BULLER Crew Collective, usually written by Rob Aivatoglou, this issue is about two mountain folk that have been around for a while but this season decided to take on new roles helping visitors gain a greater experience of the snow, skiing, snowboarding and mountain fun in general.

1. Life long association with the mountains for Mark Tremmel - taking on a new role has not daunted him

MARK TREMMEL is a life-long member of the Mt Buller crew.

He currently has the position of Mt Buller Car Parking Team Leader which is new for Mark.

But Mark is an ‘old hand’ at many of the jobs around Mt Buller having started his working life on the mountain in 1984 as apprentice at Buller Ski Lifts.

He has also managed the Mt Buller supermarket, Mt Buller Towing and Chain fitting and worked with Resort Management Board snow clearing – a true ‘all-rounder’.

Before taking on Team Leader Parking Mark held the position of Outdoor Operations – Resort Worker.

Long term parking manager, Jim Hughes had Mark as his offside working together doing night parking in 2017.

Jim is now mentoring Mark and guiding him through the difficult times such as when the mountain is full to the brim and squeezing cars in.

(At times more than 2000 cars and buses can be parked at the various car parks).

Mark is a true blue local high country man and started skiing way back in 1972, so of course skiing is one of his favourite past-times.

He also loves camping and fishing.

He is married to Donna and has three children, Braydn, Chloe and Nathan who are all snow lovers.

Mark continues his love of skiing and does not have one particular favourite but says he ‘loves the whole mountain’.

And finally when asked has anything exciting happened in his new role – he answered “the hiring process and meeting new people”.

He is looking forward to continuing his journey on the mountain which has now turned to a year-round opportunity.

2. Stepping up a rung on the managerial ladder - Tasman (Tas) Clingan continues his journey on Mt Buller

TASMAN (Tas) CLINGAN is taking steps to improve not only his own knowledge of the workings of Mt Buller, but recalls his previous roles in his working life.

This year he has taken on the role as Head of Assets and Operations – a role he was ‘acting’ in following the resignation of the previous ‘head’ Matt Elliott.

Stepping into the role on a full time basis Tas said he already knew much of what was involved.

He previously held the position of Team Leader of Resort Operations.

This is Tas’s third year on the mountain having moved from Melbourne with his wife, Stacey, four years ago.

“My wife and I moved up from Melbourne, however I’m originally from Lake Bolac, a tiny little town in the Western Districts of Victoria.

“We lived in London for two and half years in 2012 to late 2014 and in that time we did a season in Val-d’Isere in the French Alps which is where my passion for the mountains was started – a life highlight.

“However, I’ve lived in the Mansfield area for the past four years and have had a history with the area through my wife’s relatives, the McCormack’s in Merrijig, who have a long history with the area.

When talking about his experiences with Mt Buller and Mt Stirling Tas said he has been lucky enough to experience all manner of things, huge snow fall events, the biggest start to a season on record, earthquakes and landslides.

I’ve also met some amazing people and making lifelong friends to name a few,” he said.

Tas now works on Buller all year round maintaining ARV’s assets and looking after the operational team.

He enjoys his family life also with his wife, Stacey, “an amazing and incredibly strong person” who does the heavy lifting with their two boys, Jude 3.5 years (and named after his great Nan ‘Jude McCormack’) and Ned 1.5 years, as in the winter time Tas works long hours.

“She also is the library teacher at St Mary’s primary school in Mansfield,” Tas explained.

Asked if the family are all snow lovers Tas said due to having a very young family they don’t spend a lot of time at Mt Buller in winter, however, have big plans once the boys are older.

Tas is an active and fit person having played football his entire life up until the end of last year when a serious injury, detaching his peck off the bone, caused him to retire.

“I was lucky enough to be drafted to Richmond in the AFL in the rookie draft back in 2006, which was another life high light.

“Unfortunately due to a lot of injuries and only playing a handful of games I was only there for a season,” Tas said.

And the final question to Tas was ‘is he a skier or snowboarder?’

“I grew up skiing however became a boarder when in the French Alps but am now thinking of getting back on the skis.