A first trip ‘round the world, part 39

At any mountain resorts, there’s always some excitement in reaching the highest point of the mountain. 

In the case of Mt. Buller, its namesake peak stood at 5,922 ft, but the highest lift, back in 1971, was part of the Orange Lift Company and consisted of a double Poma surface lift that reached 5,440 ft high. 

Not so high that one would require supplemental oxygen, but pretty high for Australia’s Snowy Mountains. A short hike was all what was needed to reach the actual summit. I didn’t do it the first year, but I believe the second in 1972, along with Philippe Coutaz. 

This, of course, was considered “off-piste”. There, one could find a few good, steep couloirs on the south side, just below the top and next to Fanny Finish, that connected fairly easily with a double-ended Poma. 

When I experienced it, back in 1971, I had found it a bit unusual and it took me a pretty long time to fully remember how the lifts were setup compared to what’s visible on the map 50 years later.

To get to the top, one needed to ride the same double-ended Poma-lift called “Summit Access/Howqua” from Bourke Street, right by the Austrian ski-school. Again, that lift with two different loading points at each end, operated as two lifts serving different slopes. 

Either from Bourke Street or from Howqua, riders were going up to the top of the plateau and stopped on either sides as they let go of their platter. 

According to some of the accounts I’ve read, the Summit Access/Howqua Poma was quite fast, its rope running at 1,280 ft. per second, or 15.5 mph, and making it allegedly, the fastest lift in Australia and possibly the world. 

Today this whole area of the mountain has been totally transformed, as shown on the ski-map below.