How to climb a mountain with no experience
A new tour enables almost anyone to scale the rocky face of Mt Buller in the Victorian Alps.
If there’s a reason why I’ve never previously found myself perched on steel rebar rungs glued to a vertical rock face a thousand metres above Victoria’s Delatite Valley, it’s because until now it hasn’t been possible for the average schmuck to get into such a position.
My slightly clammy hands grip the rungs – stemples is the technical term – which form a ladder up the imposing west face of Mt Buller, part of the resort’s new RockWire mountain climbing course.
I’m wearing a harness with a lanyard clipped to a steel wire that forms a 400m loop of the lichen-encrusted rock face. It gives me the confidence to lean into the abyss and feel the wind rush up from the valley and smack me flush in the face.
Mist starts rolling in, smothering the foothills and closing in around me, until all I can see is a line of bright yellow everlasting daises sprouting from cracks in the crevice.
I follow the flowers up and scale the sandstone slab like a pro, even though I’ve never rock-climbed in my life. The magic of a via feratta.
Good for beginners
RockWire is a backstage pass to a hidden side of Mt Buller. Until now only the most daring winter ice-climbers have made forays into these formidable cliffs, and certainly no one thought it would be accessible for weekend adventurers.
Until this moment not even its founder James Webb, who’s guiding me today, knew for sure if it was achievable for a novice, because I’m the first person besides him to complete it. I’m happy to be Webb’s guinea pig, and as I unclip my harness and catch my breath I’m not sure who’s more relieved.
Via feratta translates in Italian to “iron path” (science nerds might recognise “FE” as the periodic table symbol for iron). Its inception dates to World War I, when Italian troops were battling the Austro-Hungarians high in the Dolomites. By affixing ropes, rungs and ladders to the mountains, everyday foot soldiers could negotiate the jagged mountain peaks.
Climbing clubs across Europe cottoned on to the idea and it developed into a recreational activity. Today, there are hundreds of via feratta courses around the world, but this is the first in Australia.
Webb worked on setting up a via feratta in Whistler, Canada, and had long flirted with the idea of establishing one back home.
But finding a suitable spot and navigating regulations looked insurmountable, particularly when every likely looking rock face lay in a national park. In 2019 Webb was hiking on Mt Buller when he spied the cliffs hanging below the west ridge near the summit. Although surrounded by the Alpine National Park, the area in question was within Mt Buller boundaries, and the resort got behind his plan.
He spent the next four years mapping the route and scaling the cliffs, tapping the rocks to test their integrity, then drilling deep into the metamorphic layers to attach more than 400 stemples, cemented in place with construction-grade epoxy. Webb coined the slogan “venture beyond the edge”.
“Many of us will go to a lookout, but it’s not often you can venture beyond that point,” he says. “How many people get to stand on a cliff a kilometre above the valley floor?”
Summer still feels like an undiscovered season at Mt Buller, but willing explorers are richly rewarded. In recent years, $1.3m has been spent refurbishing mountain bike trails, with more than 100km of flow trails and single track spilling down the mountain’s flanks.
Mountain biking in Mt Buller
Advanced mountain bikers can take on the 46km Australian Alpine Epic cross-country trail, while the 3km Family Trail introduces newbies to rollers, bridges and small jumps.
I’m somewhere in-between (really, I’m a slightly foolhardy beginner) so opt for the 12km Delatite River Trail, renting a bike in the village and throttling the life out of the brakes during a semi-controlled 1000m descent to the Delatite River. Concentrating harder than I have on anything in my life, I guide my bike across 14 log bridges, then exhale with relief as I’m deposited unscathed on to
the lush lawns of Mirimbah Park, to cool off with a dip in the river.
A shuttle picks me up from Mirimbah Store and whisks me back up the mountain to check into Mt Buller Chalet Hotel, backing on to Bourke St.
My companion has been enjoying the indoor pool, gym and spa while I’ve been riding, and we reunite for an evening stroll along the 5km summit nature walk, weaving through snow gums and traversing winter ski runs, where it appears at least 10cm of snow daisies have fallen overnight. The views across the high country are phenomenal, and it feels like we have the place to ourselves.
Victoria’s high country in summer
Summer dining options on the mountain constitute the pub, and the other pub. The Kooroora Hotel pumps out polished pub meals such as scotch fillet, beef cheek and pumpkin sage gnocchi, but those seeking a cosier vibe may prefer the Alpine Retreat Hotel, where an open fire crackles, cold beers are cracked, and trays of sizzling pizzas are in demand.
The real gastronomic attraction though is the Long Lunch Series, a three-course feast held on the sunny deck of Spurs Smokehouse on set dates during summer.
Appetites firmly established, we sit down at a table piled with plates of Murray cod, truffle chips, wild pork tenderloin, duck legs in apricot barbecue sauce, smoked octopus, beef tallow spuds and seasonal salads, plus wines by local luminaries such as Dal Zotto and Delatite.
The backdrop is breathtaking, and the mountain air as fresh as the food. If this is life beyond the edge, I don’t think I’ll ever step back.
In the know
RockWire costs $199 (weekday) or $229 (weekend) for a three-hour guided group tour; private tours available. No experience is necessary but a head for heights helps. Mountain bikes can be hired from All Terrain Cycles or Blue Dirt in the Mt Buller village. A “Locals’ Day Out” shuttle service operates between Mansfield and Mt Buller/Mt Stirling, linking the resorts with wineries and mountain biking trails. Mt Buller Chalet Hotel from $265 a night (Friday-Sunday only). Further accommodation options are on the Mt Buller website, along with bookings for all activities, including shuttles.
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Ricky French was a guest of Mt Buller.
