The lack of snow made for a unique skiing experience. As you ski along the 4wd track between the trees. The alpine scrub lines the track. We learnt how to get in and out of our ski’s quickly and the best way to carry them when we walked between the snow patches.
Cope Hut is a short walk up the valley from the Rover Chalet and in previous years I have seen people on snowshoes camping in and around the hut. There are now a few tent platforms to camp on which help protect the the ground when there is no snow to camp on.
The hut is a lot rougher on the inside than the ones we were used to staying in while in NZ. There is less insulation in this and no mattresses on the bunk beds. But as an emergency shelter and somewhere to cook dinner while snow camping around the outside.
Today there were 3 groups leaving the chalet on a trip. The first group was heading out towards the hut via the road. The second along the pole line and the third was coming up the far side of the valley and coming across. Then we would all head out in different directions.
Even though we left at different times. There were some broken boots and bindings and the groups ended up reaching this hut all at the same time.
As the days passed the snow kept on melting and more and more exposed patches were popping up. We could still link up long runs of snow but now we had to cross patches like this.
Even Wallace’s Hut, which is hidden in the trees and very sheltered, had no snow around it.
Another trip we did was up to the top of Mt Cope. One side had no snow and around the back we were able to ski all the way up. From the top we were able to see all the way over to Feathertop, Mt Bogong and the Main Range. Sadly everything was lacking with snow.
Coming down from the summit we played on some steeper slopes and picked our way down through the rocks and trees. The photo below doesn’t look very steep but it was and felt really scary for us.
Here is the view from above showing what we skied down and how steep it was. The backside of Mt Cope had a lot of great snow. All the way down and into the trees.
Here is the view from above showing what we skied down. This photo shows how steep it was. And the good snow on the backside of Mt Cope.
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