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Milano Cortina 2026

Alpine reflections on this year’s Winter Games, based on a conversation with Bradley Spalding – Former Ski School Director of Thredbo and Founder of Wildbrumby Distillery. View the full conversation on our YouTube channel here.

There are moments when the mountains seem to stand a little taller.

This year’s Winter Games in Milano Cortina delivered exactly that. Australia’s most successful Winter Olympics ever — not only in the size of our team, but in the glittering weight of medals brought home. Gold, silver, bronze — a bag of them. Proof, as Brad would say, that the pudding is well and truly set.

We couldn’t be prouder.

And here at Wildbrumby, nestled in Thredbo Valley between the lake and the mountains, our cheer rings out for all our Winter Olympians, but especially for local Jindy legends: Josie Baff, Adam Lambert, and Abbey & Charlotte Wilson. To see homegrown Snowy Mountains athletes standing on the world stage in Italy — the spiritual heartland of alpine sport — feels beautifully full circle.

Then and Now

When Australia travelled to the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo — only our second Winter Games — we sent just ten athletes.

Among the team was our dear friend Frank Prihoda. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Frank was selected for the Slalom and Giant Slalom events from a small pool of Aussie athletes. The team was coached by Austrian Leonard Erharter (who later returned to Thredbo to become its very first ski school director). Hopes weren’t high for the Australian team to win any medals. The competition was fierce and the snow scarce at the 1956 Games. While he didn’t finish near the podium, Frank would later become Australia’s oldest living Olympian, carving up the slopes of Thredbo well into his nineties.

Fast forward seventy years.

Back to Italy — now hosting the Winter Games for the third time — snowboarding has been an official Olympic sport since 1998. Australia arrived with 54 athletes and returned home with six medals, including three gold. One of them was claimed by Jindabyne’s own Josie Baff in the Women’s Snowboard Cross.

From a team of ten to a powerhouse of fifty-four.
What a journey.

A Milestone for Australia

Brad, former Ski School Director of Thredbo and founder of Wildbrumby, has watched Australian winter sport grow from hopeful beginnings to world-class performance.

“This was the most successful Winter Games Australia’s ever had,” he reflects. “Not just the number of participants, but the medals. Quite incredible. It’s a real milestone.”

For decades, the world has seen Australia as swimmers and runners. A summer sporting nation. But Australians are sports-mad — and adaptable. Snowboarding and freestyle disciplines, in particular, have captured our national psyche. There’s something in that blend of creativity, courage and edge that suits us. Perhaps a little crossover from our surfing culture. A willingness to take the line less travelled.

And now, the results speak for themselves.

The Vision That Built Champions

Much of this success traces back to a simple, powerful idea.

Sport and Recreation in Jindabyne began as a school-based skiing program. Each winter season, students from the region and around New South Wales would come to the mountains, stay at camp, learn to ski, discover the alpine world. It was grassroots. It was inclusive. It planted seeds.

Over time, that seed grew into a world-class Olympic training facility.

“Whoever said in the early days, ‘We’re going to dedicate this land to winter sport,” Brad says that was a person of incredible vision. “The amount of infrastructure and the training expertise that they put into that facility is definitely paying dividends – in gold medals.”

Facilities matter. Coaching matters. Pathways matter. But behind every athlete stands something even stronger.

Family.

Look at Josie Baff. Snow sports run through her family like snow melt through the Thredbo River. Parental support is more important even than funding and facilities. Pete and Petrina Baff devoted their lives to ski schools and snowboarding. Brad recalls that Pete and Petrina Baff have been involved in snow sports in Australia for many years. “Pete was a ski instructor in the early days and then became a snowboard instructor.” That love of snowboarding was passed on and became family culture. That culture became legacy. And that legacy now stands on the Olympic podium.

From activity to identity.
From passion to performance.

What It Takes

To be an Olympian — medal or not — is something rare.

“Whether you didn’t finish or win a medal, that really doesn’t matter. To be an Olympian is something really special,” says Brad, “You’ve worked incredibly hard just to make the grade.”

Frank knew it in 1956.
Our 2026 team knows it now.

Discipline. Resilience. Early mornings. Cold days. Falls and fractures and fierce determination. The mountain rewards those who return, again and again, to try.

A Community Moment

Across Jindabyne and the Snowy Mountains, there’s a quiet electricity. Pride. Inspiration. Excitement for what comes next.

The more medals Australia wins, the more winter sport earns recognition and support. The pathways are stronger now. The infrastructure is in place. The next generation is watching.

France awaits in four years’ time.

And here in the Snowy Mountains, we are ready.

At Wildbrumby, our story is stitched between Austria and Australia. Between old-world alpine tradition and new-world mountain grit. Watching Australia rise in Milano Cortina — a place so close to our European heritage — feels deeply personal.

From Frank in 1956.
To Josie in 2026.

From ten athletes to fifty-four.
From hopeful beginnings to Olympic-sized joy.

The torch passes. The mountains remain. And the spirit endures.

So let’s raise a glass of schnapps in celebration and congratulations:

Here’s to our Winter Athletes.
Here’s to the Snowy Mountains.
Here’s to adventure.

See you in the Snowy Mountains soon!

 

Some releases just feel meant to be. To mark the Year of the Fire Horse, we’ve bottled something a little bold, a little untamed, and very much worth raising a glass to. Meet Golden Stallion Vodka — a limited-edition release that celebrates forward momentum, good fortune, and riding your own path.

Golden Stallion is a spirited twist on our wildbrumby Kosciuszko Vodka, sharing the same chardonnay-grape base and alpine clarity — but with a fire-lit edge. Infused with orange for brightness, ginger for warmth, and kumquat for a subtle nod to Lunar New Year prosperity, it finishes with a flicker of native mountain pepper that lingers long after the sip.

The result? Vibrant on the nose, silky on the palate, and warming in all the right ways. Smooth enough to sip neat, complex enough to carry a cocktail, and rare enough that when it’s gone — it’s really gone. With the wildbrumby stallion on the label, this one was always destined to run with the Fire Horse.

Fire Horse Fortune
Product: Golden Stallion Vodka

Golden Hoof Spritz
Product: Golden Stallion Vodka and Fever-Tree Yuzu & Lime Soda

It’s about time for a long schnappy lunch. Weekends are made for resting, recuperating and rejuvenating. And summer long weekends? They’re basically a holiday for your soul. It’s your time to get out in the sunshine, soak up some much-needed vitamin D, and forget about the inbox for a while. Why not dial up the relaxation by treating yourself to a long lunch with friends — complete with a table full of schnapps spritzers to toast this beautiful land we call home?

We’ve rounded up our schnappiest summer favourites to take your weekend brunches from nice to next-level.

Mango Madness
Product: Mango schnapps and Kosciuszko Vodka

Fuzzy Navel
Products: Peach Nectar schnapps and orange juice

Italian Lemonade
Products: Limoncello and Wildbrumby Classic Gin

Donner and Blitz
Products: Devil’s Tongue schnapps

G&T
Product: Wildbrumby Classic Gin and Fever-Tree Indian Tonic

It’s that time of year to run through the schnappy checklist.

Stocked up on seasonal Sour Cherry schnapps – check. Gifted your Secret Santa a 60ml surprise pack – check. Bought the Seriously Sparkling Christmas Pack to add extra festive cheer to your celebrations – check. Added Christmas Gin to the “just-in-case” shelf – check. Hidden a bottle somewhere unexpected for future-you to discover – check. Spare bottle for Santa – check.

Now, what to do with all that schnapps?

At wildbrumby, that’s our favourite question. The easy answer is “just drink it”, of course. But if you’d like to get creative—and seriously impress your family and friends this holiday season—we’ve mixed up some “Schnappy Hour” Christmas cocktails that are ready to become your new go-to’s for every festive celebration. Check them out below.

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Santa’s Baked Apple Fizz
Product: ‘Catch Me’ Gingerbread Man Baked Apple
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Sour Cherry Slam
Products: Christmas Gin and Sour Cherry schnapps
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Sunrise on Christmas Day
Products: Kosciuszko Vodka and ‘Catch Me’ Gingerbread Man Baked Apple
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Candy Cane Martini
Products: Kosciuszko Vodka and Peppermint
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Lady Marmalade
Product: Classic Gin
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Elf Juice
Products: Classic Gin and Limoncello
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Saint Nic’s Spritz
Products: Christmas Gin and Sour Cherry schnapps
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