Hotham Web Logs

The Hotham web logs are like diary entries - very 'public' diary entries, that are published regularly on the web site.

Our web log contributors (or 'bloggers') are an interesting mix of people - and all of them live, work and play in the Hotham region. So, you can log on and read about their day at Hotham - every day. It's a great way to get news, information, tips, and even a little Hotham gossip!

Maureen Gearon

Maureen may not be a well known face but her voice is well known on the airwaves providing daily updates on snow, road and weather conditions. As snow reporter for the Official Victorian Snow Report, her day begins at 5am when she receives reports from ski patrol at all the Victorian resorts. She then sends out a comprehensive report to the public and media via fax, email, website, radio and a mountain information phone and fax back service. She will rotate between all resorts during the season.

Unusual jobs seem to be Maureen's forte. She spent a number of years traveling through Eastern and Western Europe, North America and South East Asia. She has worked as a cook in an organic vegetarian Mexican restaurant in Germany and a music venue in Prague and was a cigarette and candy girl in San Francisco. Maureen has spent the past eight years working in communications and media.

The snow bug intoxicated Maureen after spending a number of years rock climbing and wondering why her climbing partners petered off during the winter period. She decided to check out what the fuss was all about and has been addicted ever since. You can read what Maureen's got to say - right here »

Troy Benson

Troy first moved to Mt Hotham to play in a new restaurant in the Arlberg formally run by the legendary Herbie called B12. From my Arlberg base he infiltrated nearly every bar pub and club on the mountain, doing gigs in seven different venues in his first season including Monday nights at the Genny and Thursday nights at Swindlers. Only working at night meant lots of riding time staying a freelance Dj ski bum for two seasons before I taking on his current role as Entertainment manager of Swindlers Bar.

Around this time Troy’s passion for our beautiful alpine environment and the thought that some things aren’t that hard to change led to Troy filling his pockets with butt bins and handing them out around the village whenever he saw a smoker and then progressed to picking up any litter on the slopes until it was taking up so much of his time he lobbied Resort Management to give him a job and make it official and that’s when he became “ButtMan” Mt Hotham’s first on piste litter patroller. So now he spends most of his time booking the best bands and Djs in the country to play at Swindlers to keep Hotham pumping after the sun goes down and the rest cruising the slopes keeping the mountain clean.

You can read Troy's logs - right here »

Ski Patrol

Spare a thought for those guys in red and black patrolling the mountain. They're out there all day - every day, monitoring the ever changing conditions in the alpine region and educating resort visitors on safety.

Ski Patrol operate to minimize the risk of injury and exposure to hazards for everyone in the resort and to provide assistance to anyone who is injured or lost over winter.

All patrollers are qualified and trained in many aspects of rescue in the Victorian alpine areas and all are trained in advanced emergency care.

Patrollers at Mount Hotham are easily recognizable by their red and black uniforms, with a large white cross on the back and a smaller cross on each arm.

Our patroller's will be reporting on their days activities - right here »