The Summer Crew Preparing Mt Buller for Winter

This summer, trail crew have been hard at work and it’s a bit more extreme than your average gardening. The team are part mountain goat, part gardener, bush bashing their way on foot into steep, rocky and remote areas, often running into some creepy crawlies, all whilst battling the summer heat, to get your favourite ski runs ready for winter. 

Trail crew and the revegetation crew play an important role in caring for Mt Buller's unique alpine environment, ensuring sustainable management and conservation of over 300 hectares of the alpine backyard that you all love.  

Following the Mt Buller Revegetation Management Plan, trail crew work across different terrains, classified into habitat and non-habitat zones. Habitat zones ensure conservation for native species including the mountain pygmy possum, the broad toothed rat and a variety of native plant species that make up alpine shrub lands and bogs. Non-habitat zones can be mowed like your back garden, or pruned like a hedge, just a bit more hard core. 

The flora species that make up Mt Buller's diverse ecosystem have evolved to suit cold temperatures and snow; these bushes and scrubs make the perfect landing for snow to settle. Creating an efficient snowpack that stays smooth and stable for over 100 days of skiing.  

As trail crew team leader Henry Page sits deep in the boulder field of Federation bowl, looking out upon the picturesque mountains that surround Mt Buller, he explains why he enjoys being a part of the Mt Buller trail crew.