Nutcracker Ski Club

This is Part Four in a series for first time visitors to the snow on what to wear up on the mountain. See part One, part Two and part Three.

In the previous post of this series I wrote about what kind of activities, other than skiing, that you may do at Mt Buller and why some items of clothing just won’t be appropriate for these activities. In this post I’d like to write about the limitations that you can come across when deciding what to take on your skiing holiday.

Mt Buller is about three hours from Melbourne. There are currently two methods of transport to get to Mt Buller - Car and Bus. Both of these methods can have limitations depending on how much you can bring with you during your stay.

This can have an effect on the amount, and type, of clothing you can take with you.

Let’s start with option one: Taking your car.

You would think that if you take your car, as opposed to the bus, you would be able to fit more in the car and hence take more with you. Well, not exactly.

Unless you have a permit, you cannot take your vehicle to the lodge door. You will need to leave your car at one of the designated car parks surrounding the resort village. From there you can either walk up yourself, which can be strenuous with the luggage, or you can catch a taxi.

The taxi service at Mt Buller will meet you at the car park and transport you and your luggage to your lodge. The cost for this service is Adult $16.00 one way, Child $9.50 one way. The fare includes two items of luggage plus skis, poles and boots. Any additional luggage is charged extra.

Two items of luggage might sound like a lot for one person, but if you are staying at a self accommodating lodge, such as Nutcracker, for a week, you need to consider bed linen, food, drinks as well as your clothing.

The other thing to think about with driving is that it is a requirement, by law, that you carry snow chains for your car with you during the ski season. If you don’t have chains you will need to hire them.

When it is snowing on the summit road, you will be prompted to get out of your car and put them on. Have you driven with chains before? Do you know how to put them on? Personally, I’d rather not have to deal with it.

I use option two when I head to Mt Buller: Taking the bus.

What I like about taking the bus is that it takes you straight to the village. There is no waiting for taxis in the cold and the bus price is all inclusive. Plus you can take what you need and you only have to walk 500 meters or so to your lodge.

There are two ways that you can use the bus as a means of getting to Mt Buller.

The first is to take a Bus Coach from Melbourne. The service will take you from Melbourne straight to Mt Buller village. Plus the price includes complimentary tickets for a taxi so you don’t have to walk to your lodge. This is ideal if you plan on having an extended time at Mt Buller.

The second is to drive to the base of the mountain, Mirimbah, leave your car there and take the bus service to the village. This is perfect if you are only spending a weekend at Mt Buller. You do not get complimentary taxi tickets in the fare, but at least you can walk it from the village.

With catching the bus there is no limitation on luggage, but I would assume it’s within reason, so don’t going packing 5 suitcases!

The point I am trying to achieve is that you not only need to chose the right clothing the conditions and understand what clothing you’ll need for what you are doing, but that you will also need to be savvy with your packing and optimise your baggage space.

The next post in this series will include what I believe are the top essential items of clothing to bring with you to the snow and how to work the clothing to suit the day-to-day conditions.

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