Snowsports Participation is Snowballing in Victoria

One of the largest snowsports events in the world is underway on Mt Buller with hundreds of school-aged skiers and snowboarders taking to racecourses on a very good mid-season snow cover.

The Mogul Ski World Victorian Interschools Snowsports Championships will see 7 days of events and a massive logistical undertaking as the resort team deliver 8,000 individually timed runs, 1,500 judged runs and 5,800 entries across the week for Alpine GS, Slopestyle, Moguls, Ski Cross, Snowboard Cross and Snowboard GS events. 

Buller Ski Lifts General Manager Noel Landry welcomed the 250 schools, 500 volunteers and hundreds of families and athletes to Mt Buller for the busy week of competition and camaraderie, “It’s one of those surprising statistics that in Australia we host one of the largest participation events in snowsports of anywhere on the planet.”

“When school teams from Melbourne to Morwell to Merrijig march into the village square and the fireworks light up the resort it’s a true community celebration of all things skiing and snowboarding. When you see the level of participation, and passion, on show this week at Interschools it’s a reminder of the impact snowsports has – driving travel, investment and employment for our region.”

Mt Buller’s mountain operations, race department and resort crew have been preparing for weeks to ensure a world-class event and the team will put in long days to deliver lift access, groomed courses and packed program on and off the snow this week. And the event is growing. The volume of primary school and Division 6 event entries has been steadily growing for the Interschools Championships in the past decade and to meet the demand the event organisers will extend the event next year.  

In 2026 the event will expand to an 8-day program to reduce the pressure on event organisers and participants and reduce some of the very early morning race inspections currently required to fit all the events into the current 7-day format.

“We want to accommodate extra race time for these young skiers and snowboarders eager to be part of the Interschools tradition,” explained event manager David Speirs. “It’s incredible when you think that 68 years ago this event started as a race between just two schools and now we welcome hundreds of athletes and are adapting the format to accommodate the demand for race starts.”

Snow Australia CEO Michael Kennedy stated “This decision reflects the strong growth in our youngest divisions and reflects the wishes of schools, the resort, and key sport stakeholders to make the event better for everyone.”

Alan Arthur, Resort Management GM and Buller Interschools Association Chair, added, “Interschools is an important week for our whole community, and we’re delighted to extend the program by a day to support the youngest athletes next year taking the pressure off the children, their parents and our resort crew who deliver a world-class event every year.”

Mt Buller is expecting sunshine for the bulk of this week following a 13cm snowfall on the weekend and very good snow conditions. The snow season is scheduled to extend into early October with a fun calendar of spring skiing and après events.