Richard's Report

Will you still need me ... when I'm 64 + 21

The weather changed overnight. Gone were the damp and foggy effects of the east coast low. A clear, calm and very cold night (-9.6C) meant a lot of man-made snow topped with 1-2cm of fresh natural snow and a deeply frozen base.

The Thredbo Ski Racing Club Annual Giant Slalom race took over World Cup. The rest of the lower slopes felt like a racecourse as well - hard and fast.

Up in the Basin the corduroy was sweet and there was Tommy Tomasi having a birthday ski. Following hot on Frank's heels, Tommy is one of Thredbo's oldest and one we all aspire to.

Happy 85th Birthday Tommy

The queues soon built on The Basin and Karels T-bars as everyone sought out quality grooming and to get away from the races.

I found Exhibition and Conrod Straight off Sponars T-bar very pleasant and probably the shortest queue on the mountain. High Noon was nice early up with a good covering of fresh man-made snow.

After morning coffee I decided to escape the weekend crowds by going out behind Karels. After a couple of easy runs I made my first ascent of Signature Hill for 2011. The base was smooth and sparkly but also deceiving. There was 1-2cms of fresh on a 1-2cm frozen layer above a softer base. My boots broke straight through but my skis did not.

As usual, I was not nearly as fit as I hoped. All pit zips and vents were open as I puffed my way up hill with skis over shoulder.

I skied gently down the main face of Signature Hill without pressuring any edge to prevent breaking through. Yum. Speaking of which, I suddenly found myself quite hungry and so I made a long and bouncy traverse to Frostbite for a burger :-)

Eagles Nest rising out of the early morning mist