NAMA Chairlift Chat 31 July
BY: Matilda Worn, TBR Grom & Dr Michelle Stevenson, NAMA Curator
Life is full of moments that define us and on 31 July photographer Tony ‘Harro’ Harrington and BSL Communications and PR Manager Rhylla Morgan shared a few of theirs – including how they met, why they call Mt Buller home and the production and publication of Harro’s monster book – Defining Moments.
Growing up on the NSW Central Coast Harro had a passion for surfing. An array of part-time jobs including cleaning up chicken poo and searching the golf course swamp for balls to sell back to golfers helped fund his first wetsuit, surfboard, and camera. A season at Thredbo in his 20s saw him develop the same stoke for skiing and his 40-year career chasing surf, snow and adventure began.
Then one night at the Birdcage he met Rhylla who had come to Mt Buller seeking a change of pace. Rhylla had a high-pressure, well-paying job, working media in Sydney when an advertisement for a marketing role at Mt Buller caught her eye. Exhausted from long days in the office, she took a leap of faith, gave up half her salary and moved up the mountain. To this day, she still says it was the best decision she’s ever made, and that it truly saved her.
But, back to the Birdcage, the way Rhylla tells it a night of a few too many espresso martinis and a cuddle in the snow, led to her discovering she suddenly had a photographer living in her apartment.
Their lives continue to chase the surf and snow. Once the Buller season concludes, Harro’s ‘predictably nomadic’ schedule involves photographing skiing in Alaska, Jackson Hole and Chamonix, before transiting to Hawaii, Indo-Pacific and around Australia chasing big waves, with Rhylla joining him at times in different locations.
Defining Moments, Harro’s new book, has 25 Chapters, 1,352 pages of spectacular images accompanied by powerful stories, and weighs more than a small child. Begun during several weeks of hotel lock-up during COVID its creation is a celebration of Harro and Rhylla’s partnership and shared passions. Taking three years to refine following that initial COVID burst of work it is a lot more than just a coffee-table book.
Defining Moments is available for purchase online at https://harroart.com/ or in person at the PhotoShop.
Chairlift Chats are part of Après @ NAMA which is held every Thursday in July and August from 5:30-7pm with Chats kicking off at 6pm. Join us for a drink and some sensational stories at National Alpine Museum Australia, Level 1 (Down the Lift), Alpine Central, Mt Buller. Entry is free but all donations support the museum.
Chairlift Chat - Two - Fire & Snow with Ewey Macaskill
Last week at Après @ NAMA guests enjoyed a drink and join snowmaker and CFA Volunteer and former Captain Ewey Macaskill on the Chairlift, as he shared his summer and winter stories from nearly 30 years on Mt Buller; from what it takes to make snow, the challenges of fighting fires on a mountain top and his best pond skim result (and outfit!).
30 years ago, Ewan (Ewey) McKaskill’s parents made the decision to move to Tassie, just as he was finishing school, weeks later he found himself on Mt Buller at the Australian Alpine Institute - a TAFE which was the forerunner to the establishment of La Trobe’s Mt Buller Campus. Studying hospitality his first Buller jobs were at the ABOM and Spurs as a dish pig. Taking on a chef apprenticeship he shifted to cooking and recalls making at least 350 pizzas, using 25 large bags of fries, and cooking 700 dim sims in one night!
Not long after Ewey decided that long nights in the kitchen weren’t for him and it was time to try something different.
Living year-round on the mountain, he found work during the summers as a builder’s laborer and whether building or doing remedial fixes worked on many of the big construction projects in the mid-90s including the Grimus extension, Chalet, Reindeer and Bluff View.
During the winter he found work as a lifty and snow maker.
Ewey developed a passion for making snow doing back-to-back seasons making snow here and in Vermont on the East Coast of the USA.
He recalled working for six weeks straight of -25-degree temperatures, aside from that the biggest difference was the amount of snow they could make in a night compared to what we make here. After working around eight seasons at Mt Buller as a snowmaker, BSL offered him the opportunity to go back to school to do an electrician apprenticeship and take on a role in lift maintenance.
"Being up here year-round, it can get quite in summer and so joining the CFA is a good way to give back to the community but also to stay connected through their regular Wednesday training nights," Ewey recalled.
Ewey joined in 2001 and quickly became a lieutenant, serving as Captain from 2013-2023. Over the years he’s been involved in fighting many fires, including those on Black Saturday when the Mt Buller CFA crew were sent to Buxton to help fight fires there.
He remembers the winds, the heat of the 50-degree day, trees around the team igniting kilometres ahead of the actual fire front and the roar and rumble of the front coming through.
Outside of fighting fires one of the most common things the CFA get called to during summer on the mountain are false alarms due to dust building up on sprinkler heads. His advice was if you’re doing works over summer use dust covers and isolate your fire panel first. While sitting on the chairlift Ewey took the opportunity to name the most common offenders, but here we won’t reproduce those in print.
These days you’ll find Ewey doing what he describes as 'snowmaking maintenance', making snow but also working to fix the machines, installing new guns and changing the position of old guns as changing weather patterns make current locations less effective.
But one of the summer team’s biggest current projects is replacing the kilometres of pipe that supply air and water to the guns to allow them to operate.
As for what keeps him on the mountain he just loves snow.
Still to come on Chairlift Chats Thursday nights from 5.30pm.: 40 Years of TBR with Kenno & Chris Schwarz.
21 August:
Chairlift Chat: 40 Years of TBR with Kenno & Chris Schwarz.
Step back in time to when Cossacks, Daffys and Spread Eagles were cool as early TBR members Kenno and Chris Schwarz join us on the Chairlift for Après @ NAMA. Enjoy a drink as they tell tales of aerial shows on Bourke Street and at Tirol, battles against Falls Creek’s Team Red and how and why TBR has gone on to help develop some of Australia’s most successful snowsports athletes.
National Alpine Museum Australia, Level 1 (Down the Lift), Alpine Central, Mt Buller. 5:30pm to 7pm with the Chairlift Chat kicking off at 6pm. Entry is free but all donations support the museum.
28 August:
Chairlift Chat: No Business like Snow Business with Mike Balfe & Rob Aivatoglou.
What does it take to make a living in the Ski Retail Business? Join Owner of Black Mountain Equipment and SIA Hall of Fame inductee Mike Balfe and second-generation ski retailer Rob Aivatoglou on the Chairlift for Après @ NAMA. Enjoy a drink as they share how they got into the industry and some great on and off snow stories.
Where?: Chairlift Chats are part of Après @ NAMA which is held every Thursday in July and August from 5:30-7pm with Chats kicking off at 6pm. Join us for a drink and some sensational stories at National Alpine Museum Australia, Level 1 (Down the Lift), Alpine Central, Mt Buller. Entry is free but all donations support the museum.
National Alpine Museum Australia, Level 1 (Down the Lift), Alpine Central, Mt Buller. 5:30pm to 7pm with the Chairlift Chat kicking off at 6pm. Entry is free but all donations support the museum.
