Winter, like a lot of things right now, might look a little different this year... but it's happening!

It is with great excitement that we can confirm the Alpine Retreat Mt Buller will be open for the 2020 winter season in strict alignment with the government’s guidelines for the operation of hospitality businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic from 22nd June. However, with great excitement comes great responsibility and we are writing to you today to ask for your cooperation in helping to make this an awesome but covid-free season.

We have all been adjusting to isolating, social distancing, strict hygiene and a lack of social gatherings in recent months and, unfortunately, this will still be the case for all who visit Mt Buller this winter. The resort will look and feel a little different as we adjust to the requirements of the new rules and do our best to keep everyone safe and healthy under “the new normal”. Below we outline the changes we are making at Alpine Retreat and across the resort.

Social Distancing and Essential Pre-Planning
Mt Buller has been able to satisfy the Department of Health and Human Services that it is ready to accept the challenge of operating in the current climate due to its ability to be able to put in place strict measures to track visitors and ensure everyone’s health and safety. This includes a cap on the number of people allowed to be in the ski area at any one time and adherence to social distancing limits around the resort and in all resort venues and operations. As a visitor, you will need to ensure that you have pre-booked all aspects of your visit, including your resort entry and arrival time, your lift passes and private lessons (priority will be given to multi-day lift pass holders who have booked accommodation, group lessons will not be operating) and your transport and accommodation. This can all be done through the Mt Buller website, www.mtbuller.com.au and full details of the resort’s COVID safe plan can also be found here.

Safety in the Lodge
To protect our staff and guests, we will, unfortunately, not be able to operate any of our shared areas in the lodge. This will include the pool and spa and the games room. We will also need to stagger arrival times and ski hire fittings to ensure that we don’t have too many people congregating at once. We have already put in place new hygiene protocols with increased cleaning of high touch areas and will have hand sanitiser available in reception and the restaurant. We would ask you to ensure that you and your family continue to practise good hygiene during your stay by washing your hands regularly and sneezing or coughing into your elbow at all times around the lodge.

Restaurant and Bar
Under the current restrictions, our bar will not be operating the same way this season. Instead, we have now made it part of the restaurant to increase the number of diners we can accommodate under the government guidelines for in-house dining and alcoholic beverages will be available only when purchasing a meal from the restaurant or to take away to your room until anything changes with the guidelines. There will also be no live music this year. The enlarged Dolomiti Italiano restaurant will open for two sittings of 1.5 hours each at 6pm and 7.30pm on 22nd June along with the accommodation and will now also offer a take away service so you can take your meal back to your room. A continental breakfast will still be included with all bookings but this will be served at your table instead of buffet-style as it has previously been. You will need to pre-book your restaurant sitting through our website before you arrive to be guaranteed a table – our new booking app will be live next week so save the link.

Contact Tracing
Our current record-keeping of guests will be extended to meet the government’s requirements and will now include a log of all guests staying at and entering and exiting the building. You will be required to have your temperature taken and recorded on arrival. Please rest assured that we will continue to follow all privacy laws in relation to the recording of your personal data.

Limited Staff
Due to social distancing, the number of beds we can make available to house staff in our staff accommodation has been limited. This means that we will be operating with a reduced team. We ask you to be accommodating to them as they do their best to provide you with the best guest experience they can whilst also adjusting to the requirements of the new normal, themselves.

Offering around Resort
Due to the restrictions of the coronavirus and the state of emergency, you may find less businesses operating around the resort as a whole. We hope you will understand the limits enforced on us as a mountain and still be able to make the most of the opportunity for skiing and boarding. With early snowfalls blanketing the ski hill for at least the last month, it’s set to be a great season for snow and we are all looking forward to getting out there and making the most of the winter wonderland in our backyard now that the lockdown monotony is lifting.

So, we thank you for your understanding in these difficult times and for your willingness to share our passion for the snow, skiing and boarding with us this winter. But most of all we ask that you help us to keep everyone safe under the circumstances - if you feel at all sick leading up to your visit, please stay home and protect our winter. We also recommend searching COVIDSafe to download the app and help our communities stay safe. It’s been a difficult year for regional Victoria and the alpine areas, which has only been made more complicated by the coronavirus, but your support of home-grown tourism, all things snow and staying a part to keep us together has made this season possible and we are very grateful for the opportunity to share it with a happy and healthy ski community.

See you soon!
Team Avalanche