Future unclear for Mt Buller school that trained winter Olympians

Mount Buller snow school faces an uncertain future after government decision Wed 24 Jun 2026 at 5:31am In short: A snow school on Mount Buller, run by Mansfield Secondary College, is facing an unclear future after a government decision not to open enrolments this winter. The Victorian Department of Education says the decision was due to a lack of interest and declining numbers, which community members dispute. Stakeholders say the school supports seasonal workers on the mountain. A snow school on Mount Buller once attended by the late Winter Olympian Alex "Chumpy" Pullin faces an uncertain future due to a government decision not to open enrolments this winter. Mansfield Secondary College ran its Mount Buller Annex for students who live on the mountain and was set up to allow pupils to train on the mountain while completing their formal education. The Victorian Department of Education has chalked up the decision to a lack of interest and declining numbers, which community members have disputed. Simon Hookway, who runs a lodge on Mount Buller and travels to the mountain every winter from the northern suburbs of Melbourne, said his 13-year-old son would now have to be homeschooled. "We're having to try and sort out how we're going to have a child that is at the lodge during school time that we're trying to manage, and work at the same time, and make sure that he is learning the things he needs to learn," Mr Hookway said. He said it was a stressful experience trying to get clarity about enrolments and only found out a few weeks ago that the annex would not be open. "All of the families have been concerned and all of the families want the high school to go ahead," he said. "I know one [family] that isn't coming up purely because the high school isn't running." Mr Hookway said if the school did not re-open, he was not sure if he would be back next year. He said it all depended on how the homeschooling experience turned out and said the children who lived on the mountain benefited greatly from the unique setting. "They're on a mountain that is an extreme environment, [they are] taught responsibility," he said. "They're taught to be a bit more self-sufficient and resilient." He said the only other option on the mountain was a private school, which was not affordable for many families. 'Pathway to elite sport' Liberal member for Eildon Cindy McLeish said the school was an important part of the seasonal nature of work on the mountain, which has a flow-on effect for the towns of Mansfield and Merrijig. "You have to bring people in to work and if they've got kids, they want to have somewhere for their kids to go to school," she said. She said it was also an opportunity to encourage young athletes to follow greats like "Chumpy" Pullin, Anton Grimus and Jakara Anthony, who did a lot of their training on Mount Buller. Olympian freestyle skier Anton Grimus was featured in the school's promotional video from 2015 as an ambassador for the Mount Buller Annex. "It's part of a pathway to elite sports," Ms McLeish said. "So there are people who live outside of Mansfield Shire, for example, who want to come and spend the winter up there progressing their skills so that they can enter on that pathway to becoming an elite Winter Olympian." If enrolments were declining, Ms McLeish said there was a lot more that could be done to promote those elite pathways. Mansfield Shire Council mayor Steve Rabie said the decision "doesn't pass the pub test" and a permanent closure would have "far-reaching and long-lasting" consequences. "Closing the Annex will make opportunities for children to experience the snow more difficult by increasing costs and travel time," he said in a statement. "This potentially closes a currently viable career path for a growing community that requires job market growth — not job market losses." The council said it had met with the school and department, along with various stakeholders, to discuss the school's future. "We have offered our support to do whatever we can to help the Annex continue operating on Mt Buller in 2026 and beyond," Cr Rabie said. "We have been told that any decision regarding the ongoing operation of the Annex would ultimately require ministerial approval." Alpine Resorts Victoria (ARV), the government entity that runs Victoria's alpine resorts including Mount Buller, said it remained "open to working collaboratively with the school". "We remain strongly supportive of the annex returning to the mountain and would be very disappointed on behalf of the community should that not occur," Alan Arthur, General Manager of Mt Buller, said in a statement. A Department of Education spokesperson said that school operations were always under review. "School councils at Victorian government schools continually review operations and programs as part of their responsibility to develop and monitor schools' strategic plans," the spokesperson said. "At this stage, the Mansfield Secondary College annex will not be opening this winter season as no students from Mansfield SC have so far indicated an interest in attending the annex in term three." The department said no decision had been made to close the annex. Loss of snow culture Chris Pullin, the father of the late Olympian snowboarder "Chumpy" Pullin, said it was sad and disappointing news and hoped the annex would be reinstated next year. "The Buller annex has been a part of Mount Buller and that community for as long as I can remember," he said. "I know kids that went to school at Mount Buller and now in their adult life they love [that] they did that. "It was out of the norm a bit but it's where they live. It's where their parents worked and it's therefore where they should go to school." Mr Pullin said attending the annex was a part of the community's fabric and ethos. "It will change the community terribly because if you've got a school-aged kid, can you live on the Mount Buller? And the answer will be, 'Probably not,'" he said. "It's really going to alter the direction of people's lives and their choice to live somewhere other than the norm which would be in a city or a big town. "That whole element of snow culture on the mountain is lost."