The True Spirit of Alpine Australia is set to launchThe wait of the Mount Hotham branding campaign is nearly over with its launch set to commence on Monday, 12 June 2017. After over 12 months of workshops, brainstorming, filming, collaborating, photographing, recording and creative design, Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board (MHARMB) is proud to orchestrate a new way of providing guests with a unique alpine experience. MHARMB appreciate the fantastic input and contributions of its stakeholders in helping the True Spirit of Alpine Australia come alive through their ideas and feedback. The True Spirit of Alpine Australia is the latest Mount Hotham branding campaign aimed at providing a new Australian alpine identity for the mountain. The idea of the campaign is to set us apart from all other ski resorts, give Mount Hotham a ‘voice’ and show that the alpine experience, and all its magic, is present in both the winter and green season. The campaign will see a transformation in the look of the Mount Hotham website (www.mthotham.com.au). This will be complemented by MHARMB’s social media channels which will be used to enhance the campaign messaging. They will form a unique platform to feature businesses on the mountain along with latest news, offers and the usual suspects - snow reports, road updates and the best shots of the mountain. To follow the campaign, make sure to visit our website or our Facebook (@MtHotham.RMB) and Instagram (@Mt.Hotham.Resort) feeds. If you wish to take part in The True Spirit of Alpine Australia campaign contact MHARMB Marketing Officer Nicole Hayes via nicolehayes@mthotham.com.au or call (03) 5759 4033. Relocation of Guest Services HutThe relocation of the Telstra Exchange Building to the Corral Car Park has led to the old guest services hut being demolished and replaced with the old ticket box from Buckland Gap. The new guest services hut is positioned next to the Telstra Exchange Building on the corner of the Corral Car Park. Manger of Innovation and Guest Services Kevin Raymond said that the old ticket box was a “perfect substitute” for the new hut. “We now have a new camera system that has been installed this summer which no longer requires the hut," Mr Raymond said. “With the road management procedures over the last few years we haven’t required the Buckland Gap ticket box to be used for traffic control, because the road is being managed quite nicely and efficiently now. “We are ultimately recycling and saving costs where we can, by reusing an old building to replace another one.” The guest services hut will begin operating from opening weekend on June 10 between the hours of 4.00pm until late. Mr Raymond said that the guest services hut was put in place to assist guests who are coming up late afternoon onto the mountain. “It’s basically a visitor information service and a bit of concierge service for the mountain as far as pointing people in the right direction,” Mr Raymond said. “When they get up here after their long drive up the mountain in the middle of the night, it gives the town somewhere to go to. “If there are any problems around the town they can go to the guest services hut and report them, and the guys are plugged into all communication channels. “People can get all their maps and brochures and stuff like that and we can make relevant phone calls. “We do have nights where we do close it because it’s so quiet and we put a contactable phone number on the door,” he said. For further information on the new guest services hut contact Resort Management on 03 5759 3550. Have a say about your travel experience along the Great Alpine Road The Australian and Victorian Governments have committed $18 million for upgrades to the Great Alpine Road from Bruthen to Wangaratta that will support the region’s tourism, timber, agriculture and freight industries. VicRoads is looking to identify improvement works that contribute to route safety, accessibility and reliability for all road users and might include works such as intersection improvements, road widening, shoulder sealing, safety barriers, pavement restoration and drainage works at high-risk flooding or land slip sites. To have a say in what you think needs improvement along the Great Alpine Road, click below Diamond Pattern Snow Chains Vehicles travelling up to Mount Hotham during the winter period must carry diamond pattern snow chains with them at all times. Vehicles which do not carry diamond pattern snow chains will be prohibited entry into Mount Hotham Alpine Resort. This regulation came into effect in 2013 as part of the Controlled Management Traffic Plan to increase the safety of travellers on the Great Alpine Road. The diamond pattern snow chain regulation was successful in its first year, which saw a 60% decrease in severe vehicle accidents. Since its introduction, traffic accidents and closures along the Great Alpine Road have continued to decline and have reduced by up to 70-80%. Diamond pattern wheel chains are constructed of high-quality steel which criss-crosses around the whole surface of the tyre and offers more traction and contact with the road surface compared with other chain patterns. For more information on snow chains at Mount Hotham, visit http://www.mthotham.com.au/plan-my-trip/travel-to-hotham/by-road/chain-fitting-info/. The season is upon us!! Mount Hotham is preparing for an exciting season of good powder days, suburb accommodation and mouth-watering menus. With the launch of their new branding campaign in June, Mount Hotham seeks to be the ‘True Alpine Spirit of Australia’ and will change the way people view Australia’s most thrill-seeking mountain. The opening weekend will feature a display of fireworks on Saturday, June 10 at 7pm, and live music will be held at various venues across the resort and in Dinner Plain. The General are excited for the opening weekend by spoiling us with six consecutive days of live music, starting Thursday, 8 June 2017 featuring Mark Hogg. Hotham365 will start operating 5pm – 9pm every night (except night skiing nights). Come down to Hotham365 for some indoor ski slope fun. Offers will be circulated throughout the season, starting with the introductory June offer of $15 for half our session with up to four people. One-Tree Sports Boutique & Ski Shop and Zirkys will be putting on wine and nibbles over the weekend, so come down and grab a glass of bubbly and ‘shop in style’ for those winter warmers and perfect set of skis! Come out to opening weekend at Mount Hotham and share the amazing alpine experience with the rest of us! Hotham's Food Waste Recycling helping the environment According to Mount Hotham environmental department, 50% of Mount Hotham’s waste stream is food waste. In 2010, the North East Waste and Resource Recovery Group (NEWRRG), formerly known as NevRwaste, noticed a large majority of waste resulting from alpine resorts and going into landfill was food waste. With these results in mind, NEWRRG got funding to create the ‘Living Bin’ project. For Mount Hotham Alpine Resort, the project was first trialled in winter 2010 with commercial businesses and was found to be successful. Over the following years, the project has been rolled out across the wider community. In 2015 post-winter, Mount Hotham ran an initial trial for composting at Cobungra. Shepparton compost facility received 38 tonnes of the resort’s food waste and the remaining three tonnes was taken to Cobungra composting facility. The successful results gave Mount Hotham confidence in the process and they then took on the task of processing 2016 winter’s food waste. Mount Hotham now collects food waste from all establishments across the resort. Mount Hotham runs the Cobungra Landfill and organic composting facility and would like to see the community focus on how they recycle their different types of waste. Environmental and Compliance Officer Georgina Boardman said that the way people get rid of their waste has a detrimental impact on the environment. “We have the ability to make a choice between sending our food waste to landfill, which impacts on our environment two-fold, or recycling properly and allowing that food waste to go to our organic composting facility,” Mrs Boardman said. “Organic waste has a high level of methane - a greenhouse gas emission which contributes significantly to the amount of greenhouse gases coming out of, and moving through, the ground. “Food waste is very high in nitrogen nitrates and there is a funky thing called leachate, and as food waste breaks down it makes a fluid that leaks out of the bottom – that’s leachate and it can contaminate ground water source by elevating nitrogen levels. “By removing food waste from our landfill, we are doing a really good thing for the environment and by recycling it on site here at Cobungra, we are able to reduce our transport and, hence, greenhouse gas emissions from transport. “As a result, this compost has potential applications in our revegetation work, our nursery and benefits back into environmental projects across the resort,” she said. The food collected from the resort is mixed with sawdust to kick-start the composting process. The pile heats up on its own and moisture levels are monitored. Further lab testing will be carried out to gain a full comprehensive chemical breakdown. Mount Hotham Alpine Resort Management Board (MHARMB) takes pride in their three-bin recycling system and hopes that the community can support their efforts in reducing the impacts on the local environment by separating waste from recycle and placing food scraps into separate bags. “We want our stakeholders to continue to support us in this program, by getting behind it and taking as much as their food waste out of their normal waste collection stream, making sure they separate it into relevant bags,” Mrs Boardman said. “We defiantly encourage people to keep an eye on that and reduce contamination. It’s just for food scraps so beware of soft plastics, cutlery, beware of other things that aren’t food scraps or organic waste that is going to contaminate the system. “We now have the opportunity to make an end-use product of it in a closed-loop system here in the resort. “If people don’t take the option to recycle food waste and it goes into the garbage, it will end up in landfill and it will end up having a negative impact on our alpine environment and our groundwater resources. So, look after your own back yard, is probably the best way to put it.” |