Quick work by roads crews this morning saw a section of rock debris blocking Mount Buffalo Road to be blasted away allowing vehicles to descend from the peak.

The students from a Mansfield high school, some sightseers and a ranger were able to drive through a gap between boulders which fell on to the road about midday yesterday.

A VicRoads spokeswoman said the road not been closed from the bottom of the mountain and Parks Victoria had shut Mount Buffalo National Park for the weekend.

Works crews will continue to assess the best method to clear the boulders.

The students were among visitors forced to spend last night on the mountain after 300mm of rain this week triggered the landslide.

Machinery from Tallangatta was brought in late yesterday to start work on clearing the road.

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Ranger in charge Julien Atherstone said a group of high school students from Mansfield, camping at Lake Catani since Tuesday, had been due to leave the mountain yesterday afternoon.

“They are stuck on the mountain, but they are warm and dry and awaiting an update from Vic-Roads,” he said.

“They have their camping equipment and are quite happy to stay an extra night.”

The group and two couples, who were also on the mountain, spent last night at the Dingo Dell Cafe, which is open five days a week at this time of year.

“They are lucky the cafe owner is here and there’s plenty of food,” Mr Atherstone said.

Mr Atherstone was not surprised there had been a landslide.

“We have had a lot of rain over the past couple of days and the granite soil is prone to give way when it becomes that wet,” he said.

“It’s one of the natural processes of being on a granite plateau — the road just happened to be in the way this time.”

Work on removing the landslide stopped once darkness fell.

“They won’t be working tonight,” Mr Atherstone said.

“They will work until dark and then come back in the morning.

“It’s a huge job and, once the debris is removed, they will have to assess the road to make sure it’s safe to drive on.”

VicRoads regional director Graham Freestone confirmed that the road had been blocked since midday.

“We are sending a blasting crew up there to get the road free,” he said.

“The plan is to drill a hole and put explosives inside to shatter the rock.

“Generally, the hammer on the excavator can do the rest of the work.”