Snowy Ride Plus
Blood, Sweat & Beers

It was Snowy Ride weekend, aka leather and chrome weekend in Thredbo. A huge number of bikers had already arrived by Friday afternoon and they just kept coming. Saturday was a cloudy day but dry and mild, culminating in the free outdoor concert in the Village Square at 9pm last night when AC/DC cover band, Dirty Deeds, put on a great show for all. In case you haven't heard about Snowy Ride, it is a fund raiser for the Steven Walter Foundation, which raises money to fight child cancer.

No overnight freeze and another brilliant sunny day this morning meant skiing could be good or not so good. I headed off shortly after first lift and walked out a kilometre along the Kosi track before removing my vest and boot-packing up Sig Hill. Despite the plus temperature the NW wind kept the wind-chill low and I didn't raise a sweat on the way up. The snow was, as expected, soft but not sticky or sliding. In fact it was just like it was on Friday when I went to Kosi for the day.

First run was on the North Face - nice. From here I climbed up the Back Door and onto Everest - nice. The snow on the Back Door was just the right consistency so I did another and after coffee and chocolate I did another and then 8s. Back to the North Face for another, followed by another. This snow was just so nice. 2-3 cms of soft corn with a base that held an edge when needed. By the time I had boot-packed up the Main Face again I realised I had broken another of those PBs (personal bests). In the past I can't remember doing more than 6 Sig Hills before giving it away but with my final run down the Main Face I had completed 8 runs and it was only heading towards lunchtime.

My last run led me back to where I had started my boot-pack first thing this morning. I couldn't believe how much fun I had had and then like a slap-in-the-face back-to-reality check ...continued below...

Helicopter joy flights for the sick kids and their families
are one of the highlights of the Snowy Ride

KT put in a fresh ped crossing in time for Snowy Ride
a jaundice zebra crossing ;-)

The Snowy Ride Grand Parade is another highlight in Thredbo

AC/DC cover band Dirty Deeds

Wonderful renditions of some of Australia's best rock songs

A big crowd were in the Village Square to savour the atmosphere and music

Today: Everest (I think Marion was the first to name this peak)
May be not for some, but challenging for me

8s on the Back Door
and to the right: the short 180 steps back up to the top of the Back Door

Looking across the Back Door towards Thredbo

Left to right: Main Face, North Face, Back Door, Everest
Clouds building behind Karels T-bar

As I started to walk back across the grass, I tripped and smashed face-first into the grass - luckily not a rock but hard enough to start a good nose bleed. As drops of blood fell in front of me, I thought I should roll over on my back and let the bleeding stop but then discovered I'd trip on an ant's nest and ants were climbing all over me. Time to get up and take a few steps away from becoming potentially the biggest meal these ants had ever had fall upon them ;-)

I put my vest back over my blood splattered white top, so as not to freak out the many walkers on the Kosi track, and walked back to Eagles Nest for, firstly a stop in front of the mirror to see how bad my nose was and secondly for a cold beer. My nose was still straight, my sunnies probably destined for the rubbish and my face pretty clean, considering the state of my bloodied handkerchief. There was a bump growing on my forehead, which I wasn't aware of until I looked into the mirror. May be it was just one run too many on the hill? The cold beer washed down the last of my painkillers and felt good.

All's well that ends well. Marion returns from weeks away in Tasmania today and says she wants to ski tomorrow. With the Kosi chairlift staying open one extra day, I just might do the same, depending upon how my face feels in the morning.

Best wishes to Kylie (who was surprisingly working today) with only 4 weeks to the birth of Sandy's and her first child.