Snow Report Falls Creek 2018 - Trip Reports, Pics & Conditions

New Eagle lift.

 

They've had a chopper up there this week as part of the installation

 

Be good to take some pressure off Falls Express at the start of the day.

 

From resort management earlier today:

Please be advised that heli-lift operations for Eagle Chair construction will be in progress Friday 23rd March 2018 from 7:30am to 12:30pm.

Materials will be moved from Gully Carpark to various locations on the Eagle Chair alignment. The flight path for these operations will cross BHP Rd at Gully and approximately follow International to the Summit before traversing to the specific location on Eagle Chair. At no time will the load flight path cross the village area.

During this operation the following traffic management arrangements will apply:

Bogong High Plains Rd
Traffic management will be occurring directly opposite Gully Carpark. Expect delays of approx 1min every flight cycle (approx 5 - 10min).
Pretty Valley Rd
CLOSED at Road 24 interface and AGL corner for duration of works. Access to Cloud9/Mt McKay/Pretty Valley is available via Road 24 from Howmans Gap.
Tracks and Trails
The following trail access arrangements apply for duration of works

• Aqueduct CLOSED at Eagle Chair crossing and further west/north (east of village remains OPEN)
• Summit Home CLOSED
• Eagle Rock CLOSED
• Frying Pan CLOSED
• High Voltage CLOSED
• Flowtown CLOSED from Gully to Bay 4
• Wishing Well MTB CLOSED
• Wishing Well Walking Trail CLOSED
• Generator CLOSED

All other trails remain open.

There will be some noise associated with this activity and work times may change depending on conditions. Updates will be issued as required.

 

March 2018 stakeholders report

Some interesting info e.g. the idea of transforming the current “underwhelming arrivals experience” around the oversnow...

 

Amen to that.
They do better welcoming staff.

 

Option A: walk up from overnight parking and up 4 sets of steps in the snow carrying own luggage - backpack and 2 bags with kid carrying own backpack in tow. Price - $0, time 25 minutes.

Option B: book and pay for oversnow, wait 40 minutes, travel via 4 other lodges - Price @$40+, time 30 minutes.

I choose option A....

Not feasible for a more than 3 day stay, and not sn option for most, but it’s a sad reflection on an overpriced and underserviced aspect of Falls Creek.

I also remember walking down to Bay 10 because the guys at the transfer were understaffed - and religiously following their predetermined schedule.

I also remember the taxi buses last season only 40 metres away driving away down the hill when there was a group of people ready to go uphill, because “that’s what the circuit is”, and then the bloke refusing to stop and pick me up passing me on the up because I wasn’t at the designated stop, and getting pretty agressive when I queried them on this at Windy Corner - fair enough, I don’t blame the drivers who have set parameters, but the system still sucks.

Currently it’s the back country access, not the resort and the lifts which will see me front up to Falls as opposed to Hotham this year, but maybe it’s time to rethink the Falls season pass...

 

It has a dot point for food & bev outlets. What was said?
I've heard a rumour about who got the lift co outsource but not sure if it's correct

 

I'd hope that they'd extend the poor arrivals experience beyond just the oversnow.

I think there is plenty of opportunities to improve the whole arrival experience, and I'd start the clock from the gate entry and it keep it ticking through to when people get to their lodge!

(Some are simply baffling - why do I need a printed parking/access form in the window? If Baw Baw can get by without it, surely Falls can!)

 

Cranking up the marketing this morning.

 

I'm glad it fell today and not next weekend. I'll be up there from Good Friday until Monday morning. Looks cool but clear.

 

What you doing up there? We are in Bright over the break and will probably take the bikes up for a bash on one of the days.

 

Just getting away for the long weekend to do some hiking, might do a few trail runs whilst I'm up there. I'll take a fly rod up as well and have a bit of a flick around in the little creeks too.

 

A few shots of the progress of the new Eagle chair. I overheard the lodge manager at AAC, who's been working on the chair, say that Poma have some staff out here overseeing things and they expect to have it completed before opening weekend


Old tower on home trail

 

not that it'll be required...

 

Could be used to move mountain bikes I guess.

 

when does the biking season close? mate of mine has a shuttle pass, think it's just about done as of the easter weekend.

 

When you dislocate your shoulder.

 

Either that or fracture your collarbone

 

last weekend of shuttles is 21/22 April

IIRC the tracks won't actually be closed till it gets soggy, or white

 

the lift co food & bev outlets went out to tender over summer. It was won by the people who run Astra. They will run Frying Pan and Cloud 9 themselves. They have sublet Maggie's and Dicky Knees to the people who run Snonuts.

Lots of work going on to spruce up Fryers and C9, with more extensive improvements planned for later.

Not sure what's going on with Gateway. The business has changed hands. The rest is hearsay. The cafe is just one end of the building, with the main part being public day shelter. Word is that the new owners started making changes to the day shelter area without permission (and presumably treating it as part of their space). FCRM had something to say about it and work ground to a halt. Hopefully will be sorted out soon.

 

The high plains rd will be closed from the dam wall to Omeo till at least Monday. So if you are going to sneak up for a BC ski, don't count on driving out that way for better access.

 

Snowing in Mt Beauty at the moment. Wet but heavy

 

Wow. Doesn't happen much. Especially in May.

 

Wow, snow down 350 m in May. I wonder when that last happened? Be fairly dry snow up top?

 

Certainly on 2000 and 2004.
It snows on the highest bits of tawonga sth most years, but may not sit for long.
2000 was xc skiing in the front yard

 

Road 24 closed from Howmans
McKay Rd (inexplicably called Pretty Valley rd by FCRM these days) is closed from AGL corner

expected to reopen Monday

 

from the bike thread. Tawonga Gap is 900m

 

New HD cams including 2 panorama cams at Drovers Dream and Ruined Castle
https://www.fallscreek.com.au/snowcams/
https://skifalls.panomax.com/drovers
https://skifalls.panomax.com/ruinedcastle

 

These are great. Any reason why they aren't duplicated on the Falls App?

 

They shared the new HD cams on their Facebook today so am guessing they may still need to update their app; a few others also commented the same

 

Agreed and thanks for sharing @Amelia1810

I had been meaning to jump on awhile ago and ask how some of the Falls cams had dropped off the https://www.ski.com.au/snowcams/australia/vic/fallscreek/ page so given that I note that the Slalom Plaza has finally been upgraded from that crappy/dirty low res cam (now looks much better) guess that explains it.

Now they just need some snow eek: at those panos!!!)

 

FFC on the cams I would think. Mind you, FC is not the only hill with poor cams, it is pretty woeful in a lot of places here and OS. But it would be nice (and would cost bugger all) if they had decent cams - if anything it would show the place in a much more appealing way.

 

FC were quite aware of the issues with their cams last year, and a number of us here on the forum interacted with FC management on the issue. They have been proactive in addressing this - all credit to them.

 

questions is will the cam mysteriously go down whenever it rains of the snow cover is shithouse...

 

Ooohhh! Yes, very nice they are too. Who'd a thunk it possible after all these years but good on them. Now we just need some snow and some competitive pricing

 

lifting some new terrain wouldn't go astray... but there's literally no chance of that.

 

So the BHP road is closed. Why? This is the reason ?VicRoads posted

Bogong High Plains Road
From: Windy Corner Car Park Road , Falls Creek
To: Trapyard Gap Track, Bundara
Road Closed
Weather
Road will remain closed until further notice to allow for post snow season inspections and maintenance to be completed. With the long snow season coming to a close this month, Alpine Shire Council staff will undertake initial inspections of both roads in the coming weeks with maintenance works scheduled for early November, providing the roads are trafficable. Further details: Alpine Shire 03 5755 0555, East Gippsland Shire 03 5153 9500 or Falls Creek 03 5758 1200

Is VicRoads calling the season over? Or is the real reason the RMB dictates councils and VicRoads do not know how to put that in a way that is acceptable? The road is actually part of the National Park and authority to close a NP does not rest with an RMB or council. If the road is clear then it should be open. This is an illegal road closure. What does Falls Creek stand to loose if the road is open when there is no snow on it? People can still take advantage of the many attractions the park has on offer even if there is no skiing. But if the RMB opens Rocky dam gate then open Trapyard as well please.

 

? What? The season is over before it even began??

 

clearly there's some cut and paste going on there and they haven't updated the text to accurately reflect the current situation. Being that it's the designated snow season and within the next 48hrs the road will have a foot snow on it. If hadn't already been closed, which I thought it had, then closing it now might prevent anyone getting stuck out there when a foot of snow falls.

 

VicRoads cannot put the real reason out for all to see so just stick last years note on. Previous years it was closed for non-existent roadworks and then when the snow came it was closed due to snow. Closing this road is not the RMB's decision to make. PV are not consulted prior to closing and the RMB would have to check all the tourist nodes before closing it then tell the people to leave the park, which is again something the RMB does not have the authority to do if in fact they did bother to do that. The BHP road is not owned by the RMB and the RMB has no authority to close roads or national parks. As the snow season shrinks then what are we to expect. This road is a vital access road for many on the eastern side and the park should be available to all if the road is clear. What is about to happen in the next 48 hours is not relevant and that snow could in fact be gone within days anyway then the road could again be open. Outside the declared snow season the road is not closed on the prospect of a foot or more of snow 48 hours in advance. What does it benefit Falls Creek to have the road closed? If someone gains access to the resort from the east and parks within the boundaries without paying then a fine can be issued just like what happens at Hotham. What is even more annoying is when the road is closed on the eastern end (Trapyard) and the RMB opens up the Rocky dam end for the resort goers to enjoy the park because there is no snow. Sometimes it feels like the resort believes BHP is their own private National Park. Someone may even get the idea they can build more serviced accommodation further out like Tawonga Huts.

 

There is only about 10km of the BHP Rd within the Alpine Resort, the road before Howman's Gap and from the start of the dam wall to the East Gippsland Shire boundary is actually in Alpine Shire and I know that decision on opening at this end post snow season is an Alpine Shire decision.

They are treating the Alpine NP as theirs more and more. Apart from the MTB Park within the resort, the majority of events they hold over summer occur mainly outside of the Resort. Yes, wait till they get the built accomm within the National Park that they are pushing for under a TNE guise.

 

Never going to happen....the barriers to replacing an existing lift within the current lifted terrain on the universally recognised preferred alignment were too great.

 

How this road is managed is quite dysfunctional. It is a road owned by DELWP and the information I have from those who should know is that DELWP give control to PV. I was told it was not a gazetted road but it is a declared road. The shires managed the maintenance which was handed over about 15 years ago by VicRoads. VicRoads have shown an interest in taking it back but there are some matters blocking. The road is actually part of the National Park whereas other roads which are gazetted and BHP up to Howmans are not part of the park. Opening the road has always been a decision of the Alpine shire with EGSC falling into line. Falls RMB are only concerned about when it closes. Perhaps I should ask the question in a different way. How does it hurt Falls RMB to leave the road open until the snow comes? Would that not be fair to all. If EGSC had any nads then they would just leave the Trapyard gate open but it does not care about anything away from the Lakes or Bairnsdale and once the road is shut it does not have deal with that 20 odd kms until October.

 

Hi Hully,

I dont quite understand the exact problem with realigning Eagle chair to Cloud9.

In the past, I believe there had to be vegetation offsets to ensure there was no net loss or even a small net gain of snowgum / vegetation.

Is that no longer the case?

What I find curious, new lodges and flats at Falls result in the loss of trees. Is it location thing?

Ie. Can’t lose one tree in the main ski area (esp close to the treeline)?

But Ok in the village. Even being fairly pro- environmennent - I find this sort of ruling quite stifling.

Hate to remind everyone - we lost thousands trees in the 04’ fires & yet life (skiing) continues!