Mt Buller MTB Guide: Lifts Return to Victoria's High Country

After seven dormant summers, the Northside Express is hauling bikes again. Mt Buller's gravity network reopens with new descents, an IMBA Epic on the next ridge, and a National Championships weekend in March.

By the IMPT Travel desk · Published 2026-05-30

On 27 December 2025, the Northside Express chairlift at Mt Buller hauled mountain bikes for the first time since 2018. For Australian gravity riders, that single mechanical detail reshapes the southern-hemisphere summer. Seven seasons of shuttle-only laps on Copperhead and ABOM are over, and a rebuilt Victorian alpine bike park is back in the conversation alongside Thredbo, Maydena and Derby.

The signature descent: Copperhead

Copperhead opened in 2013 as Australia's first purpose-built flow trail, and it remains the trail most visitors ride first. The line drops from the Northside Discovery Centre down the Shaky Knees ski run, threading deep machine-cut berms, rock-armoured rollers and tight switchbacks before joining the Home Trail to finish near Chalet Creek mid-station. It is graded blue, but the speed it carries surprises riders who treat blue as casual.

The harder gravity menu sits alongside it. ABOM is the black-diamond technical descent that follows the eponymous ski run. International and Outlaw Express round out the lift-served gravity quartet, and a fresh build of roughly four kilometres of new singletrack, with about 545 metres of vertical drop, has been stitched into the network for the relaunch.

Stonefly and Misty Twist: the XC half of the mountain

The cross-country side of Mt Buller is what earned the resort an IMBA Epic badge, the only one in Australia. Stonefly, a ten-kilometre loop on neighbouring Mt Stirling, climbs steadily to the Bluff Spur Memorial Hut below the summit before unspooling into a long, technical alpine descent through snow-gum country. It is the trail riders fly in for.

Closer to the village, Misty Twist packs nearly three kilometres of flowing blue singletrack into a tight switchback climb and a fast, bermed descent. It sits in the rebuilt XC ribbon that also includes Gang Gangs, Soul Revival, Clancy's Run, Split Rock, One Tree Hill, Wombat, Medusa and Woolly Butt, all reworked in the recent restoration. Beyond the resort boundary, the Delatite River Trail drops roughly 1,000 metres over 16 kilometres into the Mirimbah valley, and the legendary Klingsporn covers the same vertical in six.

How the lift system works

Two pieces of uplift run the gravity day. The Northside Express chairlift, fitted with bike carriers, operates on weekends and public holidays. On Mondays and Fridays a gravity shuttle collects riders from the Lower Tyrol Carpark and runs them to the top of the gravity trails. Uplift passes cover both. Day passes are A$82 and two-day passes A$147; winter season-pass holders can bolt on an MTB pass for A$199.

Season windows: when to book

Mt Buller's bike-park calendar is built around two pulses. The opening fortnight runs 27 December through 11 January, when the lift operates daily and the resort village runs at near full capacity. After that, lifts spin on weekends and public holidays through Easter (5 April 2026 in this cycle).

The peak race weekend is the 2026 AusCycling Mountain Bike National Championships on 18-22 March 2026, with downhill, XCO, short track, team relay, E-MTB and adaptive titles all decided over five days. The 1.8-kilometre downhill course, with 300 metres of elevation change, runs rock gardens, two road gaps and a punishing finish. Riders chasing quieter trails should target mid-week visits in February, when daytime temperatures sit in the low twenties and the alpine wildflowers are still out.

Getting there without a car

Mt Buller is one of the more reachable Australian bike parks for travellers without a hire vehicle. The most sustainable approach is to take a V/Line coach from Melbourne's Southern Cross station to Mansfield, the gateway town at the base of the road, in roughly three and a half hours. From Mansfield, a Mt Buller Bus Lines coach runs the final 48 kilometres up the mountain. Total transit time from central Melbourne is around five hours, and the bus accepts boxed bikes with advance notice.

For international arrivals, Melbourne Tullamarine (MEL) is the entry airport. Choosing rail and bus over a hire car cuts the round-trip footprint significantly and removes the alpine-road parking question entirely.

Where to base: village vs Mansfield

Two stays make sense. Staying in the Mt Buller village puts riders within walking distance of the Northside Express, the bike-park base and the village restaurants, with a heavy concentration of ski-lodge accommodation repurposed for summer. The trade-off is price and a quieter low-season vibe outside the opening fortnight.

Staying in Mansfield, 48 kilometres down the mountain, opens up cheaper guesthouses and pub stays, plus direct access to the lower Delatite trailhead and a wider dining scene. Most riders split: two nights in the village for lift laps, one or two in Mansfield for the descent trails and the trip home.

The bottom line

Mt Buller is back as a lift-served destination. With Copperhead reopened, the XC network restored, a national championship on the calendar and a train-plus-bus connection from Melbourne, the Victorian alps once again justify a dedicated bike-travel week.

A full POV run down Copperhead, Australia's first purpose-built flow trail, from the Northside Discovery Centre to the Chalet Creek mid-station.