All Padded Up and Waiting

For what are we waiting? If you don't know, you are probably reading the wrong blog.

Why are we waiting? My observations over the past year indicate that all the seasons, both in the northern and southern hemisphere, are running up to a month late. In Australia that was quite noticeable with the monsoon and hurricane seasons and most recently the rainy and warm autumn especially over central Australia not to mention the warm May temps being experienced in many places. Remember, I skied later last year than ever before.

I forecast at least 15m of snow in Thredbo this season. Sceptics scoff but I can show between which two poles (approximately 15m apart) that snow will fall ;-) Optimistic or pessimistic? I'm often accused of being 'negative' and I'm 'positive' about that.

So, here we sit waiting. My understanding was that snow making was to start last week but temperature and humidity levels put a stop to that. The wind chill has remained low due to strong winds but that's not enough. The bureau is hinting at a little snow this week whilst The Frog has dropped his forecast of snow and the Adelaide forecasts and the 540 line do not indicate any snow soon.

On a very cheery note: Last night (Saturday) many of us got together to raise funds for the Thredbo volunteer ski patrol and more importantly to celebrate the amazing achievement of Barry May upon reaching 50 years of active volunteer patrolling. There were awards as well as letters from the Prime Minister, the NSW Premier and more, all congratulating Barry for his commitment to volunteering, not to mention the sheer physicality of the work as well.
Well done Barry!

A BIG thank you to the organisers of last night's do and to KT for generously providing the venue and food and special thanks to Barry's family for allowing him to go skiing every year for 50 years ;-)

The padding is back in place - Kosi, Merritts & Snowgums chairs

A tad too green for my liking
It has been too warm and humid for snow making to begin

Ski Patrol refresher course - lift evacuation

Barry May with 50 years of active volunteer ski patrolling under his belt
And no doubt more to come yet

Some of the large crowd in the Kosciuszko Room celebrating Barry's achievement

Vale Sally. Many of you will remember the ever-smiling liftee Sally (often with a serious splash of pink in her short blonde hair) who frequented The Cruiser and EDI. I'm saddened to say that her death in a car accident was reported earlier this month. Read more: http://forums.ski.com.au/xf/threads/sad-news.65731/

Grump Central:

Liar Liar budgie smugglers on fire! Or should we say 'Budget Smuggling' rather than 'Budgie Smuggling'? I'm not going to go into the pros or cons of the budget (in this post) but I will state how surprised I am by the broken promises.

Between the ICAC investigations in NSW finding members of both the Liberal/National & Labor parties severely wanting and having had both Liberal/National & Labor prime ministers being found to be blatant liars, I am surprised at the gall of these parasites wanting our respect and votes! Ha - they treat Australian voters as complete mugs!

Together with prominent CEOs fighting like rabid dogs on a Bondi street and the sports cheats on drugs, the so called 'leaders' of our country have made Australia an international joke. Wake up! It's NOT OK to lie and steal, cheat and deceive. Nor is it OK to not stand up against such poor behaviour.
Silence Is Consent - meaning all those members of the Liberal, National and Labor parties that don't stand up and protest over the lies of Abbott and Gillard are just as accountable for those lies.