Mt Buller hosted the annual Women in Winter event last week with more than 50 women (and a few men) gaining an insight into what it means to be at the top of their field in the snowfields.

Hosting the event were Mt Buller’s PR & Communication representative, Rhylla Morgan, and Snow Australia’s Women in Winter committee member, Caroline Brauer.

Ms Morgan welcomed everyone to the event, especially the representatives of Snow Australia and guests who had travelled from interstate.

The evening coincided with the week of the Nationals Interschools Championships, which saw some guests associated with the competition attend.

Ms Brauer briefly spoke about her 25 years of experience in the ski industry working across a variety of areas including resort marketing and communications, business management, retail and instructing.

She kicked off her career as a 16-year-old ski instructor at Falls Creek, falling in love with the industry, and went on to instruct in Aspen, Niseko and Thredbo.

Ms Morgan then introduced the four guest panellists who outlined their experiences and roles in the snowfields of Australia and beyond.

LESA BROWN: Lesa grew up skiing, and started in the ski industry as a student travelling to the US on a J1 visa where she became a ski instructor.

She was hired at Perisher in the marketing team where she spent a few years.

Lesa then spent the next 16 years in Melbourne working in a range of corporate roles with blue-chip companies including Coles, Kmart and NAB, and later with carsales.com.au.

Lifestyle decisions brought Lesa, husband Steve and their girls to Merrijig where she became GM of the Mt Buller Race Club (MBRC) 2.5 years ago.

LUCY BLYTON-GRAY: Lucy took on her current role as GM at Charlotte Pass (and Mt Selwyn) earlier this year but is no stranger to this special snowbound ski area.

She has done almost every job there except driving the oversnow!

Her family bought Charlotte Pass back in 2007 so the connection for her is a deep and personal one. Lucy’s university studies were in business management and she went on to become a chartered accountant, working at Ernst & Young and then with Westpac, before returning to the family business at Selwyn Snow Resort as the mountain was reborn after the devastating 2020 bushfires.

DR MICHELLE (Mish) STEVENSON: Mish has been on Mt Buller since she was toddling and started skiing at around three years old.

Like many, she spent some years instructing in her 20s.

She tackled a double degree with an interesting mix of Health Sciences and History, with history becoming the passion and leading to a Masters in cultural heritage.

Mish works with Museums Victoria and has led the National Alpine Museum of Australia on Buller as curator of its fascinating collection for the last 14.5 years.

SUE GEORGE: Sue leads the team in blue in the Ski & Snowboard School and has been working with Buller Ski Lifts for 40 years.

She is currently the only female senior manager in the company and supports a team of up to 400 people each winter.

Sue started skiing in her early 20s and moved into supervisory roles in Buller Kids and Bunyips.

She also fitted in 20 seasons instructing overseas in the US, France and Canada.

The implementation and management of the popular and successful Snow Squad with over 250 participants is one of her key achievements.

Sue completed her studies in chemical engineering, science and then education.

She has been a teacher of chemistry, maths, science, PE and health in Melbourne and Mansfield.

Each of the four panellists told their individual stories of challenges not only within the industry but also juggling lifestyles and motherhood – including some funny stories about carrying small babies in pouches to and from the snowfields and work (except for Michelle, and Lucy who is currently five months pregnant and yet to experience this role).

All agreed throughout their talks that there have been many challenges in their lives that they have had to face and push through, with all coming out the other end on top. Some challenges were unexpected and others saw the women changing courses and ending up where they felt they should be.

Lucy Blyton-Gray faced a huge challenge when in 2020 the Mt Selwyn ski resort was devastated by bushfires that raged through the alpine area.

Over a period of 3.5 years, she rebuilt the resort to what it is today and is now encouraging visitors to return to the snow – this year being one of the best with plenty of snow.

She described how there was nothing left after the fires – even the sewerage system had been destroyed.

It was a massive undertaking to rebuild a whole resort.

Sue George described how she faced what was perhaps her biggest challenge but also gained the greatest reward in juggling ski instructing, teaching and having children – including the funniest challenge of carrying a young baby to and from the mountain and ski school with husband Geoff arriving at feed times to help out.

But from that challenge and spending eight years at Big White in the USA she became more patient, more kind, more understanding.

Lesa Brown found her challenges working in the corporate world, managing people and developing her skills in both the ski industry and the corporate sector.

Michelle Stevenson said that although she has a great passion for snowsports and the environment, leadership and management roles required her to simply get out there and do it.

She said if you do what you love, then push through the challenges to get there – finding ways to get experience saw her take on her current roles.

All guests were thanked for their insights into their individual roles and challenges, and the evening ended with networking and a pizza supper.