Chris and Phil Schwartz on the NAMA Chairlift, 21 August 2025. Photo: Paul Shipley
When you find yourself upside down in a gumtree hanging by your skis, you’d hope the people skiing with you might go for help, but when it’s your brother they’re more likely to steal your cigarettes from your top pocket and say ‘well what do we do now’?
On Thursday 21 August NAMA’s Chairlift Chat was filled with laughter as brothers Chris and Phil Schwartz regaled the audience with tales from their time at Mt Buller - and in particular - their long involvement with Team Buller.
The brothers grew up skiing on Mt Buller as members of Alkira, along with several other early Team Buller members, with one of Phil’s first ski memories chasing Chris down Chamois.
Team Buller evolved from Tribe Gonzo founded by Geoff Lipshut in 1983.
As this small freestyle team expanded from its five initial skiers, attracted sponsors and started to take on a role in promoting Mt Buller it changed its name to Team Buller in 1986.
The Schwartz brothers joined just before the name change in 1985 and were regular participants in the Team’s aerial shows on Bourke Street and at Tirol – the free lift tickets that came with being part of the team were also a benefit!
The brothers were involved in bringing other skiers into the team, including Kirstie Marshall - who Phil knew from his involvement in gymnastics.
They remember the days when aerials were held over at the Tirol jump above Horse Hill, with one of their favorite things being the big wide flat landing. These were also the days of ski ballet which Chris competed in at Nationals.
Team Buller grew and developed alongside the emerging discipline of Freestyle skiing and both brothers’ credit former Team Buller athletes and managers Geoff Lipshut, now OWIA CEO, and Michael ‘Kenno’ Kennedy, now Snow Australia CEO, for their roles in driving continued development of freestyle skiing and for Australia’s long and continued World Cup and Olympic success.
Innovations that started in Team Buller’s the ABOM Mogul Challenge including inversions and dual moguls have gone onto become a key part of mogul competition.
While the practice of teaching gymnasts to ski, rather than skiers to do aerial tricks, has become a blueprint for other countries seeking to emulate Australia’s aerial success.
These days you’ll still find the brothers skiing most weekends, chasing each other down the racecourse in Alkira’s annual club races (although more often than not it’s Phil in the lead), and enjoying Buller’s après scene, though the stories are a little more tame than during their Team Buller days.
Join us for our final Chairlift Chat ‘No Business like Snow Business’ with Rob Aivatoglou and Mike Balfe on 28 August.
