Fears of a big freeze overnight were unfounded I got some of the best tracks ever on Gotcha face. Once you got off the ridge and left the wind scoured hard pack behind it was deep, soft and pretty dry. Loads of freshies to be had. Ski out to the Mary's bridge was a bit sketchy in the shade but it will soften as the day goes. Extreme return trail is in good knick.
Another suburb day. Extreme area was closed in the morning (subsequent chat to a patroller said it was due to the firm nature of the return trail). So I lapped the soft untracked snow under the Gotcha chair for a while, and then ventured over to Orchard to ski with some kids. On the way back to pick up my kids I saw they had opened the Extreme area so it was time to quickly grab another run of Gotcha while on the way back to Big D. Snow had settled a bit from yesterday so it wasn't as deep and soft but you still got that lovely feelings of making turns while outrunning your Slough bouncing past you. Traditional large moguls of solid ice had now formed above the Mary's bridge and the return trail was still firm in spots by 11:40 (justifying ski patrol's decision to keep it closed for most of the morning). Got back to Big D in time to watch my kids finish their first ever lifted run. Spent the afternoon lapping Big D with son, I am know the proud parent of Gromits.
Started off with McColls into Davenport access trail. Then Gully catwalk into Sundowner and Pumphouse drop, which still had untracked snow on the skiers right. Another run down Sundowner (very good cover) and then onto Race gully and then another run down Snake Gully. Cover throughout Heavenly Valley is still very good and snow conditions were also great. Then onto the Extreme area again. Gotcha Face delivered the goods again (although the entry to the Mary's Bridge was still full of ice blocks masquerading as moguls). Top half of Gotcha Ridge was awesome but it quickly changed to an icy mass of death cookies in the lower half. Best run of the day (and the week) was along the ridge between Mary's Slide and The Chute. Untracked corn was still accessible, you just had to watch out for the occasional rocks poking through. Spent the afternoon lapping Summit and Big D with the kids.
Yesterday was a 'rest day' a.k.a skiing with the wife. I thought Blue Ribbon would be perfect for her as the wind had picked up and we all know Blue Ribbon is more sheltered and less crowded. Unfortunately she freaked out on the short and narrow top section before you can get to Hogg's Back which dampened her enthusiasm somewhat. Hogg's Back itself still had adequate cover but we headed over to Village and then did a couple of laps of Road Runner to get her confidence back before picking up the kids. Drove home yesterday evening. AWS says about 3-4 degrees today, so it would be a Spring slushy day.
getting slushy on the north sides today but who ****en cares!! forgot how much the kids love the poma
I had a huge day at Hotham today - started off at Blue Ribbon via Frosty's Drop and then headed to Heavenly for a few quick laps down upper/lower Imagine. We then spent the rest of the morning over at the Orchard and headed back to the Village chair via Spargo's. Spargo's was starting to lose a little cover, as was some of the runs through the Orchard and Blue Ribbon. I spent the afternoon lapping Summit/Sun Run with some friends who are new to snowboarding. Took one of them for a sneaky run through Slalom Gully in the afternoon, bumpy as hell but cover was looking great still at 4:30pm.
It is closed as of this afternoon, Orchard will not be groomed from now on unless there is more snow.
Not surprised, was looking pretty bare (have photographic evidence I can share later). Also some bare areas, but other runs will be skiable for a while IMO. I had another great day up there today. Mostly spent it around Heavenly Valley, but went out to the Orchard for a bit this morning. Heavenly has plenty of cover, save some of the more exposed areas in the chutes, but nothing that would close any runs in the next little while. Another decent dump of snow could see Hotham seeing out the season well, but any heavy or lengthy rain spell could see curtains for most of it!
So am I! - with @Azz! Well i have a bit of good news - Dad found a pair of chains that fit my car! I am really hoping we will need them!
Hey All just putting it out there. Potentially need a lift from Hotham to Albury on Sunday (snowball buss is full :-( ) 2 people plus gear.
Pretty firm this morning. Minus seven overnight. Nice sun but a bit windy up high. Lots of fun to be had.
A friend and I are snow shoe trekking up the Bon accord spur and across the Razorback over to Fed. hut and Mt FT this weekend in snow shoes. The forecast looks favourable and not too much spring melt , unlike in 2013. Yippee!
I am fit. I do pack carry hikes all year round. In snow shoes it is tougher . It is the ultimate work out. People who go to the gym for an hour a day are kidding themselves compared to this caper!
Curious as to why you don't go up Bungalow Spur first. Gives you more options if the weather is iffy.
I have weighed up both options but the forecast for Sat. looks OK.We will have to see what the weather is like on the day.The razorback is the main goal for the snow shoe pack carry trek.It could be a coin toss!
Awful up here today. Soft snow with 3cms damp fresh on top that all got chewed up by 9am. The wind at the top of HV just about blew us off the ridge and halfway to Feathertop. It was a solid effort to get across towards cornice. Snow down Black snake was lovely but not sure the total value proposition was a winning one. One of the wasabis came into Chill Bar with his face bleeding from the wind blown ice shards
It was sunny on Sept. 5th so we slogged it up the Bon Accord spur all the way from Harrietville with poles and snow shoes on our packs .The plan was to cross the Razorback the same day and camp at Fed. hut. It took way longer than we expected. We started at 8.30 am .When we reached the Razorback the sun was setting and In fact we had to pitch our snow tents behind the Diamantina hut and reconsider what was feasible. The next day the sun rose and it was clear and then a white out rolled in from nowhere after breakfast. That was it ,NO RAZOR BACK snow trek for us. So it was back down the never ending leg torturing Bon Accord spur. There are some river crossings now that the Bridge at Washington creek has been wiped out by flooding. We will stick with the Bungalow spur in future if we want to head out towards Mt. Feathertop. The NW spur and the Bon Accord spur are all pain and not much gain. When driving into Harrietville even the summit of Mt. FT was looking patchy. A lot of the snow has melted in patches and it seemed like the last hurrah for white season back country recreation for 2015.
Hey MToSS full points for trying something different. But I think you were badly advised if you thought you could do all that in a day. My 49- year old ski legs ache just thinking about the work involved to get to Fed Hut via Bon Accord in soft sloppy, patchy snow. Hope you got a little real skiing in on the Spur!
Hi, Yes that proposed circuit was more like a two nighter with full snow season packs etc. weather permitting of course. Unfortunately my friend did not have the extra night to spare.I am more into snow shoe trekking and snow camping in the back country .However even if I did ski , the Bon Accord spur was so soft and patchy from the Razorback down the pole line to the Tree line that skiing or snow boarding was not on at all. We took the snow shoes off at the track junction at the top of the Razorback. We needed them from the Diamantina hut to the Bon Accord spur track junction . My Legs are still sore!!! That hike was tough .
ill look out for you on the razorback tomorrow boodwah, heading up this arvo for a day trip with an old friend
I was amazed how quickly the track to the lodge got all soft yesterday, it's groomed in the morning as well. It was also getting very soft and a little slushy out the front of Central/Zirky's
Cracking weather today. I'm very surprised at how well everything is holding up. Some really good spring conditions. No queues either. Pretty quiet up here.
stansi, ill be in an orange cycling jacket, black pants, red boots, bad telemarker with 3 kids ages 11-6, staying down davenport im presuming frosty drop / dav access or mcolls is shut?
Davenport was Cactus, and that was the day after the snowfalls last week. There's a section at the bottom near Village that gets a full sun bathe, it disappears quickly.
There is no such thing as a bad telemarker, It's just those Alpine skiers, snow snakes and snow boarders, that disrupt the flow of karma. See you out there. Edit:- and by the way, I'm an old man. Not a young spunk, as my avatar would suggest.
a great 3 days on the mountain, just me and the kids and a friend and his kids nobody about, had a lodge to ourselves sunday slushy and sunny monday the snow was better, but the sky was wetter tues, a skim of fresh on a hard base was great nice to meet you @stansi and ride the VILLAGE chair, thanks for saying hi, sorry i couldnt chat too long, my 3 kids and another's kid as a solo dad kept me busy. my daughters' gloves sorted themselves out, tired girl after 3 hard days skiing!! wish i was still there, still plenty of fun to be had
I skied each day till Sunday, gave up by about 1:00pm. Heavenly was still skiing great, but I was a worn out old man. 41 days on the pass.
