Almost 60 years on since he became the first Australian skier to win a FIS Alpine Ski World Cup event, Myrtleford's Malcolm Milne has been awarded Snow Australia's highest honour.

He was recently presented with the Snow Australia Medal at a special dinner in Melbourne to celebrate his extraordinary contribution to Australian skiing.

The evening brought together members of Milne’s family, friends, former teammates, athletes and representatives from across the Australian snowsports community for a night dedicated to honouring one of the sport’s true pioneers.

The dinner was MC’d by Olympic mogul skier and Snow Australia Medallist Britt Cox, who guided guests through an evening that celebrated not only Milne's career but the history and community of Australian snowsports more broadly.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Snow Australia Medal to Milne by Snow Australia life members Geoff Henke AO and Dick Watson.

Introduced in 2020, the Snow Australia Medal recognises athletes who have represented Australian snowsports at the highest level.

Milne’s medal recognises his pioneering achievements and the legacy he has created for generations of Australian athletes who followed in his tracks.

In 1969, the Falls Creek racer became the first Australian, and first skier from the Southern Hemisphere, to win a FIS Alpine Ski World Cup event, taking out the downhill at Val d’Isère, France.

Guests were also treated to a special screening of ‘A Man Alone’, a documentary celebrating Milne’s remarkable career and his historic victory at Val d’Isère.

The film has been digitally restored and was provided by the National Alpine Museum of Australia, giving guests the chance to relive one of the defining moments in Australian alpine skiing history.

Following the screening, Milne reflected on his career, speaking candidly about the toll the journey took and the hard work that sat behind his success.

“I haven’t seen that film for about 10 years, and I honestly didn’t know how I did it," he said.

“It wasn’t just that one race.

“That whole season, I felt I could have skied off a cliff and still landed the right way.

“Sometimes I was really lonely.

“When I was lonely, I would run around Val d’Isère or do press-ups.

“All the time I was training.

“I knew I had to be physically super fit because the skiers I was competing against were better than me.

“They had been skiing for a long time, they had superb turns, they were fast and they had great equipment.”

Reflecting on the evening and the scale of this achievement, the feat was summed up best by the quote: “It was like Austria beating Australia in Test cricket.”

Snow Australia CEO Ben Wordsworth said Milne's reflections brought the history of the sport to life and reminded everyone in the room of the determination, resilience and courage required to compete against the world’s best.

Nearly 60 years on, Milne’s win at Val d’Isère remains a defining moment in Australian winter sport history and a reminder of just how far an underdog can go with grit and determination.

- Courtesy Snow Australia

Outstanding contribution to alpine racing

Malcolm Milne, born at Beechworth in 1948, was raised on the family tobacco farm at Myrtleford and is still farming there today.

He learnt to ski at Falls Creek and competed for Australia in his first Olympics in 1968 at Grenoble, France.

In an era dominated by Jean-Claude Killy, Milne finished 24th of 86 starters, with a time only 5.51 seconds behind Killy, which was the best Australian skiing result in any Games to that point.

Two months after his maiden World Cup win in December 1969 at Val-d'Isère, Milne captured the bronze medal in the downhill at the World Championships at Val Gardena, Italy, which also counted as a World Cup podium.

Milne trained with the French ski team in Europe, and won a United States title race at Bear Valley, California.

He was expected to do well at the Olympics at Sapporo, Japan, in 1972, but suffered a cartilage injury to his left knee that threatened to cause a withdrawal.

He did not withdraw, and recovered from a near fall that cost him any chance of a podium finish.

After Sapporo, he turned professional for two years, joining a troupe formed by Jean-Claude Killy, specialising in head-to-head parallel-course racing, then retired.

Milne's brother Ross died during training for the 1964 Winter Olympics.

He said the tragedy only drove him to prove Australian skiers could compete and beat the world's best.

Milne was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985, received the Australian Sports Medal in 2000, and in 2004 Ski & Snowboard Australia elected him a life member.