During summer, I love to take a peek at on of my old alma mater, hidden far south from the summer heat of the northern hemisphere to get some fresher air, and to see if the enthusiasm that once inhabited the Australian ski resort of Mount Buller, in the state of Victoria hasn’t abated in spite of an obvious lack of snow at least last weekend when that video was shot.
The main beginners area is called Bourke Street, named after the Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne for its busy high-traffic and crowds. Many call it “The busiest ski slope in the whole south hemisphere” as it’s really a challenging spot to learn how to ski or ride considering the density of certain weekend crowds, made up of skiers, snowboarders, pedestrians and occasionally stray dogs.
Even though I’m a heathen, looking at the scene makes me believe that up above, there must be a God, playing ski-traffic controller! Australian ski areas like Mt. Buller are both at a low latitude (37°.08’ south) and low elevation (village at 4,920 ft and top at 5,840 for a usable vertical of just 920 ft so good snow cover and decent skiing are never guaranteed.
The resort is a day-ski area from the more than 5 million people living in Melbourne some 3 hours away and offer 7,000 visitor’s beds, with just 22 lifts and a 40,000 skiers per hour capacity. This place is where I taught skiing in 1971 and 1972, had a wonderful time and decided that skiing would be my lifelong career!
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