Mountain Journal has previously covered the Epicenter. Please support this great business.
You’ll notice a few changes at Mt Stirling this year, and we have no doubt you’ll be impressed! Over the summer period the visitor center (known as Telephone Box Junction or TBJ), incorporating the café, ski hire, ski patrol base and public shelter, received a facelift. Not only did TBJ get a well-deserved upgrade, we welcome The Epicenter, a new café at TBJ who will be serving wholesome, organic food and great coffee.
Your entire experience will be improved and we can’t wait to share it with you!
The following comes from Mt Buller resort management:
Mountain bikers are getting set for the biggest event on Mt Buller’s busy calendar, the Bike Buller MTB Festival Presented by Orbea on March 7-9. Taking place over the Victorian Labour Day long weekend on Mt Buller’s world-class trails, the Bike Buller MTB Festival will see riders enjoy a jam-packed three days of mountain biking and festival fun at the popular Picnic in the Park food, wine and music festival at Mirimbah Park.
The festival is an ‘all mountain’ event, held across Mt Buller’s world-class cross-country, endurance and downhill trails, and suitable for riders of all abilities and disciplines. Run by event management company Rapid Ascent, the team behind the Giant Odyssey, Salomon Trail Running Series, Surf Coast Century and a number of other iconic adventure events, the 2015 Bike Buller MTB Festival presented by Orbea has a massive 14-event schedule with a diverse range of mountain bike races, kids’ events and even a trail running component.
The Epicenter is a great new cafe, opened in December 2014, that’s operating out of the ski school building at Telephone Box Junction on Mt Stirling.
The Epicenter has a strong focus on mountain biking, and will be open throughout summer and autumn, then for the snow season as well. Along with Mountain Kitchen at Dinner Plain, this new operation is a stand out amongst alpine cafes: it’s small scale and friendly, with an authentic feel and commitment to adventure and mountain living.
Co-owner Hjalmar Arnold (Yully/Dingo) describes it as “the Riders Lifestyle in a shop, year round” and “the Gateway to the Alpine Backcountry”. There is no doubt that the MTB trails developed in recent years on Mt Buller and Stirling are some of the finest in the country. Yully helped build them, and is a great source of knowledge for first time riders.
They have great food, much of it made on the premises, and excellent coffee. Please drop by and support this great initiative.
There are additional renovations going on to extend the facilities at TBJ, which will be ready for winter 2015.
If you don’t support secretive decision making by governments, or a new and unnecessary road in an alpine environment, you may want to send a message to the Minister who will take the decision:
A move by the Napthine government to decide behind closed doors the fate of a controversial new road linking Mount Buller to Mount Stirling could be the first step in the development of the mountain as a new ski resort, a conservation group says.
Environment groups fought a long-running battle with property heavyweight Rino Grollo from the 1980s over his ultimately withdrawn plans to develop Mount Stirling as a downhill skiing resort.
Mt Buller is already over developed. Is the road part of a plan to see similar development on Mt Stirling?
In 2008, the Mt Buller and Mt Stirling Alpine Resort Management Board applied for permission to build a road through old growth alpine ash across the north side of Corn Hill from Mt Buller to Mt Stirling.
This was ostensively to provide a route for people to escape the mountain in the case of a fire blocking the main road. However, it would pass through a considerable area of dense forest and then across to Mt Stirling, which then requires a long drive down to the Delatite River, where the existing Buller road emerges from the forest. If there is a major fire burning out of the Delatite Valley across the northern side of Buller it is hard to see how a major evacuation would work above the same area of forest. It would be a huge financial investment for a road that would probably never need to be used. A much cheaper option would be to ensure the community gathering site on the mountain contains a fire refugee able to withstand an intense fire.
So, is there something else going on? The Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) believes the real intent is to make it easier to build accommodation on Mt Stirling because it would greatly improve vehicle access to the higher sections of the mountain.
The VNPA says it would just require a ‘simple amendment’ to the current planning scheme to allow development.
The road was knocked back several years ago, but now the resort is trying to gain approval again.
There have been various attempts to develop ski resort facilities on Mt Stirling over the years, and this has long been resisted by many in the community. Mt Buller is already heavily developed, and Mt Stirling provides opportunities for cheaper, lower impact winter and summer recreation. It has recently seen the development of major mountain biking trails, and provides access to walkers, skiers, 4 wheel drivers, and horse riders.
As spring bears down on us, I know lots of people are off on last minute missions to the hills before its all over. Am off soon to Mt Stirling to see whats on offer in Stanley Bowl. It reminded me of this nice little story from my friend Andrew from last spring.
“Below, one last drop before the long summer and dusty roads and work and endless heat, waiting for those cold fronts to push through off the southern ocean. Just before I drop, I feel on the cusp of height and gravity, a small, fleeting moment of grace. I wait a minute more, weightless and happy and alone and yet in company. The whole world below beckons, and I treasure the thought of those few minutes of turns and no time for any other thoughts, and then push off into that space and that moment. One last time”.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment and the Alpine Resorts Co-ordinating Council are reviewing the Alpine resorts 2020 Strategy. The strategy was created to guide the the long term planning and management of Victoria’s six alpine resorts.
Mount Buller, VIC
DSE and ARCC will be hosting a series of workshops in June to identify key trends and issues for the future of resorts and look at how the new strategy can address these issues.
Workshops will be held in Melbourne and at or near the six resorts from June 1 until June 23. You need to rsvp for the events.
hayley.hollis@dse.vic.gov.au
Mt Stirling, adjacent to Mt Buller, is a unique natural landscape with dramatic vistas of Victoria’s alpine area.
Popular with cross-country skiers, bushwalkers, campers and school groups, it is also home to many threatened plant and animal species.
The Victorian National Parks Association has launched a push for the Mt Stirling area to be managed as a national park by linking it to the Alpine National Park and handing its management to Parks Victoria.
It can then be managed as an integral part of Victoria’s largest national park, improving ecological management, recreation experiences and the overall integrity of our alpine region.
You can find a fact sheet and details on how to take action here.
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