Mt Buller has announced the opening of Australia’s newest indoor acrobatic facility, the Buller Air Zone. Featuring one of the largest airbags in Australia and the largest inflatable bouldering wall in the world, the facility will take indoor activities at Mt Buller to new heights.

A landmark partnership between the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA), Ski & Snowboard Australia, Buller Ski Lifts, and the Mt Buller & Mt Stirling Resort Management Board (RMB) saw athlete training programs at Mt Buller recognised as an official Olympic Training Centre. This cements Mt Buller as the Victorian home of future Olympic champions in aerials and mogul skiing.

These elite athletes need an indoor facility to train, develop and enhance their acrobatic skills. So the OWIA and RMB have spent $0.5m constructing the Buller Air Zone, a purpose built facility which will also be open to the public throughout summer and winter.

Mark Bennetts, CEO of the Mt Buller & Mt Stirling Resort Management Board said, “This is a tremendously exciting facility for the mountains. Our elite athletes will be able to train year-round, and visitors will be able to play, jump and climb in our freestyle playground. It will help boost tourism to Mt Buller and the Mansfield region, providing another activity for families, school groups and training camps in summer. It also provides another activity for winter visitors to enjoy during the daytime or at night once the lifts stop turning”.

The Buller Air Zone features five trampolines including a 20’x10’ mega tramp, waterfall tramp, giant air bag, “walk the ridge”, climbing ladder, inflatable bouldering wall and fixed climbing wall with self belay devices. It will be open daily throughout winter and at selected times throughout summer.

“We encourage everyone visiting Mt Buller to come and give BAZ a go!”, said Mr Bennetts. “There are special sessions for younger kids and the facility is available for group bookings. We are also pleased to offer a 20% discount for Mansfield Shire residents. So everyone from young children through to Olympians can enjoy playing and training at Mt Buller.”

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The future of Mt Buller’s critical Water Storage Project has been secured with the Andrew’s Labor Government yesterday announcing a $7.5 million grant through the Regional Tourism Infrastructure Fund.

Mr Anthony Carbines, MP took the opportunity whilst at Mt Buller to celebrate the opening of the 2018 snow season, to publicly announce the funding.

The Mt Buller Water Storage Project will deliver a 100 megalitre water storage facility within the ski area to provide water for drinking, snow making and firefighting. Identified as a critical component for the long-term security, sustainability and growth of the resort in summer and winter, the Mt Buller Water Storage Project has been eight years in the making.

Mark Bennetts, CEO, Mt Buller Mt Stirling Resort Management stated, “An adequate supply of water is critical for Buller to grow during summer and will double the amount of storage for snowmaking during winter. The project will provide jobs during construction and help secure regional jobs during summer and winter in the years to come.”

The project will increase snowmaking capacity in the 51 hectares of ski area with existing snowmaking, and enable an additional 15 hectares of ski area to receive new snowmaking facilities.

Laurie Blampied, General Manager, Buller Ski Lifts said, “This announcement is welcome news for Mt Buller and is a positive step to a more certain future for our skiers and snowboarders.  For Buller Ski Lifts we can now confidently plan to make more snow across more areas in the resort.

We’ve wanted to grow our snowmaking areas so skiers and boarders can enjoy a more reliable cover on more ski runs, this now gives us the ability to promise more snow on more runs each winter.”

Mt Buller Mt Stirling Resort Management and Buller Ski Lifts have a joint venture partnership in making snow at Mt Buller. Buller Ski Lifts has committed to spend over $8m in additional snowmaking and associated infrastructure.

“The project includes a range of environmental initiatives including an innovative watering feature to ensure the preservation of important alpine bogs and associated flora and fauna, as well as vegetation offsets on Mt Stirling,” said Mr Bennetts.

“Twelve months of environmental monitoring is already underway to establish a baseline before starting any construction and will continue there after. The water storage facility will also include walking trails and viewing areas.”

Planning approval for the project was received from the Victorian government in January 2018 and Environment Protection and Biodiversity approval is expected from the Federal government shortly.

A contract to complete detailed design and construction will be tendered later this year. The water storage facility is expected to be constructed during the 2019 – 2020 summer, with fill commencing during winter 2020, and be providing water for Mt Buller from the 2020 – 2021 summer.

Mt Buller and Mt Stirling see over 40% of winter visitation to Victoria’s alpine areas each year, host approximately 500,000 visitor days each year, help generate and maintain 2,600 on mountain jobs and many more in the surrounding regions, generate gross expenditure of approximately $600m p.a., and contribute $260m p.a. to Victoria’s state revenue.

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