PAGE 4 — MT BULLER NEWS — September 7, 2012
Mt Buller TRADES & SERVICES...
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Go figure, another way to ski
FIGGLES (also known as skiboards) are short shaped skis, typically 80-130cm long and are a great alternative to regular skiing. They use traditional bindings, so you can use your own ski boots with them. Figgles are used without poles, and are easily manoeuvred.
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ON THE MOUNTAIN: John McDonald with The Hon Justice Legoe CJ, Supreme Court of South Australia, and Trevor Jaggard, Breathtaker’s original manager.
MOUNTAIN LOVE: John McDonald – decades of affiliation with Mt Buller and its changing face.
The changing face of Buller
By PAM ZIERKMAHONEY
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“I went to Buller staying the first year at Enzian and at the end of the year put in a bid for the site to build JOHN McDonald Snr Prescriptions, Health, Beauty Breathtaker.â€? knows Mt Buller up and At the time John was down, inside out, back to & Tony Ferguson CEO of Macmahon Holdfront, and loves it dearly. ings and its subsidiaries, This year marks a great Daily Delivery to Mt Buller one of Australia’s leading achievement in his 33-year (Credit Card/Eftpos) civil engineering and minhistory with the mountain. ing public companies. In April John, after After Breathtaker was many years of battling bubuilt, and had operated reaucracy, has had changed for some time, he was apthe lease agreements with proached by the Hiltongovernment for the alpine Wood family who owned regions. one of two lift companies Although pushing for (Blue Lifts) operating on strata titling, which has not Buller. as yet happened, a format DAILy REFRIDGERATED & GEnERAL The Blue Lift Company has been adopted which FREIGHT SERvICE... was struggling at this time gives lodge and commerER and Orange Lifts was getcial operators stronger MT BULL LD MAnSFIE URnE ting the upperhand. holds over the land on O MELB John, in his role as which their buildings stand. CEO of Macmahon was Head leases and subPHOnE 0409 775 720 able to appropriate heavy leases can now be recogearthmoving equipment to Mt Buller to remove and reshape one of the biggest impediments at the mountain, being the enormity of size and number of large rocks and boulders from previously inaccessible terrain. By effectively grooming the slopes, snowmaking became effective and the use of in-season mechaniFOR ALL YOUR ELECTRICAL WORK cal CALL snow-grooming equipment became much more FOR ALL YOUR ELECTRICAL WORK CALL efficient. Even Bourke Street was EMERGENCY DRYING SOLUTIONS FOR HOME & BUSINESS enhanced by having its %DVHG LQ 0DQVĂ€HOG 'DYH 6KHOWRQ DQG KLV WHDP DW &DUSHWV width virtually trebled. “Two lift companies op5 8V KDYH EHHQ VROYLQJ ZDWHU GDPDJH LVVXHV LQ WKH 1RUWK erating on the same moun(DVW GLVWULFW IRU PRUH WKDQ \HDUV 7KHLU IDVW GU\LQJ tain at the same time was a PHWKRGV ZLOO KDYH \RX EDFN WR QRUPDO LQ WKH VKRUWHVW WLPH FREE QUOTES & INFORMATION nightmare,â€? John said. FREE QUOTES & INFORMATION • INSTALLATIONS • UNDERGROUND SRVVLEOH “I often referred to the • FIRE ALARMS • MAINTENANCE • INSTALLATIONS FREE QUOTES & INFORMATION competition between them SERVICING MANSFIELD & MT BULLER AREA ‡ 5HVWRUDWLRQ RI VRIW DQG KDUG IXUQLVKLQJV LV RQH RI WKHLU • UNDERGROUND as being worse than the • INSTALLATIONS • UNDERGROUND TED LEO VSHFLDOWLHV Orangemen and the Green • MAINTENANCE • FIRE ALARMS • MAINTENANCE 5777 5677 5775 1130 in Ireland - they despised ‡ (OLPLQDWLRQ RI PRXOG RGRUV FDXVHG E\ ZDWHU 0407 SERVICING 992MANSFIELD 763 0419 491 & 691 AREA RECMANSFIELD 3986 SERVICING & MT BULLER each other.â€? GDPDJH LV GHDOW ZLWK SURPSWO\ The Blue introduced MT BULLER AREA ‡ (IIHFWLYH FOHDQ XS DIWHU VHZDJH OHDNV Australia’s first detachable ‡ $OO LQVXUDQFH ZRUN ZHOFRPHG quad lift, erected up the spine of Bourke Street, &RQWDFW 'DYH 6KHOWRQ right up to Baldy. REC REC3986 3986 “Overnight this turned j/51d01308/26-12 around Blue into being a TED major competitor against David Shelton M: 0408 511 100 Office: (03) 5775-2200 5777 5677 - 0407 992 763 Orange who was a fierce carpetsrus2@bigpond.com competitor,â€? John said. LEO + + www.carpetsrus.net.au Eventually John put a 5775 1130 - 0419 491 691 proposal to Orange Lifts
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nised as ‘owned’ and can be held as collateral to gain mortgages and loans against purchases or redevelopment. Up until now only “unregistered leases� on the land have been held, and because title holders did not own the land, many banks and lending authorities did not consider properties as good collateral. “These documents are now being used as a precedent for anyone else wanting to change from their unregistered leases to the new format,� John said. “It all started some years ago when we wanted to substantially enhance the property on the leasehold at Breathtaker, which was originally held for the balance of 55 years with no right of further extension. “I wanted more security over the investment, so I went to the Minister and ultimately gained a new head lease, which has been accepted for a new initial 51-year term. “This has also come with a right to renegotiate a further period at any time within the final three years before expiry
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of the new lease. “And it now gives a registerable form of ‘title’ for lending purposes.� The new leasing agreements have taken John 10 years to formulate, but as he said “the crown is happy, the RMB is happy, the ATO is happy, we are happy; it just took common sense to see it through�. Having been associated with the mountain since 1979, he first started skiing when looking for a winter sport. He was introduced to skiing (firstly at Falls Creek) by an old Hungarian friend. Working in Adelaide as a chartered accountant, with a family of three young children, he wanted a family activity. At Falls Creek he started getting involved with mountain development and being offered the purchase of a lift company by Bill Bridgeford, but decided against it. “Bill then said to me why not go to Mt Buller - a place that really needs modernising, and if not at Buller then try Stirling,� he said.
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chairman, David Hume, to take over Blue and merge the two lift companies which then transformed Buller overnight. “It made it a really wonderful place to go to - the merger changed everything,� John said. We naturally combined all aspects of the two lift companies and it is now difficult to imagine the patrons’ horrors of the past. Several years after the merger he became unwell as a result of childhood Polio, contracting Post Polio Syndrome. “I was not well at the time and gave orderly notice to my companies and ended up having major surgery which took two years to overcome after resigning my positions,� he said. “However, prior to the period of resignation I became very friendly with Rino Grollo – I am not sure how that relationship started - but was very bonding and I influenced Rino to purchase an initial and substantial interest in the lift company - Rino took over the day-to-day operation.� John recalls that Rino’s later comment was “John you presented me with an opportunity that I thought I would never be given and you changed my life�. “Rino has expanded Buller and put further and greater capital into snowmaking, lifting and other grand structures up there,� John said. John bought back Breathaker and also Pinnacle Valley Resort with son John taking over the day-to-day management of Breathtaker. John Snr has two boys and a daughter all into high profile management. Caroline, a banker, now lives in New York with her corporate manager husband Paul; John Jnr continues as Breathtaker managing director and Justin, the youngest son, is a senior captain with Cathay Pacific, based in Hong Kong.