Mt. Buller (AUS) May 3, 2009

[sven]

The mountains got a bit of snow (like 35 cm) and Mt. Buller decided to open just for the weekend, before official opening in 5 weeks... only the 6 seater lift was open and the only run was Bourke St. (the bunny hill one might call it). I did hike up to the summit though and a little bit along the ridge, there seems to be quite a few steep chutes off the summit, maybe 40+ degrees. Still need a lot of cover though, but hopefully some good snowfalls will come in at some point.

Looking down towards the top of the 6 seater lift from near the summit

The ridge off the summit from where some of the steep chutes drop off

The tyranny of the masses

 

[Admin]

So good to see this report! Sven, are you down there all winter? If so, please keep 'em coming!

 

[sven]

Definitely will do... yeah I'm here all winter... I'm probably going to make my way over to NZ in July. I think Treble Cone is first on the to-do list and definitely some of the club fields as well - a friend tells me there is some great backcountry terrain near Craigieburn. I was impressed with what some of those chutes looked like at Mt. Buller, but I'm not sure how often they get enough snow to be skiable. Mt. Buller seems to have easier access to get to steeps like that than Hotham does (but still have to check that place out as well!)

 

[Tony Crocker]

I was impressed with what some of those chutes looked like at Mt. Buller, but I'm not sure how often they get enough snow to be skiable.

That's definitely Buller's reputation. More challenge than most Oz areas, but very unreliable.

You're on the right track for NZ areas, but might want to hold off until August for a deeper snowpack.