First Name: Gale; Second Name: Force

Monday was quite pleasant - breezy and sunny. Being Bank Holiday for many people, it was also quite crowded on the wind protected lifts like Cruiser.

Tuesday: The ice patches of Monday were unchanged while the windblown areas had compacted into an edgable sastrugi. I took my kite out for some exercise. The breeze was brisk and turbulent and it took some time to get properly airborne. Once up and in full flight, the breeze rapidly increased in speed. Being on a fairly glazed surface, I found my speed was also increasing rapidly and when I flew up the slope behind Summer Drift at an ever-increasing speed I decided to drop the kite and give it up for the day.

Wednesday: the winds kept increasing. The air temp was warm but the wind chill below zero. The snow was better than Tuesday. The ice patches had softened slightly and although damp, there was wind blown snow once again accumulating. The first hour was fun. There were a handful of serious Top-To-Bottom contenders out practicing and then there was me. I took out my good powder skis (the ones with edges and a complete cover of p-tex on both skis). The grooming was good and although firm the base was not icy. The vis was difficult at the top with cloud extending down to Kareela Hutte at times. The winds hit 124kph not long after I came in and then some wet stuff fell. Kosi Express was closed and eventually all chairs were taken off.

Too fast for my camera – race training Tuesday

Australian disabled team on World Cup

High Noon & Sundance – Wednesday afternoon

Clouds racing over Central Spur

Kosi chair closed, Snowgums still running

Antons

Sponars

Crackenback

The forecasts have all changed AGAIN. No one seems to be able to predict the weather more than a few hours in advance. The snows that were to come on Friday are now supposed to be the other stuff falling on Saturday. Hopefully we will have fresh deep powder for the Top-To-Bottom (as has happened a few times recently) and my powder ski race training will not be in vain.

PS: The cover is good, despite a few thin patches. The reports of the resort being 100% open continue to be broadcast. One can only assume that Dream Run, The Schuss and lower Cannonball (still closed) do not make up part of the standard definition of ‘the resort’.
Winds are now at 129kmh.