Skiers at Mt Buller were fuming on Saturday when a major lift opened for the first time this season, only to close less than 30 minutes later — leaving people to either wait or walk through the snow.
Many people also slammed Mt Buller resort over a social media post the following day celebrating the opening of the lift but without mentioning the breakdown.
“People, including little children, were forced to hike hours up the hill with no support or updates from the mountain at all,” one skier told 7NEWS.com.au.
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Mt Buller said: “The team from Buller Ski Lifts apologises to anyone who was impacted by the stoppage — it was a disappointing incident on what was a superb day to be on the mountain.”
The resort management said there had been “massive excitement” there was finally enough snow for the Wombat lift to open for the season, and an alert had been sent through the resort’s app.
This meant many people had flocked to the popular run before the chairlift broke less than a half hour after it started rolling when the electric motor overheated.
Staff immediately moved to stop other skiers going down the run, while an over-snow vehicle was sent to pick up people who were unable to walk out or wait for the lift to reopen.
The resort said the area at the bottom of the lift was cleared within 30 minutes, and the lift was working again an hour later.
But many visitors dispute this, saying they were left to hike back up after waiting a long time for either information or help.
“There was absolutely no communication whatsoever down the bottom from staff and a cat/bus was categorically NOT on hand within 15 minutes,” one person said.
“That is laughable. People only started hiking up after waiting at the bottom with no information for WAY longer than 15 minutes.”
Many people criticised the lack of communication from staff during the incident.
The skier who spoke to 7NEWS.com.au said there were “no updates, no accountability, no compensation and no apology”.
“It was a total and utter s*** show,” he posted on the resort’s social media.
“A complete farce. A spectacle that should never be seen at a first world ski resort that charges customers what you charge them.
“There’s no justification.”
Another skier who walked out with their two young children and all their gear said they had “zero support from mountain staff”.
They criticised the resort handling of a number of closures already this season.
“Two weeks in a row your equipment has failed, causing … your customers to walk out,” they said.
Another person said: “How is it possible that Mt Buller doesn’t have an emergency action plan when a major lift breaks down.
“It is not OK to tell hundreds of people, including dozens of children, to essentially walk out or wait indefinitely for a fix. What a disgrace.”
Mt Buller said: “The frustration at the stoppage is understandable especially on a day when the anticipation for that first Wombat lap was at a high.
“We regret an equipment failure occurred and appreciate the calm heads and fast-thinking of our team who followed procedures and worked quickly together to identify and address the issue and get skiers and boarders moving again.”
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