What's In The Box?

Tuesday was too wet for me and for the groomers as well. Tuesday night the groomers took a minimalistic approach to the slopes. I assume due to snow pack being so soft / wet they didn't touch much if anything before a snap freeze meant that the Basin and some other areas ended up as groomed with ice marbles.

The sun was back out on Wednesday and the weather has remained that way. A real change for the interschools races, which I had put down as the reason for Tuesday's rainfall ;-)

Due to the very limited groomed areas and the interschool crowds on Wednesday, I decided to get away from it all yesterday (i.e. Thursday) and head outback of the resort. There was significantly more grooming done on Wednesday night but the crowds were even bigger. The groomers were soft and chewed up by 8:40am.

By 9am I was out behind Karels. The off piste on the main range was anything but soft. I could travel quickly across the solid slopes but skiing down was another story. Normally I don't wear my helmet when touring but each time I put my skis back on my helmet went on as well. I hardly left a mark as I flew across the ice blocks and bullet proof slopes.

The foot massage I received skiing down was so intense that I had to stop at times to let my feet recalibrate. Even though I was "touring" these were not the conditions for Traktorman's lightweight touring gear (see previous report).

A big thank you to whomever kicked steps into the ice up to the Kosi peak from Rawson's Pass. The good side to the solid cover is that it is extensive and not about to melt. Even the west-facing slopes still have an excellent cover, despite all this sunshine.

The snow pack did not soften until I was half way down Signature Hill around 1:30pm.

What a day! Kosi Cornice with the Australia's highest peak top right
It's hard to show or explain the majesty of this sight
For scale purposes, the black dots on the right in the bottom picture are other climbers

Looking down into Cootapatamba from up near Rawsons Pass
The 2 small dots on the left are skiers, the even smaller dot to the right is a helicopter

The very unusual sight of a chopper on the edge of Lake Cootapatamba
What is in or was in the esky, transferred from or to a hole dug in snow (bottom right)?

Looking south along the Kosi Cornice - it's massive

Looking north from Kosi - Watsons Crags in the centre-right
and the foundations of a house of snow in the bottom on the Kosi North Ridge

Looking to the Club Lake Chutes - note sparkling ice cover on top of Mt Kosciuszko

The new chair lift at Guthega (to the right of the T-bar) as viewed from the top of Kosi - love this camera :-)

High on the Kosi Cornice looking towards South Ramshead
the red dot in centre picture is the Cootapatamba emergency survival hut

Skiing the South Ridge was one big foot massage - definitely not for Traktorman's lightweight touring noodles ;-)

Looking back along Kosi Cornice towards Kosi (top left)
and the view from my lunch spot underneath

The big in-resort news this week is that the Bump slope, below BunnyWalk station, has been in heavy use for the interschool races ;-) Snow making has continued over the past few nights, mainly on the lowest slopes.

The forecasts are looking very promising for snow next week. Best falls on Monday and Tuesday :-) Conditions outback could be very dangerous until the new snows bond with the ice layer.

The other interesting thing to note is that the Kosi Cornice is not as big as normal due to the distinct lack of winds this winter but don't be fooled, the ice blocks breaking off the cornice will still kill.

If anyone can update me about the mysterious goings-on on Lake Cootapatamba yesterday I would be keen to share it with you all.
* What was or had been in the esky?
* Did the esky contain illegal substances like "ice"? Ha, ha - some of you will get it ;-)
* Did the army camouflaged helicopter that flew over the same spot a few hours later have anything to do with earlier helicopter's business?

The next of my many postings about the Squatters Run body corporate can be found on WikiGrumps at wikigrumps/4579700901_2014082514