Mt Buller celebrates 60 years of Interschools competition and welcomes Olympians for training this week

6000 students from across Victoria are gathered at
Mt Buller this week for the 60th Victorian Interschools
Snowsports Championships taking place in resort until Sunday
Image\ provided by The Photo Shop Mt Buller

Mt Buller celebrates 60 years of Interschools competition and welcomes Olympians for training this week

The 2017 Subaru Victorian Interschools Snowsports Championships is underway for the 60th time at Mt Buller with thousands of skiers and snowboarders relishing a week of competition in excellent snow conditions. Olympic gold and bronze medallist aerial skier Lydia Lassila OAM welcomed the competitors at the opening celebrations and is also training at Mt Buller this week.

The Victorian Interschools SnowSports Championships, were first staged in 1958 at Mt Buller between just two schools - Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College. Since then the Victorian Interschools SnowSports Championships have grown to become one of the premiere school sporting competitions in Victoria spawning World champions and Olympians such as Alex ‘Chumpy” Pullin, Anton Grimus, Scotty James, Belle Brockhoff and more.

The event now welcomes 2,500 students of all ages introducing them to the fun of snowsports and the alpine environment. Fresh snow has been dusting the resort today adding to the atmosphere on the race courses with sunshine and clear skies forecast for the remainder of the week.

Chairman of the Mt Buller Interschools Association, Laurie Blampied said, “Mt Buller is delighted to support this long and rich tradition of schools snowsports which celebrates an impressive 60 year milestone this winter. Some children racing today will go on to represent their state or even their country in snowsports, but every child here will no doubt enjoy skiing or snowboarding for the rest of their lives and fondly look back on their experiences they had at Mt Buller during Interschools.”

Event Manager David Speirs adds “The Subaru Victorian Interschools is all about getting young people involved in snowsports and helping them develop lifelong passion for the sport. The Mt Buller community welcomes 190 schools from all across the state for this event which brings together students, families and schools in this beautiful alpine setting for a fantastic week of fun, competition and camaraderie.”

The inaugural 1958 ‘Interschools’ had just 8 competitors, 4 boys from Melbourne Grammar School and 4 boys from Scotch College and there was one grand slalom alpine race. Today more than 2,500 competitors race for a full 7 days to cover all races and all divisions across 9 disciplines - Alpine Giant Slalom, Snowboard Giant Slalom, Snowboard Cross, Ski Cross, Moguls, Cross Country Classical, Cross Country Freestyle Relay, Slopestyle Ski and Slopestyle Snowboard.

Just three hours from Melbourne, Mt Buller is the most accessible major snow resort in Australia with over 300 hectares of skiable terrain, more lifts, more runs and more accommodation options than any other Victorian snow resort. A range of accommodation deals and packages are available with competitive spring packages available now for a September snow escape. Visit mtbuller.com.au for further details or call 1800 BULLER.