Tony grew up living in Torquay, attended Oberon High School in Belmont, and was raised in a family that wasn’t connected to the snow.
However, living down the west coast, many of his contemporaries were being sucked into the snow vortex.
The Torquay surf crew had started to discover and explore skiing, and they loved it. Some of the early adopters included Speaky, Donny Morgan, Macca, Greeny, Brian Singer et al. Maybe they developed an appreciation for aprés ski most of all.
In 1976, as a Year 11 student, Tony took up the opportunity to attend a school camp at Falls Creek and stayed at Koki Lodge.
The seed had been planted. One year later, now equipped with a driving license, he and a bunch of mates started doing day trips to Buller.
And once he purchased his panel van a year or two later, those day trips extended into overnight visits.
A big night at The Kooroora Hotel, followed by a short stroll down the hill to Tip Corner where the trusty panel van was parked and offered perfect on-mountain accommodation! Northern aspect. Morning sun. Sensational views. Short walk to the Bourke Street Chair.
In 1980, Tony took an Easter trip to Buller on a fact-finding mission. He had decided he wanted to do a season in the snow.
Through contacts he had been directed to look up Bill and Joan Duff.
The Duffs were popular Mt Buller residents and ran a well-established ski rental operation just below The ABOM Restaurant.
Their shop was located beside the Bourke Street ski slope and red double chair, almost at the top of Little Bourke.
Tony was promptly offered a job for the winter.
There was only one catch, the job didn’t come with accommodation.
So, where did Tony live?
The answer….ANYWHERE! Etna, Schuss, Tatry, University Ski Club (at only $6/night!) etc.
A year later, Bill found a bed for him in the staff apartment linked to the shop.
And in 1982 Tony took the manager’s role at VSL.
1983 led to a change of occupation.
Tony did the Ski Instructor’s Hiring Clinic at the Mt Buller Ski School.
Walter Fois was the head instructor.
The clinic ran for nine days and was run by Paul Romagna.
In guiding young Tony through the course, he was heard to bellow more than once….”my grandmother skis better than you, and she’s been dead five years!”
Others in the clinic included Sally Miller, Nigel Mills and Paul ‘Puck’ Harris.
Back then Mt Buller had two lift companies, Orange, aligned to the Austrian Ski School, and Blue, aligned with the French Ski School.
Two different styles of skiing, two different methods of teaching.
There was great friendship and rivalry between the two organisations that lead to many big nights at The Whitt, Pension Grimus and especially The Kooroora.
Boat races, darts and the ol’ tug of war were often the competitions of choice.
They all loved the Australian alpine scene.
Tony found a couple of side gigs including picking up glasses, mostly at Kooroora. Kooroora would host regular band nights that would go into the wee hours.
Rudy Renz was the then manager.
And if they were short of a bouncer, then Tony would help out with that as well.
Work in the pub till 5am and then stand in line ready for a ski school gig at 9am.
The message was simple, just don’t be late.
In 2006 Tony became a Ski School Training Supervisor and president of the Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors (APSI).
In this role he would liaise with the other Australian resort ski schools and technical directors.
He found it very rewarding sharing information and watching the next batch of young crew come through the ski school system.
In 2025 Tony was recognised by Buller Ski Lifts and the Mt Buller Ski and Snowboard School for 40 years of Service.
A tremendous achievement!
And in 2026, he will still be teaching at the Buller Ski and Snowboard School.
Tony has also enjoyed skiing all over the world including Canada, Japan and South Korea.
He did one full season teaching in Okemo, Vermont.
During the green season, Tony got involved in building projects, mostly around Torquay. His life revolved around building and surf.
He has also been involved in building on Buller, initially with Breathtaker, and then Candeaux in 1999 (along with Mark Woodsford).
In 2001 the opportunity presented to buy an older style lodge called Roos (more recently named Telemark Lodge) on Goal Post Road.
It was a smaller footprint on a large block, which presented some restrictions around his lease.
So, in 2015 he started the process to redevelop the site.
It was a slow burn.
In 2019 an Expression of Interest for a joint venture was taken up by the Biscans. Architect John Saliba at Rosenthall Muncton & Shields was appointed and the result has been five incredible free standing town houses.
Tony has two of them.
The beauty is that Tony has used local tradesmen throughout the project and the result represents three generations of Mt Buller mountain people.