Blow In - Blow Out

Despite all the snow, there had been two things missing this season at Thredbo – strong winds and Rosco - both have returned.

The snow pack continues to grow and the temperatures remain well below zero. The groomers continue to show off and the skiing (and I assume boarding) both on and off piste are simply wonderful. The visibility was poor early in the week but then that adds to the excitement factor of dropping off the cornice at Wiamea or negotiating the bumps of Cannonball or the Bluff.

Merritts Falls, Golf Course, Wiamea, Powder Bowl, The Bluff and many other places have filled with dry, soft, snow. August 15th is almost upon us – one of those times of year renown for a big dump. Oh, by the way, Happy birthday Kerry.

As expected, lifts have been placed on wind hold from time to time. Frostbite could become a concern as wind chill has dropped below –20C for many a time this week.

Tuesday was pretty awesome, skiing by brail in deep wind blown. The sun and the fair-weather riders all turned out yesterday but the strong winds this morning, despite the sunshine, have kept many away. The winds have now turned ugly and even the wind stashes are being blown away, leaving hard pack and sastrugi.

PS: I forgot in my last report to thank the organisers, sponsors, staff and competitors who all got out of bed very early Saturday morning to make the Top To Bottom possible. Hopefully next year we will see a return to the old course with more speed and more thrills.

Saturday Peak on Monday

Lucky Phil

The rarely seen and distant Richard snapped by Rosco

Tuesday’s wind, Eagles Nest and Antons

More of Antons – where only Rosco dared pull out his camera

Wednesday morning – Antons, FrostBite Cafe and High Noon

Sponars and Michael’s Mistake

The Bluff awaiting first tracks

Heading towards Bogong Creek

On the way to Dead Horse Gap

Kosciuszko Express went offline yesterday due to (as I was told) a broken drive shaft on the slow cable. Some have suggested this could take up to 3 days to replace. I hope not! It would have been closed today in any case due to wind as even The Cruiser was shut before 9:30am.

And now for Richard’s grumpy segment:

Despite the Thredbo weather station’s inability this year to register precipitation or wind chill and being permanently stuck on 98% humidity we continue to have “Climate Change” at Thredbo. Yes, every day the climate changes. Sometimes it is colder and sometimes it is wetter. Today it is windier.

Something that has not appeared to change is Prime TV’s transmission in Thredbo, which after 6 months of complaints continues to break up and drop out. A bit tough if you want to watch the Olympics. May be the AOC will make sure they don’t get the TV rights next time and instead grant rights to a provider you can ‘provide’.

Friday morning update: Kosi chair is running and open. Well done lads.
Weather station has updated precipitation and humidity (on KT site only). Let's see how long before the next update?