In December 1969 at Val-d'Isère, Milne became the first Australian skier to win a World Cup event. It was also the first podium by a racer from the southern hemisphere. It also made Milne the first non-European to win a men's World Cup downhill, a feat that is often attributed by Canadians to Ken Read, who won his first on the same course six years later in December 1975. Two months later, Milne captured the bronze medal in the downhill at the World Championships at Val Gardena, Italy, which also counted as a World Cup podium.