Just A Touch Of Wind

Friday, as expected, was a pretty big day. There was not much visibility and the wind had picked up. With a further 20-25cm over Thursday night we saw in excess of 50cm fall during the week. Friday’s snow was a little wind packed and held more moisture than I would have cared for. My first run from Eagles Nest and down True Blue revealed some nice freshies. By my second run it was pretty trashed but the new snow meant most of the mountain was open or about to be. Reports from Funnel Web were OK but I heard the closed Golf Course Bowl was not much good. There’s a good reason for it to be closed.

Basin T-bar was open but Karels, along with Sponars, are still (even today) not yet open. More snow is required to fill in the holes on the T-bar track. Today’s wind, which closed some lifts, should certainly help in that regard.

With skins on from Eagle’s Nest to above Sasha’s Schuss we headed off into the wind to Dead Horse Gap around midday Friday. The cover was excellent but the moist snow was slow and we ended up doing a fair bit of pushing. I went back again on Saturday (climbed without skins this time from the top of Basin T-bar) and found the snow was more wind packed and drier, consequently almost no pushing was required and the ski down was several degrees more pleasant than on Friday.

Yesterday the Bluff was very enjoyable and the ‘closed” signs had been moved a long way down to just block off lower Cannonball. This meant I could pick beautiful dry drifts down to True Blue and Little Beauty.

Today the winds were even stronger and it was nothing to do with last night’s dinner. A very slow Snowgums chair took us high enough for TraKtorman and me to enjoy fresh wind blown below Kareela Hutte. On the Thredbo web site it had said that World Cup was groomed but we quickly found the grooming stopped above Mid Station. We crossed from here towards Sundowner where the snow under Snowgums was very nice. I finally got onto Anton’s T-bar for the first time this season. There was no queue. There was a good reason for that. Dermabrasion on the upper trail mixed with two large grassy patches on the T-bar track were keeping most away from some nice turns, especially over towards Sponars.

For a last run, TraKtorman, Waz and I hiked up above the top of Snowgums to get more turns down Merritts Falls. Nice snow but a lot of effort for it.

From Eagles Nest to the bridge at DHG where Jock does the honours

Marion at the bottom of the Dead Horse Gap run on Friday

Bogong Creek

Signature Hill is looking good

Top of Dead Horse Gap run on Saturday

Jax approaches the bottom of DHG

Traktorman on Merritts Falls in appalling conditions this morning

The queues for Snowgums and Merritts chairs today

Top of Antons and Crackenback

Sundance (aka Lovers Leap Bypass) is open, firm and fun

With massive queues on Snowgums, Merritts and Gunbarrel, we called it quits after morning coffee. It was rumoured that Ramshead chair would open later to get people to the Basin.

The cover is generally very good even in the lower areas where extensive snowmaking has completed Mother Nature’s job. The wind has exposed some bare and icy patches but that has been countered by lovely wind drifts in some other areas.

There is more snow coming this week. The best of it will probably be just before the weekend – I predict that at least another 50cms will fall before the end of next weekend. Then, wind permitting, everything should be open, lifts and runs.