Masters of Thredbo

Saturday was Thredbo Masters Race Day. Snow conditions in the mountains were not good but the Rossignol Race Course had the best of it. The course was firm yet carvable. It did not rut up badly and yet was not icy, save for a couple of little patches that appeared well into each of the two runs. The remainder of the resort was a mixture of frozen off piste and either sugar or icy cement on piste. Sponars was popular being opened for the season only on Friday but getting onto the T-bar was the challenge due to the very thin cover at the bottom. Conrod Straight was quite nice.

There was a good turn out of racers for Masters (30 years and up), especially considering how bad the season has been so far. The event was very nicely run and the presentation dinner enjoyable. As for the array of older men parading around in race suits, well I guess we are lucky the event is only once a year. Congratulations to all winners (no I don’t fall into that category even in my wildest dreams) and to the organisers and race crew.

There was a dusting over Saturday night and it kept blowing and snowing all through today (Sunday). This is the first real blizzard of the season although we have only had a couple of cms out of it. It was cold enough that the flakes were dry and although there were some wind issues – mostly on Cruiser chair - you did not get wet from the snow blowing around.

There were some very nice wind drifts to be found. I had one run the bluff that was very scoured at the top. The lower slopes were soft and as the day progressed they turned into sugary mogul fields. The upper slopes were either covered with dry windblown snow or devoid of anything but clear concrete. The Supertrail, World Cup and other high runs were a challenge, although I found a 2m wide track of deep sugar on skiers left of the upper Supertrail that was quiet delightful and did not require edges.

First sign of a change in the weather on Saturday morning

Deep sugar tracks on Supertrail

Colourful race suits helped set the scene

There were serious racers

Touring boots, mental preparation, even telemarks

High Noon late Sunday

Upper Supertrail in blowing snow

The latest weather forecast looks very promising for good snow tomorrow and again at the end of the week. Looking at past snow depth charts shows several past years where there has been no significant base until the beginning of August so the forecasts are in order.

Don't forget the campaign to return Kosciuszko Park entry fees back to something reasonable - click here