Just One Of Those Days

Conditions seemed ideal for my first trip to Mt Kosciuszko since last summer. Only a slight breeze together with an air temp maxing out at +10C under a mostly blue sky, I rang around several interested contenders for the day trip.

One too tired from working all weekend, one studying for exams, one with fresh blisters from new boots, one who could come but not at 9:00am when lifts open. OK, so Marion and I eventually got away after 10:15am. First minor error was not skinning up Signature Hill to North Ramshead, rather we walked out to Kosi Lookout and then skinned and got a few turns but nothing to rave about. We skinned to the top of Kosi, it was lunchtime but with the breeze and crowd we decided to eat in the lee of the northeasterly wind below the south ridge cornice.

We had both picked our own lines before arriving above the cornice and had chosen areas with the browner snow, as the white was decidedly stickier. I dropped off where there was no cornice overhang and no apparent fissures in the snow pack. After two turns (and touching a little of the whiter snow) it was obvious that the top layer of snow on this steep line was not well bonded with the under layer. A slide began and not being well experienced with being caught up in such things I slowed down rather than speeding up. Next thing I’m riding the slide towards Lake Cootapatamba. All I could think of was, what a waste of a hard climb. I stopped near the bottom of the slope. My left ski that had popped during the slide had been brought down as well and was resting only 2 metres away when everything stopped.

Marion, having seen all of this from the top, took a more conservative line onto the slope to enjoy some nice turns. After lunch we headed back. No second tries as our late departure from the village meant we only had enough time to get back comfortably before last chair back down.

The south ridge and Lake Cootapatamba

School class atop Kosi

Approaching launch site

My slide trail through a snow splattered lens

Another angle

Marion getting better turns than me

And more turns than me

The creek is just starting to open up below the lake

Not much of a scar when looking from a distance

I couldn’t even get the figure 8s together down SH

Oh well, I’ll have to go back again (next week) and get it right. The forecast doesn’t look friendly till then. Hopefully snow conditions will return to those of last Saturday’s.