Mt Buller has always been home for Hannes.
Born in Mansfield, some of Hannes’ earliest memories are of attending Mt Buller Primary School when it was located in the police station.
His brother Anton also attended, along with Luke and Tom Maurice, Elle, Cody and Blake Ridell, Ben and Monty Forass, Kate Trotter, and Bill and Wesley Morrell.
Back then, only one classroom existed to cater for students from Prep to Grade 6.
Hannes started skiing at the age of two and attended his first day at Mt Buller Ski School when he was about four.
He cried all the way to ski school, throughout the lesson and all the way home.
Paul Romagna screamed, “Somebody deal with this Grimus child.”
Each summer, Hannes attended Merrijig Primary School, taking the 7.30am bus down from the mountain.
In later years, he attended Mansfield Secondary School before completing his education at boarding school in Melbourne.
It has never been lost on him how special it was to grow up in the Victorian Alps, particularly at Mt Buller.
At Pension Grimus, he was always surrounded by people, energy and excitement in the chalet, restaurant and ski shop.
However, one of his most enduring memories was the final day of the season.
The lights would go out, the patrons would head home and staff would move on to their next adventures.
There was that feeling of being left behind.
The snow would melt.
The mud would appear everywhere.
The mountain would evolve into its next phase.
Spring.
Then summer.
Hannes always dreaded that final day.
It continually loomed, drawing closer until suddenly it was over.
Hannes grew to love the mountain more in summer than in winter.
The flora and fauna.
The colours.
It was such a special part of Australia.
As children, he and Anton loved walking the Mt Buller ski runs, particularly beneath the chairlifts, searching for treasures patrons had accidentally dropped during winter.
One of Hannes’ greatest passions was ski racing.
At the age of 12, he began spending seasons in Europe with the Grimus family in Lower Austria and Tirol.
His parents, Hans and Lotte, were always completely supportive.
Both were extremely hard-working and wanted to provide every possible opportunity for their children.
Around 2000, Hans and Lotte extended Pension Grimus, adding 11 apartments and an underground car park.
They had rolled the dice and invested in the mountain during an extremely stressful time.
Thankfully, it all came together with a wonderful outcome.
From the ages of 14 to 19, Hannes was coached by Christoph ‘Stoffl’ Maier.
They travelled overseas together and also worked through the Mt Buller Race Club.
Hans and Lotte remained closely involved in their son’s progress.
At the age of 17, Hannes joined the Australian national team and Stoffl became one of the national coaches.
At that stage, Hannes was competing in slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill.
At 18, Hannes was selected for the World Junior Championships in Formigal, Spain, where he became the first Australian to finish in the top 30 in slalom since the championships began in 1982.
It was a significant moment in his life.
Stoffl had become like a second father to Hannes and pushed him to be the best he could be.
That same year, Hannes was named Alpine Junior Athlete of the Year.
However, everything soon took a turn for the worse when Hannes had a serious crash late in the season and suffered a significant concussion.
Doctors advised him not to ski for five or six weeks.
Matters became worse when Hannes returned to the snow.
While testing HEAD skis, he tore his medial ligament, ending his season.
Back at Mt Buller and on the snow again, Hannes launched off the Bluff while freeskiing and fractured his fibula and femur, broke numerous ribs and dislocated his shoulder.
Hannes was completely disheartened.
It all became too much and he made the sudden decision to retire.
His racing career was over.
Since then, Hannes has run the family ski shop at Pension Grimus and been a key contributor to Mt Buller’s snow-grooming program.
He began snow grooming in 2009 when Ant Bateup was in charge of the operation.
Hans had imported the first PistenBully into Australia, so there had always been a connection.
Hannes worked in the role full-time for three or four seasons.
Ant, Chris and Bob Bateup taught him all the tricks.
At the time, most snow groomers were locals, with knowledge passed from one groomer to the next.
Willy McDonald, Gus Symes and the others were a passionate group.
To this day, Hannes still jumps into a machine and enjoys the satisfaction of providing a quality surface for the Mt Buller community.
More recently, Hannes has run his own earthmoving business, been involved in elite ski coaching overseas and remained busy at Pension Grimus.
Drop by and say g’day to Hannes in the Pension Grimus ski shop.
You will not find a more passionate Mt Buller personality.