Snow ? another long intermediate cruiser with mega snow making down to swindlers creek from top of village across to near hogs back and down to the bottom of village to even out the punter loads, avalanche gully lifted. snow making on orchard area. lift out of swindlers up golden point to enable a full skiing loop to be done .. More car parking in summit area
more seats in Z Cafe a lift that goes from part way down slalom (death) gully (eg bottom of gunbarrel) up to near top of heavenly chair. the main slopes can take more people but death gully and the heavenly chair are oversaturated. guided slackcountry snowmaking or other solution to getting orchard open earlier and more car parking near summit (although what I'm hearing about Loch and dunnies at top of heavenly makes this less of an issue for me personally) seriously I think the worst things about hotham are the overcrowding at heavenly, especially when orchard isn't open, and the day parking
- soy milk at the Snake Gully Hut and Swindlers - decent barristas at more cafes than only Zirky's - a dedicated area where race club can keep gates up all day without being in the way of public (make everyone happier) - more lifts more lifts more lifts, especially to satisfy beginner and intermediate level, so as to prevent them all using Slalom Gully - more snowmaking
Hotham needs.... To give me a free seasons pass. To give me free accom for the season. That is all.....................................
VSG. There was a serious train proposal about 25 odd years ago. From Harrietville it was to go up Washington Creek, then head underground via a station on the Razorback serving new lifts before continuing under Loch Spur to Hotham. I think they let it go once it became evident that the Perisher train wasn't a big financial success. There may have been a thread on it a few years ago.
I think that hotham needs: a Snow Train / Tram link with DP new lifts on the valley over near spargos More Snow Making (Davenport Access) Defiantly Blue Ribbon extended across to Mt Higginbotham with a skier bridge. More on snow Cafe's with good coffee YUM
Fair enough VSG. But why are you proposing to start the railway line at Bright rather than Harrietville? Perhaps you know a syndicate that wants to reopen the Wang to Bright railway line that closed down 30 years ago? That way you could catch a train from Melbourne and stay in the same carriage all the way to Hotham Central (although they would probably need to change the engine to a specialist rack railway thingy at Harrietville)
Hotham needs..... Avalanche gully never to be lifted. Golden point to be lifted. As PM said another 1200m. Though I would settle for 500m or so
Shinkansen line from Melb to Syd with stop in Wangaratta. Then VSG's train extends from Wangaratta to Mt Hotham. Travel time cut to an hour and half from Melb CBD
Pezza, why do you want to spend a bucket load rebuilding the Blue Ribbon triple to a quad? It wouldn't make much difference to that araa and the money spent there would mean that there wouldn't be a lift built to Golden Point, One Tree Hill, Avalanche Gully, etc.
Having not been to HotHam for about 6 years I fail to see the need as nothing has changed! Buller is okay as it's a day trip only or a cheap overnight in Mansfield and a 2 day ski trip after a dump But for Hotham to get my $$ again they need to spend quite a bit of coin for me to be bothered. The last new lift was installed in 1997........ Ok: Lift avalanche gully Extend the Drift chair lower in combination with above perhaps Heavenly Valley a detachable quad Cafe/Restaurant at the top of Heavenly Valley chair. Last time I was there, the only food was at the crappy Snake Gully Hut with a leaking roof and nowhere to warm up Golden Point area lifts and more lifts all this side should have some nice blue/black/tree runs developed
In addition to above post... – Nav's Curry Hut needs to open at the disused hut and decking at the Playground Chair load. Guaranteed to make everyone ski faster and would have the best coffee on the mountain! – Joyce's to open as a cafe like they promised us a couple of years ago! Must have a good barista (and soy milk)! No fried crap ... you can get all that at Snake Gully Hut already. – mid-season roadworks on the GAR on the DP-Omeo side (it gets potholes off the scale!) ... done properly! – more/bigger summer season music festival(s) ... with more edgy acts (not such mainstream or country and western) ... look at the demographic of the audience at the Cool Summer Festival The festival is super cool, but this year's line-up was rather unappealing (and so we didn't go). – more to attract bicycle and mountain biking in summer (DP did a fabulous job this season with Castran Corner's new cafe "Mountain Kitchen" being a major winner!!! – more healthy food available (note everyone can eat wheat/rice/potato based foods!) ... if only Mountain Kitchen had a kiosk at Hotham Central! But hey, all said, I love Hotham
Hotham has two "villages" Hotham Heights and Davenport, (three if you include Dinner Plain), and each has their own vibe. But this fragmentation prevents the place attaining the critical mass that is present at the other big resorts which have more a ski town vibe than a ski village vibe.
Hotham needs NOT to be owned by the same people that own Perisher & Falls. Monopoly holdings suffer, as Its all about return . Owners need passion , personality & too actually love the snow . This mob runs the businesses like the Coles , Woolworths owned pubs.
Super VSG - Another gash to spoil a few more choice BC lines! What H really needs is less development and fewer people. And if anyone really thinks they'll ever build another lift, I suspect general disappointment. Extra lifts don't drive profits like extra beds. Caught a lift last year with one of the Bale developers who was winging about the number of vacant chair spaces on the summit quad which was nearly running at capacity. As for icons and vibe, I really can't comment, but the vibe on Machinery Spur on a sunny powder day by myself is pretty special. Iconic in fact.
i agree odnt but it is quite nice getting to ski hotham for free on my fc ticket. the ideal resort owner has a bottomless bucket of cash to spend on a mountain/sport that he/she is passionate about to the extent that that they don't really care about the year to year profitability
Here is all I have on the 1983 Hotham train proposal: <span style='font-family: Century Gothic'>A company Mount Smythe Associates Pty. Ltd. hopes to build a railway which will run trains called The Ski Express up to the Hotham Heights snowfields. Commencing at a station near the Dredge Holes in Harrietville the light railway will run along the East Branch of the Ovens River, then up Washington Creek rising 320 metres in the first 6.3 km on a grade of 1 in 20. Here the first tunnel will commence at what will be called the North Portal. Ascending 480 metres in 2.8 km on a grade of 1 in 7 the tunnel will bring the railway to the first station of Loch. A second tunnel will then raise the line 225 metres in its 1.8 km on a grade of 1 in 8 and emerge at the second station of Diamantina. The third tunnel then carries the line up another 225 metres in its 2.2 km length and 1 in 10 grade to Hotham Heights where it will terminate. The railway will have a length of a shade over 13 km and will ascend 1250 metres above Harrietville. Normal traction will be used as far as North Portal, then the rack and pinion will take over for the steep gradients. Tunnels are to be of a diameter of 4.3 metres and besides carrying the railway can also afford weatherproof water, fuel and sewage pipelines plus power lines. The railway, as well as passenger traffic can be used for carrying supplies and freight to the ski resorts and bring down the ever increasing amount of garbage. Special low-level vehicles will enable motor cars to be carried piggy back, giving the motorist relief from the present fog and snow bound road between Hotham and Harrietville. From Hotham he will be able to drive on to Omeo or come down in the reverse direction. With goldmining still taking place on the High Plains mining equipment will be able to travel by rail with ore coming down the same way. Four-car electric trains are planned to carry passenger traffic, skiers in winter and tourists in the rest of the year. At first some 5000 passengers per hour will be carried on the trains, rising to 12,000 as things become organised. Gondola lines will fan out from the three stations to ski lodges and runs.</span> There is a map showing a similar route to VSG's map but with half the line underground and a station on the Razorback just north of Mt Loch before the line heads south to the proposed terminus at Hotham Heights
Boodwah, hmmm something there sounds a bit like someone was pulling your leg. Bale developer? The whole development had already been completely canned last season.
Must've been season before. Point was though that nobody has any interest in building lifts anymore over and above real estate.
Although apparently there were some provisional engineering reports done to lift from the Diamantina headwaters up to Eagle Ridge which were shelved just after the GFC. With road bridges it would have opened up the equivalent of another HV.
-A lift that runs from the left of the summit (I think it's called Avalanche Gully (please assist if can ) to top of summit --A lift running from right of extreme section to the Orchard area..plenty of various terrain down there, but is obviously limited by snow fall -Decent food without paying $40 or more..the pizzas at swindlers don't count here, they are quality, but as much as I like them I don't fancy having nothing but pizza during my stay there -A cool new lift ticketing system such as what Perisher has
Hotham before it needed anything. What I need... http://web.me.com/mike.garrett/Victoria/old_hotham.html
