Finding The Gap

Two days after the resort was closed we had fresh snow in Thredbo Village again. Even though the forecasts had been off once more, I thought today was the day to go to Kosi. Marion was keen to take her friend Jim to Kosi during his brief stay in Thredbo so the three of us set out a little while after first chair. Although the temperature was sub zero there was little wind to start and the weather was very comfortable for touring. Half way out the breeze increased but the wind-chill remained about the same. The clouds rolled in and out and we held our breath (figuratively in the thinner atmosphere;-) as we approached the summit, hoping for the cloud to lift, so Jim could get to see the views from the highest point on the Australian continent.

On the way out we ran into Sofia and Daniel who beat us to the top but then we did have to stop for a coffee (thermos style) on the way ;-)

Good karma was with Jim and the clouds broke and the sun shone for brief periods, long enough to see all aspects of the view and to take a bunch of photos. From the summit we skied along the south ridge keeping a good distance away from the cornice, which has huge cracks in it. I chose one of my favourite lines and skied towards the lake (still snow covered) from a point just beyond the cornice. Marion and Jim skied the longer line from the end of the south ridge. A short while later, Daniel & Sofia followed suit. After a well-earned packed lunch we climbed back out from below Cootapatamba Lake up behind North Ramshead. The race was on as black clouds moved towards us from Victoria. We skied across the high Ramshead plateau to Signature Hill where upon it started snowing (sago not rain :-)

The light was quite flat and the untracked slope was almost without definition. The skiing was good until almost the bottom of SH when (as if a line had been drawn in the snow) it suddenly turned sticky. A 1km walk back to the resort and we downloaded, whilst it kept snowing sago on us all the way to the bottom.

The conditions were quite surprising. The flat areas are mostly devoid of snow but the slopes/drifts have a huge depth of base. In past years when we could still ski back to the bridge there was a lot less depth of snow at the top of Sig Hill than there is now. The new snow had covered the brown snow in many places with 1-10cms of fresh but I suspect it won't last all that long. Having said that, the forecasts are for another 4 days of snowfalls.

Tuesday morning and fresh snow in the village
Jim & Marion approaching Eagles Nest

World Cup above mid station and looking back down Supertrail below mid station

Sig Hill from the bridge
Merritts Creek opening below the bridge

Jim reaches his first of the 7 summits - Mount Kosciuszko

Little specs of climbers north of Kosi
Watsons Crags almost visible in the background

Marion and Jim skiing from the peak along the south ridge
Jim near the bottom of the ridge

Sofia skiing Kosi face above Rawsons Pass
Daniel on the south ridge with the cornice in the background

My chosen point of descent above Lake Cootapatamba
looking back up the valley towards Rawsons Pass

Marion and Jim in the vast expanses below south ridge
looking towards Victoria

Our work is done. Looking back at the south ridge with Mount K on the right

The village is practically a ghost town but summer works have begun, especially on Eagle Way, where tons of snow are being shifted to enable the laying of (yes - finally) snow making pipes. Of course, if it had been done last year it would have been cheaper with less snow to clear, however, I am extremely happy to see it finally happening.

Time for a grump: Marion's friend Jim, all the way from Idaho, has made the point that the TV news is really boring here in Australia. Why? Because all they talk about are the politicians talking about themselves. I agree - absolutely true. Australian politicians are only interested in themselves and concentrating on how they appear in the media, whilst the media are only interested in the politicians for being interested in themselves. Why don't the media cover real news and why don't the politicians do what they were elected for and what they are paid a motza for, govern the country and leave their bloated egos at the door?