Lake Mountain
A ski trail at Lake Mountain following a snowfall
Highest point
Elevation	1,433 m (4,701 ft)^[1]
Coordinates	37°30′16″S 145°52′56″E / 37.50444°S 145.88222°E / -37.50444; 145.88222^[2]
Geography
Lake Mountain Location near Shire of Murrindindi
Location	Victoria, Australia
Parent range	Cathedral Range, Great Dividing Range
Climbing
First ascent	unknown
Easiest route	Short hike from carpark

Lake Mountain Alpine Resort

Location	Lake Mountain
Nearest major city	Melbourne, Victoria
Coordinates	37°31′01″S 145°52′51″E / 37.51694°S 145.88083°E / -37.51694; 145.88083
Vertical	150 metres (490 ft)
Top elevation	1,480 metres (4,860 ft)
Base elevation	1,330 metres (4,360 ft)
Website	www.lakemountainresort.com.au

Lake Mountain is a 1,433-metre-high (4,701 ft) mountain peak on a plateau that hosts a cross-country ski resort that is known by the same name. It is located in Victoria, Australia, approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The 1,483-metre-high (4,865 ft) Mount Bullfight, which is within the Mount Bullfight Nature Conservation Reserve, is the highest peak that can be reached by a cross-country ski trail from Lake Mountain. Access to Lake Mountain's summit is restricted to a snow shoe track in winter. The Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, located near Lake Mountain, is the most popular ski resort in Australia when measured in terms of total visitor numbers, including sightseers, due to its proximity to Melbourne.^{[citation needed]}

The Lake Mountain Alpine Resort is surrounded by the Yarra Ranges National Park into which its ski trails lead. The resort is an unincorporated area under the direct administration of the government of Victoria, and is surrounded to the west, north & east by the Shire of Murrindindi and Yarra Ranges Shire to the south.^[3]

There is no lake at Lake Mountain. It is claimed that the mountain was named after George Lake, who was the surveyor-general of the area.^{[citation needed]} Contradicting this, VICNames says that it is named for the "tarns, ponds and bogs near the summit".^[4]

Location and features

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The Lake Mountain Alpine Resort is situated in a saddle between Lake Mountain and Echo Flat and provides access to a 37 kilometres (23 mi) ski trail network through the surrounding Yarra Ranges National Park. It is an exclusively cross-country skiing resort. It is especially popular with families, with the majority (80%) of the visitors to the resort throughout the year being a family demographic. Many go to the resort not to ski but for sightseeing and snow play; there are up to seven toboggan runs though only the two main runs are open to the general public. The first and most popular is directly adjacent to the Lake Mountain Alpine Resort Day Visitor Centre, while the second branches off of the first for a longer and somewhat steeper slope. Snowboarding is not permitted as is walking on the ski trails.

The alpine centre was opened on 12 June 2004 at a cost of A$3.7 million along with the refurbishment and restructuring of two other buildings, a toilet block and visitor's locker room area, and the Ski Patroller's Centre, the main area for the coordination and first aid treatments employed by the Ski Patrollers. It has several other facilities, such as two fully equipped conference centres and a licensed café bar. The Heights Bar and Café remains open all year round, to accommodate bushwalkers and bike riders.

In 2005, the Ski Patroller's Centre was equipped to operate as "Snow Gum Lodge" during the off-season, generally available between November and May, for secluded and private overnight stays. It was the only accommodation on-mountain but was destroyed in the 2009 bushfires.

Impact of 2009 bushfires

Main article: Black Saturday bushfires

The bushfires on 7 February 2009 caused considerable damage at Lake Mountain. Much of the forested area was burnt, and almost all buildings except the main Day Visitor Centre/Ski Hire/Bistro were destroyed. Extensive work was undertaken to enable the resort to open for 2009 winter season. Temporary buildings were delivered to serve as toilets, Ski Patrol and kiosk. Damaged wooden trail features and bridges were rebuilt.^[5]

Road cycling

Lake Mountain is a popular destination for road cyclists due to the challenging climbs up to the resort. Lake Mountain can be climbed from two sides: from Warburton (a grueling 40 kilometres (25 mi) climb up the Reefton Spur) or from Marysville, the more popular route. The climb from Marysville is 21.3 kilometres (13.2 mi) long and rises at an average gradient of 4.3%.^[6] The first 4.3 kilometres (2.7 mi) of the climb are the most challenging with an average gradient of 8.1%.^[7]

Portable buildings set up at Lake Mountain after the Black Saturday bushfires.
Main visitor centre - the only remaining building after the fires.
Lake Mountain toboggan run burnt.
The burnt trees, somewhere up on the Cross-Country trail.

References

External links

Australian skifields

Australian skifields
NSW	Cabramurra Charlotte Pass Perisher Blue Cow Guthega Perisher Valley Smiggin Holes Selwyn Snowfields Thredbo
Victoria	Dinner Plain Falls Creek Hotham Alpine Lake Mountain (XC) Mount Baw Baw Mount Buller Mount St Gwinear (XC) Mount Stirling (XC)
Tasmania	Ben Lomond Mount Mawson
ACT	Corin Forest
Former skifields	Kiandra Mount Buffalo Mount Franklin

Mountains in Victoria, Australia

Grampians

William (1,167 m or 3,829 ft)
Difficult
Wilson
Zero (364 m or 1,194 ft)

Victorian Alps

Bogong High Plains	Nelse West (1,893 m or 6,211 ft) Nelse North (1,885 m or 6,184 ft) Fainter South (1,883 m or 6,178 ft) Hotham (1,862 m or 6,109 ft) McKay (1,849 m or 6,066 ft) Cope (1,837 m or 6,027 ft) Spion Kopje (1,837 m or 6,027 ft) Jim (1,818 m or 5,965 ft)
Cathedral Range	Lake (1,482 m or 4,862 ft) The Green Hill (1,241 m or 4,072 ft) Sugarloaf (904 m or 2,966 ft) The Cathedral (801 m or 2,628 ft) South Jawbone Peak (761 m or 2,497 ft)
Cobberas Range	Cobberas No. 1 (1,810 m or 5,938 ft) Cobberas No. 2 Moscow Peak Middle Peak Cleft Peak
Cobbler Plateau	Speculation (1,648 m or 5,407 ft) Cobbler (1,628 m or 5,341 ft) Koonika (1,545 m or 5,069 ft) Despair (1,460 m or 4,790 ft)
Other	Bogong (1,986 m or 6,516 ft) Feathertop (1,922 m or 6,306 ft) Loch (1,865 m or 6,119 ft) Buller (1,805 m or 5,922 ft) Wills (1,755 m or 5,758 ft) Gibbo (1,750 m or 5,741 ft) Stirling (1,749 m or 5,738 ft) Howitt (1,742 m or 5,715 ft) The Horn (1,723 m or 5,653 ft) Buffalo (1,723 m or 5,653 ft) Wellington (1,634 m or 5,361 ft) Buggery (Alpine) (1,598 m or 5,243 ft) Baw Baw (1,567 m or 5,141 ft) Saint Phillack (1,567 m or 5,141 ft) Torbreck (1,516 m or 4,974 ft) St Gwinear (1,509 m or 4,951 ft) Mueller (1,460 m or 4,790 ft) Selma (1,456 m or 4,777 ft) Useful (1,435 m or 4,708 ft) Tambo (1,430 m or 4,692 ft) Selwyn (1,411 m or 4,629 ft) Terrible (1,325 m or 4,347 ft) Donna Buang (1,250 m or 4,101 ft) Buggery (Wangaratta) (1,153 m or 3,783 ft) Bulla Bulla (906 m or 2,972 ft) Dom Dom (740 m or 2,428 ft) Brumby Point Pine

Other
mountain ranges

Central Highlands	Macedon (1,001 m or 3,284 ft)
Dandenong Ranges	Dandenong (633 m or 2,077 ft)
Pyrenees Ranges	Avoca (747 m or 2,451 ft) Warrenmang (537 m or 1,762 ft)
Strzelecki Ranges	Tassie (740 m or 2,428 ft)
Other	Matlock (1,377 m or 4,518 ft) Ritchie (1,259 m or 4,131 ft) Toorongo (1,247 m or 4,091 ft) Horsfall (1,130 m or 3,707 ft) Kaye (998 m or 3,274 ft) Elizabeth (941 m or 3,087 ft) Ghiran (924 m or 3,031 ft) Disappointment (794 m or 2,605 ft) Riddell (781 m or 2,562 ft) Beenak (745 m or 2,444 ft) Alexander (744 m or 2,441 ft) Buninyong (719 m or 2,359 ft) Hanging Rock / Diogenes (718 m or 2,356 ft) Warrenheip (714 m or 2,343 ft) Franklin (648 m or 2,126 ft) Beckworth (634 m or 2,080 ft) Corhanwarrabul (628 m or 2,060 ft) Tarrengower (556 m or 1,824 ft) Warrenmang (526 m or 1,726 ft) Teneriffe (444 m or 1,457 ft) Napier (440 m or 1,444 ft) Briggs Bluff (420 m or 1,378 ft) Arapiles (369 m or 1,211 ft) You Yangs (352 m or 1,155 ft) Leura (313 m or 1,027 ft) Noorat (310 m or 1,017 ft) Elephant (240 m or 787 ft) Warrnambool (216 m or 709 ft) Budj Bim (178 m or 584 ft) Wycheproof (148 m or 486 ft) Cooper (137 m or 449 ft) Fraser Hopeless Typo Jack Hills

Localities in Unincorporated areas

Localities in Unincorporated areas
Town	Falls Creek^ (inc. Falls Creek Alpine Resort) Marysville^ (inc. Lake Mountain) Mount Buller^ (inc. Mount Buller Alpine Resort & Mount Stirling)
Locality	Baw Baw Village Elizabeth Island (Victoria) French Island Gabo Island Hotham Heights^ (inc. Mount Hotham Alpine Resort) Lady Julia Percy Island Mirimbah^ (inc. Mount Buller Alpine Resort & Mount Stirling) Sandstone Island
^ - Territory divided with another LGA

Local government areas of Victoria

Greater Melbourne region

Inner Melbourne	Melbourne Port Phillip Stonnington Yarra
Metropolitan	Banyule Bayside Boroondara Brimbank Darebin Glen Eira Hobsons Bay Kingston Manningham Maribyrnong Maroondah Merri-bek Monash Moonee Valley Whitehorse
Outer Metropolitan	Cardinia Casey Frankston Greater Dandenong Hume Knox Melton Mornington Peninsula Nillumbik Whittlesea Wyndham Yarra Ranges