THINK you know all there is to know about Mt Hotham?
Test your knowledge with the second of our short but incredibly interesting historical quizzes.
Answers and explanations are on page ?? (no cheating!).
The explanations are far more interesting than the questions.
Q1: What is the oldest lift currently operating at Mt Hotham?
a. Blue Ribbon chair
b. Drift T–bar
c. Big D chair
d. Summit chair
e. Summit trainer
f. Golden Point T–bar
Q2: What brand is Hotham's excellent snowmaking system?
a. Polar Tech
b. TechnoAlpin
c. Demaclenko
d. HKD
e. Frigidaire
Q3: How many ski lifts in total were at Mt Hotham during the massive ski season of 1981?
a. 5
b. 7
c. 9
d. 11
e. 17
Q4: In the 1953 edition of Broadbent's Road Guides, which runs do not appear on the Hotham Heights Ski Village map?
a. Beecham's
b. Imagine
c. Habgood's Hollow
d. A2
e. Slalom Gully
f. Hangman's
Q5: Prior to the Summit chair being installed, the area was served by a poma with a bend in the line. What was the original name on the Summit Poma?
a. Pole Line Poma
b. Pom Pom Poma
c. Hotham Poma
d. Snowline Poma
Q6: Before the Gotcha chair was installed, anyone wanting to ski Marys Slide was required to walk up to the top from the current day start of the Initiation run. What is the vertical height one climbs from the start of Initiation to the top of Marys Slide (the current location of the Gotcha top station)?
a. 10m
b. 20m
c. 40m
d. 60m
e. 80m
f. 120m
Q7: What is longest distance one can ski downhill uninterrupted at Mt Hotham?
a. 500m
b. 1km
c. 1.5km
d. 2km
e. 2.5km
f. 3km
g. 5km
h. 10km
Q8: The Orchard chair opened on June 29 this season. This is the earliest it has opened since ... ?
a. 1997 (the year it was built)
b. 2000
c. 2006
d. 2017
Q9: Looking to the future, the current Mount Hotham Resort Masterplan dates from 2016. It does NOT include ideas for lifts in which areas?
a. From the top of Village chair over Mt Higginbotham to the top of Big D chair.
b. From the top of Slalom Gully to the top of Summit chair.
c. From the bottom of Village chair to the top of Golden Point.
d. In the area of H Gully.
e. From the top of Big D into Women's Downhill bowl.
f. In P Gully near Eagle Ridge.
Q10: Can you name the person in this photo from June 2018, hanging from the now decommissioned Playground chair?
Insert photo of skier hanging from the Playground chair
ANSWERS
Q1 Answer: E.
The oldest lift still operating at Mt Hotham is allegedly the Summit Trainer which is operating for its 48th season, but not in the same position!
It is believed to have started life as the Basin Platter in 1974, until it was removed when the Village chair was installed in 1993.
It then spent a few years during the mid–90s at Koala Park, between Zirkys and White Crystal, before being moved to its current position on the Summit area in 1998.
Of interest, the Drift Lift is Hotham's second oldest lift at 43 seasons of age.
It was first installed as the Summit T–bar in 1979 before it was replaced by the Roadrunner chair.
The Golden Point rope tow is a figment of my imagination, but just imagine the possibilities for lazy access to this stellar area!
Q2 Answer: B.
Hotham was the first resort in the southern hemisphere to use the world leading TechnoAlpin snowmaking systems. TechnoAlpin are based in the Dolomites in Italy, a location that can face very similar winter weather conditions to the Australian Alps.
Q3 Answer: C.
Nine lifts were operating in that record breaking season when snow bases exceeded three metres. Blue Ribbon chair's first season was a beauty. To go with it were the Summit poma, Summit T–Bar, Playground chair, Basin platter, Davenport poma, Sun Run T–bar, Brockhoff poma and the little known Plains of Heaven platter. (Place photo of 1982 Trail map)
Q4 Answer: B & D.
Refer to the image, but both Imagine & A2 were not represented on the map. A2 predates Imagine. Imagine was 'created' when Heavenly Valley chair was installed in 1987. Habgood's Hollow appears to have been in the vicinity of Hackers Horror/Wall of Death. Beecham's is an interesting alternative spelling for the current Beauchamps.
Q5 Answer: A.
The Summit Poma was called the Pole Line Poma when first built in 1966. Later trail maps show it as Summit Poma. Why a Poma hasn't been called the Pom Pom Poma is beyond us!
Q6 Answer: C.
It is around 40m vertical to walk to the top of Marys Slide from the start of Initiation. It's not much and is why so many people will make the journey on days when Gotcha isn't running. The entire Gotcha chair only rises a vertical of about 110m but provides perfect access to Australia's best steeps!
Q7 Answer. E.
Whilst it is easy to do 10km+ downhill runs overseas in Europe, alas at Mt Hotham the most we can squeeze out is about 2.5km. That distance is possible along the entire Davenport Trail to Village chair, or as a full top to bottom from the Summit via Sun Run, Gully Catwalk and Slalom Gully to Village chair.
Q8 Answer: B.
The year 2000 had a stellar start to the season and allowed the Orchard chair to open in mid– June. Despite being an awesome season, 2017 started a bit slower, but ended with a bang.
Q9 Answer: C & E.
There are no current plans for lifts in the Women's Downhill area or heading up to Golden Point from Swindlers Creek, however there are ideas, plans or investigations contained in the masterplan looking into the other four options. In fact, solid plans for a lift in the P Gully area have been in place since 2009! Wouldn't it be so nice to remove a lot of bus trips off the road by having a lift from the village going over Higgi to the top of Big D. Don't hold your breath though, it'll probably require a major increase in overnight bed numbers in the resort to justify any lift expansion!
Q10 Answer:
We have no idea who this skier is; however it ranks as one of the funniest things we have seen in our long, disgraceful ski careers. Note, they got down safely and lost nothing except their dignity!
