Snow Report Hotham 2022 - Trip Reports, Pics & Conditions
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Hotham skied well today. Very well if you worked it right. Started early and lapped drift I dunno how many times before the rest of my fam finally showed up. I have reached an age where I will no longer wait for my wife or teenagers after breakfast and we are all good with that. Drift snow was total soft hero cord so was actually great to work on technique for an hour.
Da fam arrived and we soon hit Heavenly. I am convinced most people ski this area unimaginatively, which is ironic given the main run’s name. The way I see it, you have four terrain choices: ridges, faces, gullies or groomers.
Now if you’re gonna ski groomers, good for you. Imagine looked nice this morn so why not? Thing is, every resort in the world has groomers but not every resort has off piste terrain like heavenly valley. We found our happy spot on the right ridge of upper twilight zone, then crossing the run and dropping into gun barrel. It skied the best of the gullies, the second best gully being The Canyon. Why was no one skiing the gullies? The two I just mentioned were skiing so well – soft and sunny on one flank, a mixture of ice and soft dry stuff on the shaded side. So much fun. Many repeat laps.
Lunch at miss Mary’s. Yes please. See you again tomorrow. Arvo at Orchy. No nonsense skied nicely but not beautifully on the keoghs side. Softish snow with underlying ice chunks. Nice enough tho weaving in and outa the snow gums and an INCREDIBLE grandstand view of the twirligig side of the world from there. The main orchard groomers were their typical selves, softish up high, icyish down low as they got steeper. Fun enough for a few runs tho: Off to spargos! Hahahahahaha. Wasn’t actually that bad, despite about 7 signs warning of near certain death even tho the run was open The shrubs are totally missable and skiers left has soft snow all the way till the last 200 linear metres or so, which is unpleasant but definitely a level or two above diabolical.
So all in all, another good day. I like your hill. It rewards the creative line picker. The good hills usually do
Sign on actual hill says yep, resort report says no. Very very few people skiing it. Main face of Mary’s looks fine but I’m guessing it’s pretty bad down low. Def planning a visit before leaving on Friday. Will post pics of lower section if and when. Hoping the forecast 2-4cm for tomorrow over delivers, then Wed might be the day. But returning along swindlers today from spargos, there really is only about 40-50cm of snow max at creek level, which also tells you why Blue Rib is not in play yet
Have to take wifey to Bright on Wednesday for x-rays, happy for snow late Wednesday after I return without the need to fit chains, again.
Daughter is up at Hotham today, her first trip since the covid crap. Ask for a conditions update and this is the two photos I got sent
As for the conditions,
"not powder but not crusty"
In praise of disgusting Aussie junk food:
There are many fine examples of on-slope cuisine which reflects regional, national or even continental specialties. North America has its nachos and Japan has its ramens and such, and I once had the most perfectly cooked al dente spaghetti with fresh pesto at a slopeside restaurant in Claviere, Italy. Is there a traditional Australian alpine cuisine? The Kransky roll would come close IMO as it is a staple of NSW resorts, perhaps because of the influence of Snowy Scheme workers from back in the day. Btw I just googled kranskies and it seems they are Slovenian. I will remember to eat my next one in a more slovenly fashion.
Anyway, in lieu of an ndisputably Aussie on-slope cuisine, dish or even snack, I would like to pay my deep respects to the menu planner at the Snake Gully Hut. There you will find a classic array of what you might call deep fried heart-attack starters, as ubiquitously found in corner shops and greasy fish and chipperys across this great land. I’m talking deep fried dimmies, chiko rolls, potato gems, potato cakes (as scallops are called in the quaint local dialect), strange snappable chicken strips which are surely about 99% strip and 1% chicken, plus many more delights, all of them intrinsically linked with the deep fryer.
I salute Snake Gully for going f it, there are enough quiches on this mountain. We will proudly and unapologetically sell unfancy food. I stopped there around 2 pm after a too-light lunch elsewhere earlier, loaded up on deep fried whatever, and I got thru almost to last lifts, fuelled by cholesterol and cardboard. Miss Mary is sacked. I am a SGH man now.
Legendary deep fryer down there. I haven't been to Hotham for three years (FU Covid) but I heard a rumor they've removed the coffee cart and replaced it with a bar at Snake Gully Hut?
No coffee section at SGH is true, but i havent seen the bar open yet @Tanuki
We had a quick snow storm this morning, mostly fog all day, and a better snowfall late this afternoon.
Saw this just now on FB. at least the chains are easier to put on now.
Scary for the driver and occupants. Lucky they didn't slide off the edge.We had a quick snow storm this morning, mostly fog all day, and a better snowfall late this afternoon.
Saw this just now on FB. at least the chains are easier to put on now.
How you could contemplate driving in those conditions without chains astounds me.
Settles that then, taking omeo route tomorrow and activating chill cruise mode. Cbf with dangerous punters in what will probably be similar conditionsWe had a quick snow storm this morning, mostly fog all day, and a better snowfall late this afternoon.
Saw this just now on FB. at least the chains are easier to put on now.
I saw a bar today. The sign on the coffee machine directs you to the bar for a little whiskey top up.
Sitting on my couch, looking at that road I’m not putting chains on.
With that car and the snow, sleet and ice that was falling today? Fair enough though, I wasn't there.
Thin, but fun to be backcountry again.
5cm reported (so more like 2cm) was enough for me to get the pow skis for 2.5 laps backcountry before heading inbounds for a few more.
Top to bottom its fully covered until the little bit left to go before I'd have hit the river anyway. Not a single other person (or track) in sight.
Legs feel super strong on the way up, but being flexible for the thin layer and unexpected bumps was hard work on the way down.
On the way home I was able to drop into the makeshift park stuff and ski right to our door, usually I go the other way via the Genny for a beer instead. On the way I noticed the ATC practice board is back up, supposedly its been there over a week.
The theme of today’s report is skiing access lifts as runs. I refer to Road Runner and Gotcha and enjoying the phark outa them so much that you forget where it is you were actually going.
There is a condition in skiing which I call Perisheritis. It manifests itself as a constant desire to change lifts even when you’re enjoying the one you’re on. This happens a lot at Perisher cos there are so damn many lifts and sometimes at the end of a day, you’ve had this endlessly bits n piecey ski experience without ever quite being in the moment.
So to today. We started on first tracks in heavenly at 7:30 and it was a level above dust on crust but only just. I sensed the really good gear would be up on the drift so up we went and oh mama. That was a pro move. 5cm of fresh up there skied more like 8–10cm out wide and the turns, while unchallenging, were sweet for 12, 15, I dunno how many laps.
When the drift was at last tracked out, we skied over da bridge and found powdery goodness in trees between the bridge and road runner base. You’d better believed we lapped that a few times.
Arvo was all about the orchy, until we did a Gotcha. Hello. Suddenly we had done eight Gotchas. We ducked under a rope for the second half of run to poach lines in the trees. On about the third lap, a ski patroller was there. We asked sheepishly if we could duck under the rope if we promised not to veer left and end up in the extremest part of the extreme zone. He said, “I’m not going to ruin your day”. This is what’s known as good policing and he is the human of the week. Anyway my finger is sore from typing this on my phone. Hotham is good. Pic is drift after it was almost but not quite skied out
The theme of today’s report is skiing access lifts as runs. I refer to Road Runner and Gotcha and enjoying the phark outa them so much that you forget where it is you were actually going.
There is a condition in skiing which I call Perisheritis. It manifests itself as a constant desire to change lifts even when you’re enjoying the one you’re on. This happens a lot at Perisher cos there are so damn many lifts and sometimes at the end of a day, you’ve had this endlessly bits n piecey ski experience without ever quite being in the moment.
So to today. We started on first tracks in heavenly at 7:30 and it was a level above dust on crust but only just. I sensed the really good gear would be up on the drift so up we went and oh mama. That was a pro move. 5cm of fresh up there skied more like 8–10cm out wide and the turns, while unchallenging, were sweet for 12, 15, I dunno how many laps.
When the drift was at last tracked out, we skied over da bridge and found powdery goodness in trees between the bridge and road runner base. You’d better believed we lapped that a few times.
Arvo was all about the orchy, until we did a Gotcha. Hello. Suddenly we had done eight Gotchas. We ducked under a rope for the second half of run to poach lines in the trees. On about the third lap, a ski patroller was there. We asked sheepishly if we could duck under the rope if we promised not to veer left and end up in the extremest part of the extreme zone. He said, “I’m not going to ruin your day”. This is what’s known as good policing and he is the human of the week. Anyway my finger is sore from typing this on my phone. Hotham is good. Pic is drift after it was almost but not quite skied out
Thin, but fun to be backcountry again.
5cm reported (so more like 2cm) was enough for me to get the pow skis for 2.5 laps backcountry before heading inbounds for a few more.
Top to bottom its fully covered until the little bit left to go before I'd have hit the river anyway. Not a single other person (or track) in sight.
Legs feel super strong on the way up, but being flexible for the thin layer and unexpected bumps was hard work on the way down.
On the way home I was able to drop into the makeshift park stuff and ski right to our door, usually I go the other way via the Genny for a beer instead. On the way I noticed the ATC practice board is back up, supposedly its been there over a week.
Those trees below the road are a great pitch and fall line, plus most peeps don't bother to look left and traverse. Even better down lower IMO.The theme of today’s report is skiing access lifts as runs. I refer to Road Runner and Gotcha and enjoying the phark outa them so much that you forget where it is you were actually going.
There is a condition in skiing which I call Perisheritis. It manifests itself as a constant desire to change lifts even when you’re enjoying the one you’re on. This happens a lot at Perisher cos there are so damn many lifts and sometimes at the end of a day, you’ve had this endlessly bits n piecey ski experience without ever quite being in the moment.
So to today. We started on first tracks in heavenly at 7:30 and it was a level above dust on crust but only just. I sensed the really good gear would be up on the drift so up we went and oh mama. That was a pro move. 5cm of fresh up there skied more like 8–10cm out wide and the turns, while unchallenging, were sweet for 12, 15, I dunno how many laps.
When the drift was at last tracked out, we skied over da bridge and found powdery goodness in trees between the bridge and road runner base. You’d better believed we lapped that a few times.
Arvo was all about the orchy, until we did a Gotcha. Hello. Suddenly we had done eight Gotchas. We ducked under a rope for the second half of run to poach lines in the trees. On about the third lap, a ski patroller was there. We asked sheepishly if we could duck under the rope if we promised not to veer left and end up in the extremest part of the extreme zone. He said, “I’m not going to ruin your day”. This is what’s known as good policing and he is the human of the week. Anyway my finger is sore from typing this on my phone. Hotham is good. Pic is drift after it was almost but not quite skied out
Changed my mind and went via harrietville. Road conditions were clear this afternoon. Much faster that way as we know, even with a 20min delay in Donnybrook. Was a nice drive, except for one car that didn't pull over with multiple opportunities. Thankfully managed to pass before SC spur and got past the XL bus ahead there in a timely manner. A clear drive until hotham village. Car performing very well. Started snowing between hotham and DP
Views of West peak from snow road - stunning. Would make great shots if you had a pro camera. Feathers looking glorious 15km between Myrtleford and bright
Nice view of buffalo from the Hume that stood out todayLast edited:
I've been known to lap Gotcha. The trees under the lift-line can sometimes hide some goodies.The theme of today’s report is skiing access lifts as runs. I refer to Road Runner and Gotcha and enjoying the phark outa them so much that you forget where it is you were actually going.
There is a condition in skiing which I call Perisheritis. It manifests itself as a constant desire to change lifts even when you’re enjoying the one you’re on. This happens a lot at Perisher cos there are so damn many lifts and sometimes at the end of a day, you’ve had this endlessly bits n piecey ski experience without ever quite being in the moment.
So to today. We started on first tracks in heavenly at 7:30 and it was a level above dust on crust but only just. I sensed the really good gear would be up on the drift so up we went and oh mama. That was a pro move. 5cm of fresh up there skied more like 8–10cm out wide and the turns, while unchallenging, were sweet for 12, 15, I dunno how many laps.
When the drift was at last tracked out, we skied over da bridge and found powdery goodness in trees between the bridge and road runner base. You’d better believed we lapped that a few times.
Arvo was all about the orchy, until we did a Gotcha. Hello. Suddenly we had done eight Gotchas. We ducked under a rope for the second half of run to poach lines in the trees. On about the third lap, a ski patroller was there. We asked sheepishly if we could duck under the rope if we promised not to veer left and end up in the extremest part of the extreme zone. He said, “I’m not going to ruin your day”. This is what’s known as good policing and he is the human of the week. Anyway my finger is sore from typing this on my phone. Hotham is good. Pic is drift after it was almost but not quite skied out
And that concludes 5 excellent days at Hotham. See higher in this thread for previous days’ reports. But first:
Highlights:
- drift in untouched pow when Hotham race club (black jacket folk) lapped the groomed hahahahaha and left it all for us. Carpe diem guys
- gunbarrel and the canyon and all the lesser unnamed gullies. But not race gully. It’s average
- Road runner and Gotcha trees
- brockhoff hut. Great staff, food and of course location
- reliably soft dry snow out wide in the orchy
- The weather. We got a really great week with minimal wind and good vis on all but one day. You’d take that every time.
Lowlights
- snake and slalom gullies. Not enjoyable and not a criticism of the resort or anyone else. Just a fact of life
- the very crowded village bus. Drivers are gods of patience but the bus nonetheless is too crowded and infrequent. Also the bus company has these passive aggressive messages saying don’t complain, only bad people do that, and I’m sorry, but after waiting 30 mins for a bus that you can’t fit into, I don’t have to be pleased about that. Not that I did whinge out loud but still. To be fair 30 mins was the worst. Other times it was under 15 mins
- lift etiquette. This is becoming a problem everywhere, but I have never seen greater reticence to ride lifts with strangers or at least try to form 4s. Soooo many people think a singles queue means they ride up alone rather than slot in with a 2 or 3. As for the 2s and 3s, they’re happy with their group and seek rarely to merge. Such is society nowadays
Aaaaanyway overall a great trip. I only ski Vic once every few years so I hope you all appreciate these outside insights. Back to NSW tomorrow for this potato scallop eater and his fam
Agree with all that.
A shame, I'm popping up in the morning for a ski and thought I'd try and catch you!Yeah if theres ever a queue for the bus at central i just hike up behind the medical centre, ski over higgi past the tanks, down the big d and back to davenport. Often i beat the others baxk. Avoiding the bus this way or using frosty drop and dav access on the way in is something i enjoy
Thats a great idea hiking up and over Higgi and down Big D!
As for frosty drop and Davenport, did it twice but gravel at the end was diabolical. Worth it this morning tho in a bit of fresh. Interestingly, I posted lots of Feathertop and all the usual stuff on Twitter (I don’t use fb or Insta) but the dav access trail I posted this morn got by far the biggest engagement
Hotham have the capacity to chuck half a Doz. Snow guns down Davi - it’s often dodgy. Sadly, it will probably never be done.
Thinking about crowded buses and transport troubles. If Davi was a little more reliable, less folks would have to cram on to buses to get back to H Central.
If Hotham built the Higgi access (or back Higgi) chair - there’d be much less pressure on buses from 8:30 - 5:00pm. Especially at lunchtime and the end of the day.
Now if only the good Hotham planners would listen? (;-)
Gee I could spend their money!
Bizarrely I didn't experience that at all during the school holidays - I had plenty of lift-ride chats, and even had a few people agree to ride the Drift T up with me, in spite of the snowboard!
My favourite lift line game for a few years now has been to fuck with the 'singles line creeper' - they just barge their way in even if there is a stream of 4s formed up in the queue. Singles line is risk/reward, not an express lane. They hate being called out on it too.
The Snowsports school lane at Hotham is a bit odd. It's only really wide enough as a singles line, maaaaybe a double - but then the instructor needs to sort of cut people off and jump in with 4 - 8 people at once.
Back in the day you could just ski along the road from around Blue Ribbon back to the lodge.. they don't like that anymore..
Some good turns this morning in decent, chalky dry snow (some of it man-made admittedly).
When the crowds descended on Heavenly, it was time to go to roadrunner and then drift and sadly back to WFH for me.
At least @Boodwah was willing to share the T-bar...Anyone leaving melbourne tonight will not enjoy the 40km zone around beveridge on the hume. No actual work being done, and added at least 30mins at 1pm. Tonight will be diabolicalWhats the go with stopping vehicles at hville? We have a season car pass and offered a sticker but without any explanation.
Seems odd after all the effort to not have the entry ticket box and everything online. What does a sticker do? Does it allow me to not stop at the queue for stickers? Any ideas? CheersSimilar threads
