... and arrive around 9-10 at Perisher, ski til around 3-5 PM (body permitting), then check in on my first night at hotel and skip apres as I imagine I would be wrecked. Is this too much? Am I setting myself up for injury? Anybody else do this? I'm 40 years old and of moderate fitness and been doing bumps for boomer type exercises/calisthenics/plyometrics twice a week for fitness in the past month or two. Also does anybody ski on the same day they're driving back to Sydney? I didn't do these last season as it was my first time skiing and gave myself a rest day before my first day of skiing and didn't ski on the day I was driving back to Sydney. Being a beginner my body was well fatigued anyway to be doing those but now I'm thinking I should be able to do so and maximize my Epic Pass and accommodation expenses. Just curious what your routines are regarding this especially peeps who drive from Sydney.
Doable, but a long day. FWIW, I have (only once) done a Perisher day trip from the lower Blue Mountains. Left about 3am, skied till last lifts then left the mountain about 6pm. No traffic. Got home around midnight. Shattered. Not something I'd recommend. Too old to try something like that again anyway, nevermind that I no longer live over that side of the country.
I drive from Sydney in May. Ski from June til October long weekend. Drive back to Sydney mid October. I find this is the best way to manage the trip/s.
That's crazy. How old were you when you did this? My plan is to drive Friday and go back Monday. So it's a difference of getting 4 ski days vs 2 (if I rest on Friday and Monday).
Yep have driven before, but not at dawn. I believe we left at lunch time. I'm thinking I should be able to leave at 4 in the morning on a Friday this year.
OK, well 4am is well before dawn during the season. If you are actually in "Sydney", and you left right now, Google Maps tells you it's a 5h16m drive non stop. So a 4am getaway could potentially put you at Perisher car park at 9:15am. Add stops etc and it's 10am at the earliest that you'll be on snow. Leave at dawn and it'll be 1pm before you're on snow. Where in Sydney are you located?
Near Parramatta. I will probably park at Bullocks and take the tube. I imagine l won't get a parking spot if I arrive around 10. This would be around late July early August.
My brother does 3 a.m start from Sydney and skis same day, but shares driving. My plan of action is o/night Canberra or Queanbyan, start off at 5'ish and Ski day of arrival.
I was young and stupid. Early forties. You need to keep in mind that driving in the dark can be more draining for some people, particularly if you don't know the road well or don't normally enjoy country driving. You also need to be more alert than usual as you get towards dawn on country roads. Expect to wind up mid afternoon then if you still have stamina, the extra hour or two is a bonus. If you start with the expectation you will be able to go hard all day then you might start to miss fatigue signals and end up with an injury for your troubles.
So, much the same then. I lived at Penrith and skied both Perisher and Thredbo for over 10yrs. We would always leave at 3am in order to ski first day. You'll be toasted for sure, but it's doable. Not really feasible leaving at dawn though
Have you checked tube arrangements this season? Not normal. Not up with the latest because I'm not there this season. Tube access conditions may have changed by then anyway.
Well this sounds more sensible. Why didn't I think of this? Basically leave Thursday late afternoon or evening, check in at Canberra, leave the next day on Friday at 6-7 AM with plenty of rest and arrive 2-3 hrs later at Perisher.
Still planning my schedule and accommodation. Hopefully the tube situation would have gone back to normal 2-3 weeks from now. At least I don't have to worry about reserving for Epic Pass then right? Or will that still be up for changes by then?
I knew three guys who, years go, did a day trip to Thredbo from Melbourne!!!!! They left at 1am, shared the driving, and arrived for an 8:30am start. They left at 4:00pm , and arrived back in Melbourne about 11pm. A day trip from Melbourne to Buller is very doable (probably done that 7 or 8 times or more)
Because But you need to always add a bit more time. What if the weather is shit, what if you have to fit chains? Count on 3 hrs from Canberra, then add a little bit more to gear up and walk across the car park and bridge etc.
Anything can happen this season. It's still possible the whole show could go belly up. It's all a bonus given there were serious doubts not so long ago we'd have any sort of season at all.
Yeah I felt niggling pains on my knee last year that seemed to have gone away once I was on the snow. Maybe it's the adrenaline that overcame it.
Folks, how about on your last day? Do you ski the day after checking out of your hotel then drive back in the afternoon or at night?
Always do this. 3 days skiing for price if 2 nights accom on snow. This year 1. Gotta score the 3 days reservations for skiing after Vail' s bombshell announcement today 2. Get Ski tube tkts 3. Hotel not providing luggage minding or change facilities, so will have to think creatively if 1&2 come off in order to ski on the Sunday, but that's 2020!
If you do it, chill. Don't tell yourself that you will be skiing by 11 and drive accordingly. Treat the possibility of the extra skiing as a bonus. All kinds of things can happen. Fog from Canberra to Cooma is very common, for example. Skiing for a morning on your last day is very doable. Leave at 1-00 pm and be back at 7. Thredbo used to do a thing called Cruise Club on Sunday morning. You had an instructor so lift line privileges. You skied like a bat out of hell for 2 or 3 hours. No time was wasted doing actual teaching. Anyone who fell off was left behind. It was a great way to finish. Overnighting in Canberra or Cooma is the way to go. When the friends I used to crash with in Canberra moved to Sydney (bastards) I used to stay at the motel at Eaglehawk Hill. It is north of the Majura Rd turnoff so you can actually avoid Canberra.
I did a day trip from Sydney about 20 years ago. I was pretty wrecked by the time I got back. Day trips from the ACT are a lot more manageable.
I’ve only gone up [down geographically but I always say up because I’m going UP the mountain lol] from Sydney a handful of times, being from Perth I usually fly into Canberra and hire a car at the airport. The one flight usually arrives about 10pm. I’ve been known to make a dash to Cooma many a time so we are in striking distance the next morning but the reality is that we are STUFFED from the flight then drive to Cooma, time difference and we are better off stopping at the Vibe right at the airport getting a great nights sleep and doing the Canberra to Skifields run bright and early next morning. I’d say drive Sydney to Canberra Thursday evening, get a great rest, then do the early morning run Canberra to Perisher in the morning on a decent rest. I often drive back to the airport in my ski gear, getting changed in Jindy or Cooma when we stop for a pee break. Ski until 1 or 2pm dependent on weather then make a mad dash for the airport. Be much of the same driving to Sydney as driving to Canberra, flight, driving from airport home.
I'm 68 and in the last 10 years have done numerous trips leaving Sydney around 3:00am, breakfast in Cooma and then ski all day. Usually with a passenger to talk to and keep me alert. Wouldn't drive back to Sydney the same day though. Have often skied a full last day and then driven back to Sydney but wouldn't recommend this if you've skied a full week as you'd be pretty tired by then.
As myself and my snow buddy both work on Saturday, we always drive down early Sunday morning. We leave Sydney Eastern Suburbs around 4am (big speeding fine last season for ‘more than 10km over’ on Maroubra Road. I thought the speed limit was 60, it was 50. No other traffic at that time of the morning to gauge limit by). If we have 6 day passes we can ski for ‘free’ after midday on the Sunday. As we can’t check into accommodation until after 15:00 we usually grab a quick bite in Jindy then straight to the ski tube. Change in the car park and get on the hill ASAP. I have leant to have my ski gear ready to go in the car. The first time doing this a couple of years ago was a nightmare. Sleeting/raining in the car park. Three of us going through bags trying to find all our bits. Dropping socks in puddles or putting your foot down in a puddle. Walking in ski boots from the back of the car park only to realise that you have left one glove on the roof of the car and having to go back and get it whilst your buddies tell you that they will meet you up top. Definitely much more organised with this now days. I would never ski on departure day. Combination of having to pack car, tidy digs and too much beer on the last night. Does anyone remember the billboard add around the Jindy area around 20 years ago, that had an actual front end of a wrecked car sticking out? The tag line read: Skied all weekend. Partied all night. Crashed on the way home. Brilliant copywriting. And that has always stayed with me.
Its a doddle. At that time of day <5hrs without speeding. But then again - if you have to ask??????????
Wow that’s the most descriptive thread title I’ve seen on the forums. No risk of confusing the topic!
And it could happen if you sleep in jindabyne and then drive back the next day. The key is to recognise that you are at risk of falling asleep at the wheel and moderate your behaviour.
You can do it - I have done it plenty of times! Dep Syd eastern subs at 4:30am, and I'm at Thredbo (or ski tube for Perisher) by 10am inc stops, on snow by 10:30am. Ski all day, quiet night. On the way home either ski all day and overnight it in Canberra to break up the drive (can get nice hotels for under $150 a night), or only ski until 12pm and drive the whole way, home by 6pm.
I’ve done that no problem, also approaching 40. Leave here at 4am can be clipping into my skis by 10:30ish. Ski until my body suggests it needs a pint and a steak. Also usually ski to about 1:30 on the day I’m headed back with no issue other than maybe a bit of traffic around Canberra. Not a fan of driving back after last lifts due to the Roos and wombats on the road from Crackenback to Canberra. listen to your body, it will tell you if it’s not happy being pushed.
These blokes are all soft. This is definitely doable! Have done it quite a few times. Your two issues are, you are leaving a bit late from Syd, plan to arrive Perisher at 8am, it will make no diff to how you feel. Secondly, You may have to contend with Fog around lake george / canberra. I have always found staying the same speed 115kphr and just driving between the white lines tends to keep you very focused in fog, which has the by product of keeping you awake. Now as soon as the cold air hits you and you have your first run, you wont even remember the five hour drive you just had. The major bonus is how well you sleep on Sat night!!!
Some family friends leave midnight Friday, stop in to Jindayne for breakfast, in the perisher carpark before 8am. But they have 2 designate drivers , 1.5-2hr shifts.
We often do it, but always at least two of us to share driving or at least discuss in fine detail the plan of attack when you get there and your planned route around the mountain to avoid the lift lines. Never works but certainly fills in time discussing the pro and cons of each run and the order you want to do them in. Always aim for first tracks but no drama if you get delayed. Much easier heading down there to ski/board than the trip back after a big couple of days. If heading back on the Sunday, best to register for first tracks then leave just after lunch and beat the traffic off the hill and through Cooma.
Given dawn is 7am getting there by 9-10am might be a struggle. Leave at 4am is doable but please don't drive back again in the same day.
I’ve done the early morning trip Sydney-Jindy many times generally don’t ski until lunchtime I gave up driving either direction at night after a micro-sleep episode
Lucky the road to the snow from sydney is dual lane highway for 2/3 of the distance and a blody good drive for all but about the last 10km into jindy. Country roads these are not.
Last year we left Gold coast 3am arrived Canberra 5pm (3 drivers). Had a good sleep, organised some hire gear in Jindy for one of us and were skiing by 1pm Thredbo..We had 5 days. Didnt ski last day. Thredbo to Newy then home next day.. I realise not the question, but an example of what some others are doing..
Many people get caught out by thinking that. The road down to the tube is steep and there are usually a number of days each season when you need to fit chains to get there
I always find the worst part of the journey is the Canberra to Sydney leg. It’s just the most boring bit of road with nothing much to look at. That part of the drive always seems to drag.
It's not your age - once past say 32 most people need more comfort. I can do the hard yards, my body will still let me, I just might not appreciate it. This forum is full of people with limited time making it happen !
