Benjamin (Bill) SpargoPrint Page

The monument, erected by the Alpine Club of Victoria, commemorates Benjamin (Bill) Spargo who was a pioneer Hotham skier, Alpine Road Officer, the first manager of Hotham Chalet and a gold prospector. The first Hotham Ski Lodge was built in 1946 on a site advised by him. 

In his twenties he worked on the roads between Omeo and Mount Beauty. Norwegian miners in the area taught him to ski and he probably did some prospecting.

By the 1920s Spargo was employed with the Victorian Country Roads Board. In 1923 the board took responsibility for the Alpine Road between Harrietville and Omeo, and appointed him supervisor. Based at Hotham Heights, he lived in a stone cottage which served as his depot. At his request, the building was enlarged to accommodate up to twenty visiting skiers. From 1925 the C.R.B. allowed him (when he was not engaged on road patrols) to use the premises as a guest-house, Hotham Cottage (Hotham Heights Chalet).

He ran it in partnership with a ski instructor for a short period, then brought in his brother Cecil to assist him. Within a few years the chalet became a favourite stopover for skiers, and Bill was a well-known and popular identity. The C.R.B. decided in 1933 to discontinue the operation of the joint road depot and guest-house, and handed the chalet to the Victorian Railways. Spargo was deeply disappointed, but stayed on as the chalet's handyman and did a bit of prospecting for gold. After he survived the 1939 bushfire (Hotham Heights Chalet did not), he turned to prospecting virtually full time. He died in 1959. 

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