WENDY McGee first visited Mt Buller as a guest in 1969. She was the third wheel in a blossoming relationship between her friend and a handsome young man.

Wendy had been sent by her friend's mother to monitor the evolving relationship.

They all stayed at Terama and enjoyed a wonderful five days.

Back then the Mt Buller Road was corrugated dirt all the way from Mirimbah.

Wendy was the driver and unfortunately she hurt her knee skiing.

For the drive home, with Wendy in the driver's seat, and her friend in the passenger's seat, her friend would lean across in the Corolla and press the clutch when instructed for gear changes. All the way to Melbourne.

Through connections at the Carnegie Primary School, Wendy knew Frank McGee who was a passionate skier and snow camper.

The gang would do snow trips to Jindabyne and then later to Mt Buller.

Her interest grew and Wendy became a member of API in 1973.

As the years went on, Wendy would ski every weekend.

API became APIRA in 1985.

She and Frank married, and the snow lifestyle was a big part of their lives.

Frank retired from school teaching and became a ski instructor.

Working bees over the summer months became routine as well.

In 1989 Wendy completed the Mt Buller Ski School ski instructor clinic and worked the winters from then on.

During that period she also joined Buller Ski Lifts and worked across marketing, ticketing and retail.

Lift company chief executive officers during that period included Michael Monaster, Brad Spooner, Phil Bentley and Bruce Dowding.

Paul Romagna oversaw the ski school.

And it became routine for Wendy and Frank to take off to Canada for three months during the Northern Hemisphere winter.

From 1997 until 2006 Wendy was the marketing manager for the Latrobe University Mt Buller Campus.

She loved the concept of having students in the resort year round.

They brought activity and life to the resort over the green season as the university catered to almost 200 students.

Back then, the university offered a Bachelor of Business, Tourism and Hospitality degree plus TAFE courses in Hospitality, Outdoor Education and Resort Management. Unfortunately the university closed when the government funding model changed.

Sadly, in 2009, Frank passed away after having had a stroke.

It was most unexpected and happened while the couple were in Whistler.

In 2011 Wendy met Paul Shipley while he was managing the Ski Club of Victoria.

Paul's background had been hotel management.

Over the journey, Wendy has also played a very important role with the National Alpine Museum of Australia, been secretary of the Mt Buller Chamber of Commerce and together with Paul and other business partners invested in on–mountain accommodation and hospitality through Enzian.

Nowadays, Wendy and Paul spend five months each year in Whistler, four months at Mt Buller, have a base in Melbourne but love travel during gaps in their calendar. Wendy, thank you for a wonderful contribution to Mt Buller.