At the start of the year while we were still in NZ. I called a mate up in NSW and asked if they would like to come out skiing with us in the middle of the year. With a positive response we booked into Week 8 for the Bogong Rover Chalet. A week-long trip staying out in the snow.
We all booked our time off from work. And I flew back to Victoria from WA the day before the trip. Everything was looking perfect until I called up my mechanic and I found out that my car would still be another week in their shop. Unable to find a lift, I quickly hired a rental car for the trip.
Meeting up in Mount Beauty on a Friday night. Everyone on the trip would be arriving to sleep the night in the Scout Hall. Then the next morning we caught the bus up to Falls Creek to ski into the Chalet. But with the fun snow season that Australia was having this year. We had to walk half of the trip there. Eventually we could put on our skis and then the snow ran out again.
Once on the Aqueduct trail the snow improved and we were happy to ski the last few kms. Turning a corner and seeing the chalet with snow around it was a great feeling.
The next morning we skied out to the training slope up behind Cope Hut. To get here we had to take our skis off and walk over the dry plants and big sections with no snow. Once here we have a long gentle slope to practise our turns and trying to stop.
Up here another group had made a giant Igloo which was surviving the hot days and strong sun. It was around 10 degrees on the first day which is shorts and a t-shirt skiing weather.
Sadly only after a few hours our mate’s ski boot decided to delaminate. It was patched up with cord and tape to get her back to the chalet. And then filled with glue and even more tape to try and hold it together. Then a few days later the other one did the same thing. And by the end of the week both boots were not looking like they would survive.
After lunch we left the training slope and headed to a steeper valley to start our ski back to the chalet and it’s up here that we got to see a sad sight. There are pockets of snow all over the high plains but not much overall. We would have to pick our routes and take the long way to get around if we wanted to stay on snow for as long as possible.
At least the Home Slope behind the Chalet had a lot of snow and we didn’t turn on the rope tow but we could ski up and down there if we wanted to play more each day.
When you stay out here. You have to ski in all your gear and a sleeping bag. As well as around 2kg of fresh meat and veg. Then on the first night everyone is split up into your duty groups with a rotating list of tasks over the week. Everyone has a go being a cook, dish washer, server, bathroom cleaner, wood chopper and other tasks. It is a great way to get to know the other people and groups that you are sharing the Chalet with for the week.
Every morning after breakfast the trips for the day are put up on the whiteboard and you choose where you want to go. In years with more snow there will be long trips up to 50 kms away to explore the peaks and find hidden cattlemen’s huts. Or smaller trips to play on the ski tow or to take photos of the area.
The first few trips this year were to just explore the area and see where we could find snow with long downhill runs to play on.
The upside of ski touring compared to staying in the resorts is that our skis let you ski up the hill. So we could follow the snow wherever it was. By climbing up to the top of the hill we got these great views of the clouds still down low in the valley.
Usually the High Plains road is completely under snow and you know it’s there due to the poles on the side. This time we were lucky to have sections of the road covered in snow so that we could ski along it or use those small sections to cross from one side with snow to the other. It makes for a fun and unique Australian skiing experience.
Grass skiing was something that we had to do nearly every day. After the first 2 days we had found a lot of good routes that would reduce the amount of bare patches that we had to cross. But it did mean we were doing the same sections nearly every day.
From up on a hill we could look over to the Fall’s Creek Resort and they have a lot of snow over there because of all the snow guns that they can use. The downhil ski area had a lot of people catching the lifts and racing back down again. The XC skiers that we came across on the trail told us that some of the loops were well groomed but the amount of trails they can play on is greatly reduced.
Over at the Pretty Valley hut which is a popular stopping spot to ski out to. There was not much snow around. The table was out of the snow which was great for us stopping off for lunch.
Skiing back that afternoon we were able to pick a route that kept us on the snow the whole time and we did not have to take our skis off the whole way back.
Another view of the road that goes towards Mount Cope. The other side of the hill on the top left of the photo is the training slope that we practised on the day before. Some areas have a lot of snow and others are very bare.
The next day the weather was starting to turn. Still no new snow but it was cold and cloudy for the morning which we thought was a good sign.
Then the clouds lifted and we had to ski on the edge in the shadows to stay on the snow.
Our aim today was to visit a hut that was no on the new maps. But it was known by 4wd’ers. We weaved our way through the trees to get to this hut. I don’t think that any trails head straight here.
Then we skied back and we played on the slopes whenever we found good ones.
Seeing that we had to walk most of the way in on the first day. I was happy that we could still get out and skiing around every day so far on the trip.
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