The Public Works Department initiated the development of the Lake Mountain area in the early 1920s with the construction of a road towards Lake Mountain from Cumberland Road. Construction crews consisted of unemployed relief labour. Following the fires of 1939 the road was extended to within 1 km of Lake Mountain by the Forest Commission of the times.
Members of the Ski Club of Victoria (SCV) visited Lake Mountain in the late 1930’s but it was not until February 1939 that movement to have the area opened for skiing got underway. Early efforts from the SCV members and the general public of Marysville proved fruitless due to the massive destruction of the summer fires of 1939.
of the Ski Club of Victoria held its inaugural meeting on May 28, 1939, with 20 people signing up and Berry Higgs elected as President. In 1940 a basic hut was built at the foot of the Snowy Hill run, accommodating 8 people. It had no bunks and an earth floor which was often soggy and wet. In the same year Marysville SCV members and Rover Scouts cut a trail over the top of Snowy Hill. With the onset of war in 1943, attention and enthusiasm toward the mountain waned and it was not until 1947 that interest was re-kindled with clearing of large open areas for skiing at Snowy Hill. Run development and maintenance continued over the following years.
By 1955, a four hectare well groomed gentle slope had been cleared. Ski runs and playgrounds were constructed around the area known today as Berry Higgs Playground. The Marysville SCV division folded in 1960.
at Lake Mountain were ex-logging roads that had been used post-war as access roads to the Federation and Sandstone Ranges. The current Gerraty’s car park was originally the site of the staging post for the transport off the mountain of logs felled in the Koala Creek area. The development of Lake Mountain to its present day status began in the late 1970’s. In 1979 the then Forest Commission of Victoria as the governing authority, had its first Nordic trail in place and a toboggan run was constructed. In subsequent years, further trail construction and toboggan runs were constructed along with public shelters, amenity facilities, a food outlet, ski hire, ski school outlet and administration and first aid building.
assumed responsibility for the management of the Resort from 1985, until it was disbanded in 1998. The Lake Mountain Alpine Resort Management Board was commissioned in 1998 under Ministerial guidance and is now the management authority of Lake Mountain Alpine Resort. Under this management structure the resort has flourished to its present day recognition as Australia’s premier Nordic ski resort and one of the world’s most visited Nordic Ski destinations.
The Yarra Ranges National Park and the Marysville State Forest both adjoin the Resort requiring considerable co-operation between the management bodies of each. These management bodies are Parks Victoria, the Department of Sustainability and Environment and the Lake Mountain Alpine Resort Management Board.
is the site of the first ski runs on Lake Mountain. It is named after Berry Higgs, a pioneer skier and also the first President of the Marysville division of the Ski Club of Victoria in 1939.
Find out more about how we run things up here at the mountain.
There’s plenty to do on our little mountain and loads for your school kids to learn. We are available for school trips year round.