My impulsive day trip to Mt Buller

Forget Ferris Bueller: here, Ricky French shows you how to take the perfect (powder) day off. 

No plan, no worries.

Who said snow trips needed planning?

There’s a misconception that a trip to the snow takes planning. It doesn’t, or at it least doesn’t have to.

Mt Buller is just three hours from Melbourne, and makes a compelling case for an impulse day-trip. Go during the week and lift tickets are up to 33 percent cheaper, and the slopes at least 50 percent quieter. Just wait for the right day, jump online and buy a BTAG (reusable RFID card), add a lift ticket, book resort entry and off you go. That’s the theory, anyway.

But how would an impulsive day-trip to Mt Buller actually pan out? I gathered a crew and kept a diary. 

Can you hit the slopes successfully on a day trip? Turns out you can at Mt Buller.

The night before: Check the forecast: a bluebird day beckons. Organise a car pool and make plans to leave Melbourne at 6am next morning. 

6:06am: Disaster! Where’s my ride? They’ve slept in…or was I supposed to pick them up? This is bad. It’ll be summer by the time we get there. Who’s idea was this?

6.07am: They’re here! I take it all back.

6:35am: Look at all those other poor sods in bumper to bumper traffic heading off to work...Feeling a little smug. 

6:48: Sunrise is seeping across the countryside. A voice in the backseat phones in sick to work (whatever they have seems to be contagious). Our headlights burn portals in the mist as we zip past frost-coated farms. Really hope we don’t hit a kangaroo. 

Once you feast your eyes on this, you'll quickly forget about the city.

8.12am: Stop at Bucks Country Bakehouse in Yarck (a Goulburn Valley institution) for a coffee and pastries. But our dreams are dashed…it doesn’t open until 8.30am! I thought country folk were early risers? 

8:45am: Pick up ski rentals, BTAGs and snow chains from Buller Sports in Mansfield. It’s ridiculously efficient and we’re out in minutes (which doesn’t quite seem right, but I try not to freak out too much). Grab a coffee and sausage roll at Bowser Bean Café, which helpfully doubles as a petrol station.     

9.40am: Arrive at Horse Hill carpark, a snow ball’s throw from the Northside Express sightseeing chairlift. Excitement builds as we’re whisked high above the woollybutt forest. The sky is utterly blue and the Victorian Alps are mesmerising. Were we really in the city just three hours ago?  

There are plenty of places to refuel on the slopes, too.

9.57am: Start with few warmup laps of Burnt Hut Spur, then move onto the aptly named Shakey Knees (mind those bumps). I can’t get over how empty the slopes are. Even the notoriously packed Bourke St is eerily uncluttered (I have a brief but terrifying flashback to Melbourne’s lockdowns). The morning’s highlight is Little Buller Spur, a cruisy blue groomer. Chairlift chatter talks up Bull Run Bowl on a powder day, which funnels conveniently to Bull Run Cantina, a South American-themed café and bar (incidentally the only spot on the mountain with no phone reception, so you can sneak in a frozen margarita while avoiding awkward work calls…).  

12.15pm: Stash our skis outside the cosy, European-styled Tirol Café and snag a table with ease (try doing that on a weekend). Austrian cow bells dangle from the ceiling and vintage skis decorate the timber walls. The Italian-influenced menu boasts carb-replenishing fettuccini carbonara, beef ravioli and prawn linguini, plus country classics like a scotch fillet burger. Everything is prepared fresh, so there’s a small wait, but it’s oh-so worth it.  

1:30pm: Meet my instructor Stephen for a one-hour private lesson. Stephen also shows me round the mountain, which for a Buller virgin is invaluable. We do laps of the summit run, and Stephen drills me on my “technical and tactical toolkit.” I can’t get over how incredible the view is (Stephen says I should probably watch where I’m going). 

Now this is luxury.

3pm: Meet up with the gang and have some fun on the softening bumps around the Grimus chairlift (a locals’ favourite). It’s warm, and the spring-like conditions lure us to the sunny Spurs restaurant deck, where the sound of jazz music is floating down the valley. Taittinger Champagne Bar have a regular Monday arvo pop-up: $140 scores you a bottomless glass of premium French champers, plus unlimited oysters and canapés. Decadence on the deck. 

3.45pm: Jump back on the Northside Chairlift (right outside Spurs) and ride it back to the car as the setting sun paints the mountains golden. Once again feel a bit smug. 

4.45pm: Drop back the hire gear and grab some treats for the drive home from the Mansfield Regional Produce Store. 

7.38pm: Arrive back in Melbourne. Check forecast for tomorrow. 

The writer travelled as a guest of Mt Buller.

Originally published as My impulsive day trip to Mt Buller