A MT BULLER stalwart in so many ways, Aurel Forras, lived and survived a full life well before arriving on the shores of Australia and being lured to our mountains until his passing on January 28, 2024.
Born on February 15, 1929, Aurel, was described by his son Peter, as a proud Australian with mountain energy forever running in his veins and a twinkle in his eye that made you feel and believe that maybe anything really is possible.
“He was a man of few words, more prone to play down his achievements than enhance them or as he would say ‘no bullshit’,” said Peter.
Aurel together with his brother Ernest, escaped war-torn Hungary, enroute through various countries, fleeing the Russians and avoiding the Nazis.
The 700 km trip was through mountains on horseback and foot, mostly travelling at night living off the land and relying on their wits for survival.
These two survivors according to Peter enhanced the landscape of Mt Buller while managing to have a lot of fun along the way.
The pair arrived via ship on a stinking hot summer’s day on January 14, 1951, docking at Port Melbourne.
In a family history book compiled by the Forras family, “We had the skis and ski gear that Ernest had wanted to sell, but we had little else,” Aurel recalled.
“We came with nothing.
“Perhaps we’ve still got nothing, but we’re happy."
That positive attitude no doubt stuck during his time in Mt Buller.
Prior to that, Aurel found work in Mount Beauty with Victoria’s State Electricity Commission on the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme.
Using his skills as a former foreman with a large building company in France, Aurel first built prefabricated ‘English-style’ houses to accommodate the hydro workers in Mount Beauty, not far from the existing Falls Creek Village.
Towards the end of the 1951 ski season, a group from the Australian Postal Institute (API now APIRA) Lodge at Mt Buller came to ski the spring snow in Falls Creek.
Aurel and Ernest were invited to visit Mt Buller.
This started a lifelong love of the mountain.
“We thought it was a better mountain than Falls Creek and closer to Melbourne,’ Aurel said.
So began their part in establishing Victoria’s most popular alpine destination.
When they arrived at Buller, the brothers stayed at the Junior Ski Club of Australia hut.
At that stage there were no lifts on most of the mountain, and Bourke Street had
only one rope tow, run by the Ski Club of Victoria.
Aurel had a good feeling about Mt Buller and wanted to make a go of it by building something.
This led to building the Bull Run Canteen at the top of the Bourke Street rope tow which would also serve as a meeting place for a ski school.
After some wheeling and dealing, the pair were finally given a permit by the Forest Commission Victoria, the resort managers at the time just before the opening weekend of the 1952 ski season.
The brothers went as hard as they could to get the Canteen built, despite the cold conditions.
Then the Forras brothers built the original Kooroora Chalet which was up by 1953.
Aurel got naturalised in Mansfield and became an Australian on March 1956.
The 1960s saw huge growth at Mount Buller – from a scattering of shacks in the
post-war years, an alpine village was emerging, with club lodges and commercial
accommodation at its core.
And Aurel was involved in building most of them being a lasting legacy for future generations.
Aurel met his future wife Georgina Watson who was a member of the Victorian Women’s Ski Team while giving lessons at Falls Creek.
They were wed in 1957 and had two children Peter and Gina.
The love of the snow never left Aurel – he was skiing until he turned 90 – his last run was on Shakey Knees at Mount Buller in 2019.
There is much more that could be said about Aurel and his contribution to the ski industry which has left an indelible mark on Mt Buller.
A copy of Aurel's book will be available in August at the Alpine Musuem at Mt Buller.
