OPERATION White Bridge was the name of a training exercise held on Mt Buller recently outlining the actions needed to be taken if a major landslide occurred on the Mt Buller.

Senior Sergeant Steve Carden of Mansfield Police instigated the training session as a scenario if such a landslide was to occur.

The largest number recorded on Mt Buller on one day was around 18,000.

"Last year we had a small landslide at White Bridge and were fortunate that it was not major, as it would have closed the road for more than the five hours it took to clear this slide," Snr Sgt Carden said.

"If a larger landslide was to occur on a clear sunny Sunday when upwards of 14,000 people are on the mountain, how would we get people off?

"What emergencies services would we need?

"What would we have to do to keep everyone safe?

"There would not be enough accommodation for everyone up there." Snr Sgt Carden said.

The scenario for the round table exercise was that 100 metres of road had collapsed and no one could go within 200 metres either side of the landslide due to safety issues.

"So we looked at initial immediate action, getting the information to the public; to the people on Mt Buller, to Mansfield and then across the state," he said.

"You've got that many people on the hill, so we have to look at ways to get very vulnerable people down.

"People would tend to panic; the need to get off the mountain to them would become more urgent, so extra support would be required to cope with these people.

"We then looked at the individual control agencies responsibilities; the main control agency would be the SES in these circumstances."

Agencies involved in an incident such as this had representatives at the exercise and included police, Buller Resort COO Mark Bennetts and his key staff, Buller Ski Lifts, Buller Holidays, Mt Buller Ratepayers, Mt Buller Chamber of Commerce, Bus Fleet, Ski Patrol and agency staff from ARV, Vic Forests, CFFMH, SES, Indoors Victoria, DEECA and Mansfield Shire.

"So there was a lot involved in this exercise, but I think it was one of those scenarios where everyone saw what could happen," Snr Sgt Carden said.

"I don't think it has been addressed this thoroughly for quite some time.

"So, what would we do?" he asked.

Differing from other resorts there is only one way in and one way out at the moment to the top of Buller.

"You do have Cornhill Track but you are not going to get your 'Beamer' (BMW) down there," he said.

"Last year when we had the minor landslide we quickly formed a management team in Mansfield and it was dealt with very efficiently.

"SES responded very quickly and we just happened to have a road crew around at the time to help out and the road was only closed for about five hours; and clearing ran like clockwork.

"That's fine but with something like a bigger landslide could very quickly escalate from a local response to a state response," Snr Sgt Carden said.

"The scenario we looked at was for a Sunday afternoon, blue skies, two metres of snow on the ground; 14,000 people on the mountain, which is not unusual.

"Mt Buller has only 7000 beds and with the numbers that Mt Buller has been getting there would not be sufficient accommodation.

"The evacuation exercise revolved around that," Snr Sgt Carden said.

The main power supply runs underground up the mountain and beside the road, so if that was taken out all sorts of things would also have been taken out.

"We addressed the issues of an emergency relief centre; information being put out to not only people stuck on the mountain but also beyond.

"The exercise was fantastic, everyone came together and everybody gained a greater appreciation of the agencies capabilities and capacities," Snr Sgt Carden said.

"Previously there was some level of understanding but this exercise increased that level of understanding," he said.

"We also looked at the potential costs of evacuation on a massive scale; the potential costs of closing the mountain for the remainder of the season or longer; the impact and loss of revenue for businesses.

"Cornhill Track upgrade was identified as a critical mitigation; so under the ARV control that would progress."

Upgrading the link between Mt Stirling and Mt Buller has been mooted for some years but has got no further than being discussed.

"It has always been there, always been in the background; this is probably the first time that all of the relevant experts agreed this would be a critical mitigation factor that would provide an answer to this scenario if it was to occur.

"Every agency at the exercise agreed that Cornhill track upgrade was critical."