Some of the Lightest, Deepest Powder ...

... may be not, but it is the middle of May 2013 and we are talking about Thredbo. It was, however, one of the sunniest days in a long time and the snow was surprisingly deep especially over some of the shrubberies ;-)

I wanted to go to Kosi Lookout to see the whole range but Marion made the call. You can't argue with someone who only 3 days ago was under a general anaesthetic in Canberra hospital. In any case, we wanted to get some photos of the Chooks who were some 20 minutes ahead of us. So we skinned up to the northern side of the Kosi walking track (now covered with snow).

We rugged up for the -5C temp but almost as soon as we started the climb up from Snowgums chair layers were coming off. There was a nice breeze above Eagles Nest and I needed it. The Chooks had last been on skis only a couple of months ago, Marion even more recently in France whilst I had not touched snow since mid December 2012 - a 5 month break with little exercise - puff, puff, puff - must be the altitude ;-)

Some of the shrubberies presented a challenge as you broke through the snow crust and then sank a long way down. We quickly learnt to stick to the wind packed drifts. Don't get me wrong - there is a good cover above 1800m and an excellent base to start making snow on.

Yesterday morning and the pink haze was upon us again

What a sight this morning - Eagles Nest and Central Spur

Cat Walk, Upper Village Trail
Looking towards Supertrail from BunnyWalk Station, BunnyWalk

'Build it and it will come' - No need for snowmaking on Eagle Way ;-)

Mt Kosciuszko and the cornice is already building

Looking across the valley to the North Face

Then the Chooks took to it. Ray and Lynne push up some pow

First tentative turns from Marion only 3 days out of general anaesthesia

Our descent was mixed but mostly firm-ish

Signature Hill from the bridge - just the way I like it :-)

Thick clouds were already rolling in from the south west before we returned. Perfect timing.
It wasn't until May 27th that I started skiing last year.

The forecasters can't agree but are starting to synchronise. Three or four days of snow showers next week. We need cold temps to start getting a base built at lower levels but at this stage it all looks good for skiing in the resort on the long weekend - just 21 days away.

They say that 'imitation is the greatest form of flattery'. It was with interest that I saw MountainWatch have added wind direction arrows to their charts (http://www.mountainwatch.com/snow-forecasts/Australia/Thredbo) although not as colourful as mine ;-) (http://www.recentsnow.com/go.asp?r=Thredbo)
Mind you, having the bureau's instrumentation freeze up isn't helping my charts at present.

And time for a Grump: I love how Labor whine about Abbott's planned delay to the super guarantee - there's no mention about how small businesses are supposed to find the extra money to pay it. The result would simply be more unemployed. As a small business operator I don't want to see an increase in the super guarantee whilst the economy is in such a mess.