The Bright Observer reports that proposals from potential operators of the Mt Buffalo Chalet are under assessment after the end of the submissions period last week.
“Parks Victoria general manager for commercial business, Andrew Minack, confirmed the evaluation process for the Mount Buffalo Chalet request for tender has commenced.
Meanwhile plans for the chalet’s centenary celebrations on May 8 are in full swing”.
Information from Louise Rose (Parks Victoria), 26/04/2010.
“The Alpine Advisory Committe has met three times since being formed in October 2009, the Environment and Scientific Advisory Group has met three times and the Victorian Alpine Traditional Owner Reference Group has met six times.
More than 21,000 different people have accessed wePlan Alpine and 163 people attended open houses in October 2009.
All of this input has assisted the Alpine planning team to develop a ‘work in progress’ draft plan.
This ‘work in progress’ draft plan will soon be loaded onto this website under Draft Management Plan. We’d love your input on this work in progress to help make it a final printable draft plan.”
Des Powell has been appointed as the new Chair of the Alpine Resorts Co-ordinating Council (ARCC) in Victoria.
The Council is a statutory body established under the Victorian Alpine Resorts Management Act 1997. It reports to the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, and it’s key function includes planning for and facilitation of “the establishment, development, promotion, management and use of alpine resorts” in the state. It will be very interesting to see how Des steers the ARCC in coming years.
Given this has been announced via the Australian Financial Review, I expect there will be something on the ARCC website soon.
The Alpine Shire Council continues to push forward into its investigation about whether the skyway project should proceed (don’t mind the minor details like whether they could ever get approvals for a major infrastructure project inside a national park, or who is actually going to fund it).
There will be two information sessions in May:
For full details on the forums please check here.
Interestingly, the ‘media‘ section on the skyways website only contains positive reports on the skyway proposal.
Further (independent) opinion on the skyway proposal here.
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.
A bit of a reflection on mid autumn cloudy landscapes of subdued colours and moody feelings, as we get through one more fire season and almost out the other side of ‘burning’ season.
More here.
Now this is more like it! Mountains Cycling Challenge. Saturday 2nd May 2009 
This event will now form part of the bushfire recovery effort. Help us recover from the Black Saturday bushires.
A fantastic new event organised in conjunction with CycleSport Victoria. This is a major event for participation and race road cyclists that will also include fun activities for all the supporting crews and families of those actually participating. There will great participation and race prizes on offer.
Marysville Lake Mountain Bushfire Recovery Challenge Saturday May 2 8:30am – approx 4pm
135km participation ride starting near Marysville taking in Buxton, Taggerty, Thornton, Eildon, Alexandra back through Taggerty, Buxton, Marysville through to and up to Lake Mountain resort. A fantastic scenic route with some hill challenges…..are you ready!!!
A shorter 70km ride is available. Start in Marysville, the ride turn point will be at Taggerty, finish will be at Lake Mountain.
Full details here.
From the premier’s website:
“Entry to all of Victoria’s national parks and metropolitan parks will be made free of charge to encourage people to get active in the great outdoors, Premier John Brumby announced today.
Opening the international Healthy Parks Healthy People Congress at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Mr Brumby said the health benefits for people getting out and exploring the natural world far outweighed the benefits of collecting entry fees from parks.
“Victoria has one of the best park networks in the world and we want them to be as accessible as possible to all Victorians,” Mr Brumby said.
“From 1 July 2010 there will be no entry fee to any national park or metropolitan park in Victoria. Parks Victoria estimates that removing entry fees will increase visitor numbers by 25 per cent to 50 per cent at most sites.”
National parks that will be free are Wilsons Promontory, Mount Buffalo, Baw Baw, Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Ranges (Mount Donna Buang) and Point Nepean as well as Werribee Park, Coolart, National Rhododendron Gardens and William Ricketts Sanctuary metropolitan parks.
Surely this is a good thing… it means more people are likely to get out in the parks (and the premier has included a review to see if top up funds are needed to back fill loss of gate revenue). It should be especially useful in the case of Buffalo national park, which has been suffering because of loss or closure of key infrastructure in recent years.
Mr Brumby said encouraging people to get out and about in Victoria’s parks was good for community wellbeing and good for regional economies.
You can find the full release here.
“An epic all-wheel-drive battle for the 2010 Lake Mountain Sprint podium has been fought and won by the White Hot Lamborghini Gallardo of nephew-uncle combo Jason and John White, only seconds ahead of Steve Jones and Ben Searcy in their LF performance Nissan R35 GT-R”.
Well, thats very exciting for them, I’m sure. But honestly, don’t we have enough places for people to rip around in hotted up cars in Victoria already, without races in the mountains?
Anyway, the Sprint has been and gone again this year, and the next event up on the mountain is a mountain bike trail building working bee on Saturday 24th April.
The resort is calling for people to help: the “Lake Mountain plateau provides a great setting for a bike ride. Mountain bike riding has been identified in recent years as a rapidly growing sport with the number of mountain bikes being sold each year increasing. Whilst Lake Mountain has an extensive cross country ski trail network available offering a perfect platform for beginners, the process is underway to create an extensive trail network offering trails for all levels of ability”.
To get involved or find out more, check here.
The Buffalo Plateau is a wonderful granite plateau that sits out to the north west from the main ranges of the Victorian Alps.
At present there is consultation going on about plans to build a ‘skyway’ up on to the Buffalo Plateau (no definite route has yet been selected).
Check here for details and a poll on whether you think it’s a good idea.
Mountain Journal 
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