arsenal. The brand new Snow Factory will continuously produce snow 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can even operate at temperatures well above freezing. This amchine can create 220 cubic metres of snow a day at temperatures up to 15 degrees Celcius. This machine will join the existing network of 244 snowmaking guns that fire up as early as May to get a jump on the ski season and encourage as many visitors as possible. Mt Buller can now guarantee that their main Bourke Street run will be snow covered for the first day of the season. In addition to the snow making, there is also a team of snow groomers. With every turn skiers and snowboarders make, snow is pushed downhill and to the sides of runs creating moguls or piles of snow across the mountain. Each night, this grooming team is hard at work flattening out these bumps and by morning, the runs are coated in a smooth, corduroy finish. Groomers operate large grooming machines or snow kats which travel up and down the slopes, moving, flattening and packing the snow into a uniform finish to produce the best skiing possible.
Grooming machines have two large rubber and steel tracks that disperse the weight of the machine evenly across the snow surface and cut into the snow to assist with climbing. Mounted on the front is a multi-directional blade that cuts and levels the snow surface before driving over it. A power tiller on the rear churns the snow to an even consistency before a large, heavy comb then drags across the surface leaving a corduroy finish on the snow. After getting up close and personal with the hard work the after dark team completes on the mountain, Chris decides the only way to repay them is to be the first one down their freshly groomed trail why let all their hard work go to waste? WEBLINKS http://www.visitvictoria.com http://www.mtbuller.com.au http://www.sleddogtours.com.au