SEVENTY FIVE years ago Ski Club Victoria (SCV) members built the first ski lift on Victoria’s premier alpine resort, Mount Buller.

Curator of the National Alpine Museum for Mount Buller, Michelle Stevenson said it was on July 3 1949 when the first rope tow opened on Bourke Street transporting skiers up the mountain.

“Rob Summers a member of SCV first suggested the tow and managed the subcommittee,” she said.

Merrick Summers, Rob’s son was an engineering student.

To help avoid shortages post-WW2, Merrick modified a six-cylinder 22 kilowatt Chevrolet engine run off power kerosene rather than petrol; this was used to drive the tow.

“On the day of the tow’s opening, Merrick operated the lift which carried skiers 274 metres up Bourke Street,” Ms Stevenson said.

“The design was inspired by the early rope tows appearing in Canada and the USA in the 1930s and ran on its own specially cleared track separating skiers from tow riders.”

Merrick’s daughter Jane Phillips said her father was very passionate about constructing the tow, because it made skiing more accessible for everyone.

She said her father and grandfather Rob previously would ride on horseback up the mountain.

“The horses couldn’t carry them to the top, so it was pretty much all walking,” she said.

“They usually only got three runs in an afternoon.

“My dad’s legacy meant I grew up skiing way before it was a hugely popular thing to do in the 1960s.

“I have very fond memories of the snowgums, lumps and bumps everywhere way before there was any snow grooming.

“We’ve continued that with our children, so it’s certainly been a family thing for at least four generations on the back of his enthusiasm.

“My daughter Emily is now president of the BMW ski club which we are all a part of.”

Ms Stevenson said the construction of the first lift was a major effort by a team of volunteers from SCV and what would become the BMW Ski Club, finding materials and repurposing them.

“Owner of Aus Ski, Tony Aslangul was a champion skier who went on to become an Olympic skier,” she said.

“Tony assisted Rob in building the engine house and clearing the runs.

A number of people in the SCV also had backgrounds in engineering.

“George Johnston made the engine mountain and rope-way components, Cedric Sloane fabricated the pulley brackets creating a rear axle assembled from a machine gun carriage,” Ms Stevenson said.

“Frank and George Swinburn assembled the mechanical equipment and George helped operate the tow.

“Ed Street and C. Jaasund spliced and assembled the rope.”

Michelle said the construction of the first lift at Buller made it easier for people to ski; beginners could get more runs in and it made it quicker for experts to get to advanced runs.

“It marked a period of major growth for the resort with more lifts, new ski runs and the beginnings of the formation of the Mt Buller Village with new clubs forming and building lodges,” she said.

After the first two seasons, the rope tow was converted to a ‘Hamilton Tow’ where skiers used a nutcracker to grip the rope rather than gloved hands.

A nutcracker was a metal device worn on the belt allowing skiers to go up the hill safely without getting their hands stuck in the pulley.

“After SCV built the first tow, a number of other people installed them on the mountain throughout the 1950s including John Hilton Wood who founded what was known as the Blue Lifts, one of Buller’s chairlift companies,” Michelle said.

“The SCV eventually got out of their rope tow and it was bought by a group of skiers and they formed what became orange lifts.”

Michelle said by the the 1960s there were two competing lift companies, the Blue Lifts and the Orange Lifts.

“There was a little bit of politics involved in terms of who got what area and they would progressively build new lifts and try and outdo each other creating new technology," she said.

“They went head-to-head for a long time until the 1980s driving lift development and skiing at Buller for years.

“The fact that you had two different lifts meant you had two of everything including two different ski schools; French if you were a blue lift skier and Austrian if you were orange.

“It had a huge impact on the mountain and how people skied, and in some cases how people learnt to ski for almost 30 years.

“McMahon Holdings bought into blue lifts and then in 1985 blue lifts bought out orange lifts and we now have one united lift company in Mount Buller.”

The current lift company is Buller Ski Lifts (BSL) formed in 1993 and hires about 980 seasonal staff during the winter season.

The lift operations team summit crew shared their insight into what it is like being a lifty on Mount Buller today.

The team made up of both new and experienced lifties feel extremely proud to celebrate 75 years of ski lifts on Buller.

Jesse Friday a Mansfield local is in his first season and always visited Buller as a child.

Jesse said his favourite run-on Buller is Wombat.

“The best part about being a lifty is seeing everyone smiling and making sure they’re having a good day,” he said.

Luke Bourke from the Yarra Valley is in his fourth season, Eliza Phillips who grew up in Warrandyte is in her eighth, and Ella Harris from Melbourne is in her second.

Luke’s favourite run is Bull Run which has a canteen at the bottom.

“I grew up in a family that was lucky to come up to Mount Buller a lot,” he said.

“Now that I’m a lifty, I get to access a lot of things up here which is amazing.”

Eliza’s favourite runs are The Summit and Howqua.

“I think it’s unreal waking up and looking out the window and seeing snow while watching the sunrise,” she said.

“Buller has a really tight knit community, because it’s a small mountain.”

Ella agreed with Eliza that the best run is the Summit on a blue bird day.

Over the years, the crew have encountered a number of strange and funny things.

“A couple of years ago, mountain operations (ski patrol) assisted the police in a chase on ski-doos for a wanted man,” Luke said.

Eliza said she met professional snowboarder and four-time Olympian Scotty James when she was working at the top of Bull Run.

“I said Scotty I’m from Warrandyte too and asked him for a photo,” she said.

“Then he took his helmet off and was really lovely.

“Suddenly everyone swarmed in, and I felt really bad.”

The crews’ top tips for staying warm as a lifty include keeping busy and rugging up.

Luke and Jesse said the only way to stay warm is to stay on a shovel.

Eliza and Ella said good quality gear is a must-have.

“What you will need is a spare pair of socks, some nice thermals and to layer up like an onion,” Eliza said.

Mount Buller PR and Communications, Rhylla Morgan said the pioneers who engineered the first rope tow 75 years ago would be blown away by the technology and lifting of today.

"We continue to improve the safety, efficiency and sustainable operation of our lifting network which moves approximately 40,000 people an hour at peak operation," she said.

“Buller Ski Lifts continues to improve the experience for our guests riding our network of 19 lifts each winter with best practice safety standards, lifts with customised safety bars for young passengers, entry gate scanning that helps us trace lost skiers in resort and real-time technology to support safety in high wind or storms.

"As we look to the future, our focus is on efficient lift design, energy use and customer comfort and we’re always looking at how we can do things better.

"What never changes, however is the role our people play; in my 41 years in the lift company it’s always been about welcoming our guests and helping them enjoy their time on the mountain.

"It’s one of the best jobs in the world.

“One of the important improvements we’ve made over the decades is we have a balance in our team and I’m proud that Buller Ski Lifts reflects a 50/50 gender mix in the crew that climb the lift towers, de-ice cables and bump chairs.”