What’s On – Easter long weekend Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board (MHARMB) office is open Friday 14 April and Saturday 15 April between hours 8am – 4.30pm. The office will be closed on Sunday 16 April and Monday 17 April. Mount Hotham HOTHAM 365 is open by appointment only. The venue offers an all-season downhill gravity experience, indoor ski/snowboard slope. Learn to ski and snowboard in a safe and controlled environment. For bookings call (03) 5459 3550. FREE GUIDED BUSHWALK TOUR will be running Sunday 16 April from Village Square, Corral Car Park at 9.30am. This short stroll takes in the summit of Mount Higginbotham and some of the early history of the resort, returning via East Street and Higgi Drive, exploring the Pygmy Possum habitat along the way. Returning to the Village Square. Learn how the golden era eventually transformed the region from wilderness to the resort we know today. PTV BUS operating between Omeo and Bright on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays. Departs Omeo (at Courthouse) at 8am and then leaves from Bright (at Transit) for its return journey at 1.15pm – Alps Link. PTV BUS between Omeo and Bairnsdale will not be operating over the Easter long weekend from Good Friday – Easter Monday. Dinner Plain BLIZZARD BREWING CO is celebrating its first birthday with a lamb BBQ and live music and will be open Good Friday - Easter Monday 12pm - late. The brewery offers a range of locally brewed craft beer and cider brewed from the snow-melt, right here in the Victorian Alps and has their fresh-brewed summer stout and exclusive fresh green hops brew. DINNER PLAIN TUBE PARK is open on Good Friday – Easter Monday 2pm - 5pm. The tube park is a fun, easy and safe hill slide for children aged 5 years and older. Prices: $15pp afternoon tubing session or $45 family afternoon pass (2 adults 2 children). Tickets are available from the Tube Park ticket office located in Dinner Plain. Cash only. ONSEN RETREAT AND SPA is open over the Easter period from 11am - 7pm, commencing Good Friday – Easter Sunday (closed Easter Monday). The Spa offers massage, skin care, facials and body treatments and will have bathing and gym facilities available. The village ski shops will also hold their renowned Easter sales here. Bookings are essential and can be made via online bookings or contact (03) 5150 8880. HOTEL HIGH PLAINS are open over the Easter weekend from 12pm – late with games in front of the beer garden including mega jenga, totem tennis, front yard cricket, plunge pool and bocci. The new addition High Plains Burger Bar is open 12pm – 3pm. Saturday night will have live music by The Hand Me Downs. Sunday will be hosting the Polo After Party with Imogen Price Live from 7pm and Ricky Wood Live from 9pm. For further details contact (03) 5159 6324. DINNER PLAIN HOTEL is open over the Easter weekend from 11pm - late. There will be live music by Paul Gibbs from 7pm on Good Friday and Easter Saturday. For further details contact (03) 5159 6462. MOUNTAIN KITCHEN is open Good Friday – Easter Monday from 8am – 4pm. There will be a coffee machine outside for those wanting to stop for a quick break. For further enquiries contact (03) 5159 6560. Mount Hotham Bus Tender Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board (MHARMB) call for an Expressions of Interest (EoI) bus tender for winter 2018. The winter bus service at Mount Hotham plays an important role through its operations during the snow season. The bus service which is being considered for EoI is the intra-village bus services within the resort during winter (July to September). The intention of the EoI is to bring bus operators expertise up to Mount Hotham, so that they can look at how the service is currently running, see if there are better ways of operating it, and to seek out the unique attributes of the bus service operation in winter, from the Mount Hotham crew who currently operate it. Currently, MHARMB run the intra-village transit bus service which has two distinct functional transport circuits within the resort: · Village circuit – this circuit stays within the village precinct and travels between Hotham Central (stop 1) and Davenport Access Track (stop 8) · Wire Plain/Whiskey Flat circuit – this circuit extends outside of the village from Hotham Central (stop 1) and utilises all stops of the village circuit and extends to Wire Plain and Whiskey Flat, servicing the overnight and out-of-village parking. MHARMB employs casual bus drivers for the seasonal service, which services several distinct purposes that are dependent on the time the service is operating: · Staff transport from accommodation to workplace; · Return skier transport from accommodation to ski area and lessons; · Après transport for guests travelling to and from accommodation to restaurants and bars; and · Car park transport for both arriving and departing guests. The other bus service which runs from Dinner Plain to Hotham is also being considered for EoI. This service caters for the public, guests, staff and, potentially, the Dinner Plain school. It currently operates on a timetable between 7am and 6pm during the winter season. The current service between Mount Hotham and Dinner Plain is confusing to visitors. Ideally, a seamless service would be achievable in the future. There would also be options for add-ons during the EoI process. The process will commence with a publicly advertised EoI, which will go out in April 2017. MHARMB also call for bus industry operators and local bus operators. The outcome will be a short list of contractors, who will then be able to look at the bus service during the 2017 winter, with the option to make a formal tender. In October 2017, a candidate will be selected from the tender, which will allow them time to prepare for operations in the 2018 winter season. There is a reason why Victorian Alps Nursery is so unique...The Victorian Alps Nursery is unique part of Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board’s environmental program. The nursery propagates a large variety of alpine and sub-alpine species for rehabilitation and restoration projects at all major Victorian ski resorts, Mount Buffalo, Kosciuszko National Park and NSW National Parks. It is the only supplier of local provenance indigenous plants to Victorian Alpine areas and Ovens Valley. Alpine plants are naturally conditioned to withstand cold temperatures, a short growth season and shallow alpine soil. Because of the conditions in which they grow in, the alpine plants can be difficult to grow in other climates. The Victorian Alpine Nursery uses various mixed medias to encourage growth of these plants to their natural requirements to grow healthy and robust tube stock, while in hostile environments. Nursery Manager and Horticulturalist Rebecca Read said that the nursery has been working hard to develop techniques to break seed dormancy, germinate and produce quality plants. “We have had success with this, where others have failed and previously thought impossible to grow in a nursery,” Ms Read said. “Climate is managed similar to any other plant nursery, however we do have to use cold treatment (stratification) to break seed dormancy on many alpine and lowland species. “If our nursery didn’t exist then there would be no reliable supplier of plants to Victorian Alpine areas, which would impact on infrastructure works and the fulfilment of revegetation obligations. “It would also impact on the rehabilitation and replanting of environmentally significant ecosystems affected by fire, deer, weed invasion. There are over 150 species produced at the nursery, from snow gums to shrubs, wildflowers, grasses and wetland plants for alpine areas, and species indigenous to Ovens and Kiewa valleys including forest trees, shrubs, grasses, riparian (riverside) and other wetland plants. The plants that are propagated at the nursery are sourced from specific areas and are used for their specific environments. This means that a plant which has been sourced from Mt Kosciusko cannot be replanted at Mount Hotham and vice versa. The recent Mount Hotham Swindlers Valley pipeline upgrade saw the need for revegetation works to rejuvenate and replace the valley’s vegetation. Alpine Nursery supplied 40,000 plants to the Swindlers Valley floor which are being planted by the Mount Hotham environment crew. An additional 2,000 alpine plants have gone into beautification works around Mount Hotham, and gardens are being established around the village entrance. Other summer projects include 15,000 plants supplied to Mount Hotham Skiing Company to rehabilitate areas where snowmaking lines have recently been installed. The nursery supplies Landcare and Alpine Shire lowland plants for riverside revegetation sites in towns from Omeo through to Myrtleford. It also has contract jobs, consultation, plant supply, planting and ongoing maintenance at Bakers Gully Dams in Bright, where the dam walls and spillways were rebuilt. In 2003 and 2006, major fires went through the Bogong High Plains and Mount Buffalo which burnt out peatland. The nursery supplied alpine bog plants to rehab the severely affected areas. The nursery currently holds 50,000 plants yearly, but can hold as many as 70,000 plants. Last year, 60,000 plants were sold and distributed from the nursery. Early Bird Resort Entry is now available Early Bird Resort Entry is a great way to save a few $$ on your season permit for your vehicle and the All Resorts Season Permit will allow you access to the Victorian snow resorts of Mount Hotham, Falls Creek, Mount Buller, Mount Baw Baw, Mount Stirling and Lake Mountain. To take advantage of either the Mount Hotham or All Resorts Early Bird Resort
Entry (for unlimited access during the season) simply click HERE Resort entry fees are paid for access to the resort and help fund a wide range of visitor services provided to you by the Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board. Resort Entry Fees help cover such things as: Hotham Ski Patrol, Complimentary Village Transport, Village Snow Clearing, Cross Country Trail Grooming, Traffic & Car Parking Services, Waste Management, Environmental Management and a variety of other services provided by the Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board. Diamond pattern chains are now mandatory for ALL vehicles entering the Mount Hotham Alpine Resort. Ladder chains, spider chains, and snow socks are not permitted to be used at any time. Day and Multi-day Resort Entry permits will be available for purchase online from the 1 May 2017. We look forward to welcoming you back to Mount Hotham this season and thank you for your patronage to our spectacular mountain. Mount Hotham hosted Tour de Cure's 11th Signature Tour in March Cyclists peddled into action when Tour de Cure launched its 11th Signature Tour at Mount Hotham on Friday 24 March 2017. The aim of the Tour is to raise funds and awareness to help find a cure for cancer. A team of 120 cyclists, 35 support crew and the crew from Channel 7 Sunrise rode from Hotham to Hobart and donated $10,000 to a local charity or cause for every overnight stop over. The team visited schools along the way for Tour de Cure Be Fit, Be Healthy, Be Happy program. The tour commenced on Thursday 23 March 2017 for the Riding for a Cure dinner at The General in Mount Hotham. The night included speeches, presentations and a shared feast. Tour de Cure presented their first cheque at the dinner to Camp Quality who supports kids aged zero to thirteen who are growing up with cancer. The charity has supported 10,000 families nationally and have been a recipient of Tour de Cure in previous years. Fundraising Specialist for Camp Quality Jo McKeown said that Camp Quality was “grateful” for the support from Tour de Cure and that the donation would go towards supporting kids who are going through treatment. “Camp Quality really believe that kids deserve to be kids and that’s what we try to make happen,” Ms McKeown said. “Kids are impacted whether they are a child with diagnosis or if it is someone they love who has a diagnosis. “We are really focusing on making our programs relevant to those kids in that capacity, to make sure they don’t miss out on being a kid because they are impacted in that way, which means they miss out on school camps, sleepovers and playdates, so that’s what Camp Quality give back to them. “It’s all based on optimism and resilient, so we give the kids tools to build better lifestyles for themselves as they are on the cancer experience. “With these funds, we can bring 15 families to Hotham in June to get away from cancer”, she said. General Manager of Mount Hotham Skiing Company Belinda Trembath was delighted to be a part of this year’s tour and said that the tour was a great opportunity for kids to be involved. “I have met some great people and heard some great stories, so I’m looking forward to going to the primary schools as well. “Once we get the opportunity to do that I think it’s going to be magic how the kids respond to the riders and to the stories and I believe that’s really a special part of the tour,” Ms Trembath said. Ms Trembath rode the first stage of the tour and is determined to raise more funds. Director of Development for Tour de Cure Geoff Coombes said that it was a “spectacular start to the tour” up at Mount Hotham. “Hotham is a summer and a winter playground and I thought what a way to start by bringing the team to the top and then ride all the way down to the bottom, so it is a special way to commemorate our 11th year. Mount Hotham completes its summer storm water and sewer upgrades The Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board (MHARMB) has been working hard to implement new infrastructure development, which has stemmed from the Mount Hotham Master Plan and the Mount Hotham Development Growth Plan. The two plans have set a direction for MHARMB CAPEX projects for the next 3 – 5 years, with a focus on asset maintenance and infrastructure renewal. Upgrading and replacement of services has been the current focus, which enables support for future potential developments. Service upgrades that are underway include the sewer mains and storm water mains upgrade, resort camera upgrade, Loch Car Park upgrade, Telstra service relocation, GAR verge sealing, installation of bus shelters, street lighting and urban amenities by creating a ‘sense of arrival’. The sewer and stormwater upgrade works, that have been operating outside of the MHARMB office over the 2016-17 summer, have now been completed. The upgrade has continued from the summer works last year and provides the base infrastructure for new development and existing development. The services were at the end of their life and have been due to be upgraded with realignment in the service corridor, which will be connected next year. MHARMB carried out the project using the cost-effective process and safe innovation of tunnel boring, this is more sufficient and beneficial than open-cut excavation which can be dangerous and expensive. An entry pit and exit pit have been bored 250 metres through rock and approximately 6 metres down underground, with pipe jacked in and grouted. The pipes are a combination of concrete for stormwater and plastic PVC for the sewer mains. The upgrade is a first for Hotham Central and has a life span of 100 years. The infrastructure takes in environmental considerations by creating a good outfall from the pipes which incorporates frog ponds and discharges into existing creeks rather than over land. Stakeholder BriefingMount Hotham held their annual stakeholder briefing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Tuesday 21 March 2017. The briefing was an opportunity for stakeholders to be up-to-date with the operations and management of the resort and have the chance to raise their ideas and issues. Mount Hotham stakeholders travelled from all over the state to attend the briefing which covered topics regarding the Governance Reform, Mount Hotham branding, Growing Mt Hotham project and an overview of works undertaken by Mount Hotham Skiing Company. Guest speaker and President of Victorian Snowsports Association (VSA) Rob Anderson talked about VSA’s view on the Governance Reform. The Board has noted all questions and issues raised during the Briefing and is working towards stronger communications and engagement with its stakeholders. A great response was achieved over the days following the briefing with further concerns and ideas raised through stakeholder email. Stakeholders responded well to Mount Hotham branding, which is expected to stimulate a 10 per cent growth in visitation. The campaign aims to brand Mount Hotham with a new Australian alpine identity. Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board’s Chief Executive Officer Jon Hutchins said that the resort had an opportunity to “really make a difference” when it came to messaging for prospective customers. “Mount Hotham has a strong retention rate of 70 to 80 per cent of guests returning every two years.” “The new branding and communications strategy is aimed at spreading experience to a wider audience who will appreciate the amazing alpine experience that Mount Hotham provides. “The Board embraces the opportunity to meet the stakeholders and hear their concerns and assess their ideas to provide a greater guest experience at Mount Hotham. “These ideas and suggestions provide the basis for the resort going forward in a coordinated direction. “All the projects that are now being undertaken by the Board are based on the four years of consultation which has shaped the Mount Hotham Master Plan.” |