Mt Buller's premier mountain biking event, the Bike Buller MTB Festival, has concluded, with almost 400 of Australia's best cross-country riders converging on the Victorian High Country resort for a huge weekend of riding with plenty of thrills and spills.

The Festival, organised by Rapid Ascent, the team behind the Otway Odyssey and Red Centre MTB Enduro, brought all that is great about mountain biking to one spectacular location - Mt Buller. A huge weekend of riding was had by all, with events including a 25km cross-country race, a 10km kids race, 50km cross-country race to Mt Stirling and back, plus the Super D Mt Buller Descent, a hair-raising 13km of trail descending nearly 1100 vertical meters from top to bottom.

Blue skies and warm temperatures made for sensational race conditions, and saw Andy Fellows and Tory Thomas take out the men's and women's premier categories respectively, with both completing all three races over the two days. Fellows, who hadn't even ridden at Mt Buller before this weekend, was extremely happy with his win and had a lot to say about Mt Buller's mountain biking facilities. "I really enjoyed the weekend, this is definitely one of the better events of the last year. The whole atmosphere, the Village and the trails made it an awesome event.

"It's great to see the ski resorts are lending themselves to summer, and I think Mt Buller is definitely leading the way."

Thomas, who won all three stages convincingly and finished 15th overall, said she wasn't coming here to win. "I came here basically to get fit, and I definitely got more than a good workout!

"The trails are spectacular, the first stage was one of the best courses I've ever ridden. Everything was right, it was a really positive ride and the views were amazing - the trails at Mt Buller have just gotten better and better over the last few years. This weekend is a real festival feel, plus we can come here and have a great weekend away."

Yesterday morning, a huge field took to the 25km ‘Corn Hill Crankfest', a sensational course that took in some of the new Glen Jacobs-designed trails. In the afternoon, the cranking Super D saw riders take to the spectacular Delatite River trail which crosses the river 12 times. Plenty of cheers and grins could be seen as riders finished the exciting course splashing through the final river crossing. Today's gruelling 50km ride to Mt Stirling and back put riders through their paces, but they were rewarded with beautiful views at the top of Mt Stirling.

Sam Maffett, Event Manager of the Bike Buller MTB Festival, was thrilled to return to Mt Buller for another event. "We've had a fantastic two days of mountain biking events up here, it went very well. Mt Buller has exactly what mountain bikers are looking for - there's some spectacular scenery, we were blessed with some beautiful sunshine, so I could hardly imagine a better place.

Mt Buller was abuzz with riders and their families and friends enjoying the spectacular surroundings of summer in the mountains. Visitors took in a bike expo, BBQ and live entertainment in the Village Square, as well as the wide range of activities Mt Buller has to offer during the warmer months.

Event images can be downloaded by logging into the Rapid Ascent Media Page using the password rapidascent: http://www.rapidascent.com.au/Media/.

Media contact:
Gillian Dobson
Media & Marketing Officer
Mt Buller & Mt Stirling Alpine Resort Management Board
T: 03 5777 6077
E: gill@mtbuller.com.au