A Couple Of Hours In The Gym

Curiosity and a need for some exercise got the better of me yesterday. It was a beautiful day, cool, sunny and breezy with an air temperature around zero at midday and a wind chill between –10C and –20C, just perfect for a little work out.

I walked out from Eagle’s Nest towards Signature Hill as far as possible until I began to sink into a dubious snow pack. Then it was on with the skins for more floatation and straight up the peak. The snow was softer than I had expected after a good overnight freeze but mostly it was the new 10cm on top that was soft.

Coming back down Signature Hill the snow was slow but not sticky – if you know what I mean? On the steeper pitches there was a fine layer of ice that broke into irregular shaped pieces about 4cm square. These tinkling pieces of glass rushed past me down the slope to such an extent that I was unable to see my skis at times.

Back up and picked a steeper pitch through the rocks – nice but need more – so back up and over to where four boarders were enjoying a big air day on the mountain. This run had more than just the glass layer sliding. Being more north facing and steeper than the rest I actually had some wettish snow balls the size of footballs push away from below my skis towards the bottom of the chute. One more run for good measure but this time I took a much longer line down the south side. It could have been faster snow but I got what I came for.

The Bluff - nothing much below it now

View towards Eagle’s Nest from the top of Signature Hill

View south from same

The boarders’ big air on the north face

A different frequency of turn for each line

Surface sliding snow was a little disconcerting on the steep

Still one chute in the middle for next time

Glistening afternoon sun

Upstream of the bridge

View from the bridge

The main range snow is better than it was over a week ago. This is despite a 70mm rainfall that Dave at Eagle’s Nest said fell before Saturday night’s snowfall. The Kosciuszko Cornice should be good for a picnic lunch as soon as the winds drop.