It's all white at Mt Buller

GETTING caught in the middle of a 'white-out', a phenomenon where you can no longer tell the difference between the sky and the snow, is an eerie feeling.

esacpe mt buller

IT'S an eerie feeling to get caught in the middle of a white-out. It's a strange weather phenomenon that reduces visibility and contrast to the point where you can no longer tell the difference between the sky and the snow.

You essentially have to let gravity do its work as you ski blindly down the run. By the time you've noticed that snow-covered road, or large bump, you're already lying sprawled on the ground.

I got hopelessly lost, of course.

Every time I tried to make it back to the beginner slopes, where my partner was mastering the intricacies of not falling over, I ended up at the bottom of some random run. Then I'd jump on whichever lift was closest and take yet another trip up to the featureless summit to do it all again. It took seven chair lift rides until I finally stumbled on the way home.

All ski resorts experience white-outs, of course, and it was the first time I'd encountered one at Mt Buller, the resort where I'd first fell in love with skiing on a highschool day-trip back in the 1990s. Even with visibility at near zero, there are few other places I'd rather be.

You don't have to wait long for the weather to change at Buller, in any case. In a single weekend we experienced blue skies, cloud, strong wind, a smattering of rain and finally a large dump of powder snow.

When the visibility does clear up there is a truly magnificent view down and across dozens of other snowy mountain peaks.

Do your research

Its proximity to Tullamarine airport makes Buller the easiest resort for Adelaide residents to get to for a weekend trip. We flew to Melbourne after work on a Friday night, picked up a hire car for the three-hour jaunt to the resort and arrived before midnight.

You'll need to arrange an after-hours pick up of wheel chains in Mansfield, or else you won't be allowed to park overnight on the mountain. Remember, too, to print out some instructions from the internet - we nearly missed our plane home after spending an hour trying to figure out how to attach the chains to the tyres. And I'd done it before.

We stayed at one of the Arlberg Hotel's new three-bedroom apartments overlooking the main Bourke St run.

At $3250 for a weekend in peak season they're far from cheap, but they sleep eight in comfort. You're so close to the action you can wake up and be out on the slopes 10 minutes later. Unless, of course, you need to hire ski gear and clothes. If so, my advice is to avoid the queues at the larger hire places which attract the tour groups and instead head to a smaller store with quicker service.

Another lesson learnt through painful experience.

Get your 'L's

All skiers will benefit from taking lessons. If you can't ski you'll definitely need help to master the basics (a beginner lesson is free with the Discover Pass) and if you can ski, it becomes a progressively more enjoyable experience the better you become.

The instructors can show you the best runs through parts of the mountain you'd never normally ski and challenge you to attempt terrain you may otherwise have baulked at.

My instructor, Greg Jakubik, seemed positively delighted at the opportunity to teach our small group how to ski through the massive piles of fresh powder snow. "Great skiing!" he kept saying with a massive, cheeky grin set permanently across his face as we carved tracks through the snow between a forest of trees.

Running free

Mt Buller has 22 lifts servicing 300ha of terrain. The 80km of defined runs include some nice long ones like the 2.5km Little Buller Spur and Standard (which is a standard mile) or my favourite of the weekend, the steep, bumpy, tree-lined Chalet Creek.

While tens of thousands learn to ski at Mt Buller each year, much of the mountain is best suited to good intermediate to advanced skiers. The terrain mix is officially 20 per cent beginner runs, 45 per cent intermediate and 35 per cent advanced. But there are only two main beginner areas, Bourke St and Burnt Hut Spur, and the chairlift on the latter rather ironically burnt down after being struck by lightning at the beginning of last year.

The lift company shipped in a couple of replacement conveyer belt style carpets from New Zealand, but to be honest, they're slower than erosion. That means almost every learner on the mountain is crammed on to the already crowded Bourke St run. With thousands of out-of-control learners coming at you from every direction, it actually feels like one of the more dangerous runs at the resort.

For those who like looking cool and performing tricks there's plenty of good snowboarding, including a terrain park and plenty of areas to play on. If you prefer just to look at the alpine scenery you can join a guided snowshoe tour, hire a toboggan for an hour's play or take a scenic chairlift ride.

While this year's season has been very good so far, reliable snow cover is by no means certain at Australian resorts. That's why more and more money is invested in snowmaking each year, including another $1 million upgrade last summer. Mt Buller now has 185 snowguns pumping out the white stuff when Mother Nature chooses not to provide any.

Fine dining

When the sun has gone down, and the pain in your legs has begun to hit home, Mt Buller has more than 30 cafes, bars and restaurants to choose from. We dined at the rather classy Black Cockatoo restaurant at Mt Buller Chalet Hotel on one night and Kaptans at Hotel Pension Grimus on the other.

Kaptans is something of an institution, with owner Hans Grimus celebrating 50 years at Mt Buller (the highest lift on the mountain is named after him). The restaurant's soft-shell crab with watermelon and Persian fetta is amazing, and no visit is complete without trying the signature desert of Salzburger Nockerl, a mountainous chocolate chip and hazelnut souffle served with hot chocolate sauce. I'd heard it was impossible to finish one by yourself - but I proved the doubters wrong.

The best part of a terrific weekend came on the Monday back at work when I received an email from my girlfriend. She'd magically transformed from a rank beginner into a skiing convert in just three days and absolutely insisted that we had to go skiing again before the end of the season. Sensational.

The author travelled courtesy of Tourism Victoria.

GETTING THERE

All the major airlines fly to Tullamarine, where it's easy to hire a car for the three-hour drive to Mt Buller.

STAYING THERE

There are more than 7000 beds at Mt Buller, starting from around $50 for a bunk bed in a ski lodge through to thousands for a multi-bedroom apartment.

SKIING THERE

It costs $370 for a weekend to hire skis, boots and poles plus clothing (except gloves and goggles) plus a two-day lift pass and a lesson for an adult. It's cheaper for kids and uni students.