First And Last

Marion came up with today's heading: First chair and Last run. By watching the weather very carefully and ignoring the forecasts I speculated that today would be the pick of the days for one last ski.

I have now broken my record (by 1 day), for how late into December I have skied in Australia. My previous record was set last year after one of the best ski seasons ever and yet this year, after one of the worst seasons, I managed to get in some fun turns.

Instead of rain showers, the dawn clouds quickly dissipated and as the moon set over Eagles Nest this morning the sky cleared to perfect blue. Phone calls and emails went out to all those who had indicated some interest in one last ski for 2013, but ... you know the rest.

Onto first chair on the Kosciuszko Express and a walk out in a stiff breeze to Summer Drift. The wind was a god-send in more ways than one. Firstly it produced a very comfortable wind chill effect and secondly it kept the myriad of bush flies at bay.

The snow was typical spring 1cm soft top on a firm but not icy base. The snow had been heavily scalloped by wind and sun with no rain to flatten it or wash away the ever growing array of insect bodies.

The ride was a tad bouncy but not slow or sticky. We just didn't leave much in the way of tracks because not much ski was connected with snow at any time. Marion described it like water skiing on a choppy day.

Western Sydney 40+, Melbourne 40+, Adelaide 40+, Canberra high 30s, Summer Drift 21C with a wind chill of just 13C. You know where to come to get away from the heat!

Skis in queue for first chair on December 20th, 2013

Marion in the Xmas spirit
No, we didn't have drink till after at Eagles Nest

9 runs in total; the longest was 22 turns and 230 steps back up
Not bad for the day before the summer solstice

Marion at the bottom of the drift photographed from the top
to provide some idea of the length of run
certainly longer than I had expected

An indication of how deep the snow scallops are
Pink - purple snow could be seen at several places on the drift
a bacteria or mould or something - Marion suggested it was alpine krill ;-)

What a morning under the big blue sky with huge boulders as our backdrop

Yes, it was cool enough to keep hats on and wear long sleeves
I didn't start perspiring until the walk back

Speaking of boulders - watch that last turn

Santa's helper surrounded by wild flowers

And that standard photo from the bridge
My 8s from last week are fading fast

It turns out that this is my 800th report. A number that I could never have comprehended back in 2002 when I started blogging. Thanks for your support and I might just have a little celebration tonight ;-)

But not only that ... my camera started a strange shuddering just before I took my last photos. It was only whilst composing this report that I realised that my camera's image count has clicked over from 9999 back to 0001 for the second time that I remember. That's 20,000 photos from the old battered Canon.

I do have a good grump but will post it after Xmas. I always think it's nice to receive that something extra after Xmas. Although in this case it's probably nicer to give than to receive - if you get my drift ;-)

PS: There is a slight possibility that Sunday may be ski-able too. Oh, does it ever stop?