... and lets not forget, despite the rouge wax man's whining... and the politics of resort management.. that the mountains have the last say.
- Yes - Yes - Yes - At times it is... I'd rather more people than less - might mean a new lift - Yes - Yes, a resonable slice of the race squad do think they own the mountain (mostly the kids whose Daddy owns half of of a small country) - Yes - Maybe - Wont happen - Yes - Yes - Why, it might run over a flower?
Dead trees have been removed......many of them in fact this year. This was a danger and someone was bound to get hurt or end up dead with some of those dead trees falling on the road from the 2002 fires. Many trees have fallen since 2002 on the road and it really needed to be done.
I looked at Hotham as the more serious terrain you could work up to, went with the black image I thought. I remember getting the spiel from travel agents etc , you best start at smiggins, falls then perisher before you go doing Hotham, thats more for the advanced. ooooohhh
Now lets not forget all the lovely morning you guys took over snake last season and the banked slalom down gun barrel(?) for the boarders and the setup you had for a fair wack of the season fown the side of sun run and over the bridge and the gates you had set up on summit from memory, though im a little hazey about those
Snake gully - yes early mornings only Banked slalom - run buy MHSC events not MHRS, and open to anyone - 1 day only SX/BX course under road runner - set up all season snow permitting and open to all customers - classed as a terrain park I think Summit gates - never seen a gate on summit - well maybe when we still had grazing on mt hotham there may have been a gate!!
Big difference between not at all and early mornings only. next you will be admitting that it was opten 10am or later before it was open. I'm not talking about the SX, there was gates/poles set up there for at least a portion of last season with race stuff happning. We accidently went into the roped off area trying to get through to windex and were given a hilarious serve by one of the race guys whos name I will not mention. As for the summit, I have no doubt that there was something up there last season but perhaps it was just a couple of gates set up for the kids to get a photo on. No complaints there anyway
They were there last season for a couple of weeks towards the end. Hotham events put them out there. There was even timing. What the hell is with all the bitching about race squad anyway? Just sounds like a bunch of people who are unwilling to let kids compete, and deal with kids wanting to do sport IMHO.
Summit gates - you are correct (sorry I think the red wine killed that cell), although I dont think the timing was ever working. And I think this was for all visitors to have some fun, this was not for MHRS. And I agree, give the kids a go they are having fun, I am all for the training/racing - at least they learn to ski in control!
Whoa, can you actually ski all the way to the bottom of that sometimes? I've been missing out... Seriously, Hotham needs hand held ticket scanners. If povo Mt Ruapehu could afford them, then fancy Hotham should have had them a long time ago. And they need to employ and train staff as ticket checkers, rather than having the towies do it badly and reluctantly. I spend the worst afternoons of my ski field career ticket checking A-holes at Hotham who seems annoyed that they had to get their tickets out because they were not used to having to do it. Never mind that it says on the ticket 'display clearly on your outer clothing'. This winter I'll be in NZ using a scanner that can read a season pass chip through clothing, I'll just have to wave it at the customers and will be able to get them checked and onto the lifts with ease. Hotham should look into it.
Yep, Blue Ribbon can be good top to bottom in a good season. All Aussie lift operations need to move with the times and install Euro/Japan type scanners where snotty nosed youngsters aren't required to check tics and can do something useful instead. That way there would be no need to annoy punters who have just gone without feeding their kids for a week to buy a ridiculously overpriced lift tic.
Buller used to have hand scanners, but stopped using them becuase the punters didn't like it! So one of the lifties told me. Apparently Hotham can't have Japan style auto gate things because the power supply to the bottom is too unrreliable, high chance of the power going out and the system not working. So I was told. And too hard to re-do the electrics. Too expensive more like. The theorecital system I designed for a project a few years ago doing I.T at Uni was a Myki like card system, you top up some day passes on your card and keep it in your pocket and it auto detects you and deducts the right amount. Maybe I should find it and post it to MHSC Isn't Threadbo or Perisher doing the auto-gate thing this year?
The soft-GS dual gates set up on the Summit were for the public, not for race squad. Racing Squad did not use them for training. The course was in place for a couple of weeks. For a couple of days at the start they had staff operating the gates and timing. It was a dual course (a concept being played out by World Cup racers with the view to introducing to Olympics). It had two drops. The kids were queued up constantly and having an absolute ball. It was well maintained, and was a fabulous initiative by Hotham Events. I hope they do the same this year ... hopefully for a much longer period! MHRS training? Usually starts at either 6am or 7am, and they're off the runs (such as Snake) by 9am for the public to use. Then they head out to Australia Drift where they take up a slice of the expansive run. I don't see the issue. Hotham needs ... a dedicated race training area that suits both GS and SL and that they can use all day without any conflict with the public.
Hi Flakey,Sorry a bum here. FWIW my issue with Hotham's training on ADrift (at least around 20 July last year) was that the race squad took up all the groomed area (~ 20m wide) - there was room for more skiing out wide but was icy crud & on a day with few easy blue runs available due poor snow conditions. Can Hotham RS/grooming dept do this a little better so everyone wins? It's not that hard?
Interesting. Until your comment I'd never heard a single person complain about the racing squad's use of Australia Drift. It has to be the most under-utilised run on the mountain. "It's hard to get to", "annoying to return from", "tiring as you don't get to rest your feet on the chair up", it's this and it's that are the usual complaints about Aust Drift. If it weren't for the racing squad using it in the afternoons when very few other people bother to venture out to that god-forsaken exposed spot on the mountain, I doubt they would even bother to turn the T-bar. 20th July last year ... midweek. We were still waiting for Huey to give us a decent dump at that time. Australia Drift is considerably broader than 20m; it has two skiable sides to it. We mostly choose to ski the left side (facing down) in the basin when we're free skiing, as it is superb. Often the far right side over at Rambo's Revenge is the best snow on the run (even outside of the boundary there). If the snow is bad over there, you can bet that it isn't any different where the racing squad sets up the gates. Last season for the most part the whole of Australia Drift was icey and there was a fair bit of crud. It was not groomed regularly either as there were significant coverage issues. There were times where it was good, but it suffers badly from exposure. For many days, especially early in the season it was closed owing to the fog. It is a very good spot in the Spring as the icey exposed orientation maintains the snow for a fair while in decent condition. If racing squad is allocated a run to train on where the snow is poor (ungroomed, crud, etc) they manually fix the surface themselves. There have been days where they have done three laps of a course each (that's all athletes) slipping and stomping the snow to flatten it out and make it a safe, skiable surface. FWIW they also do that after every training session as well to set up the run for the public. Hotham has to approve the surface before they allow racing squad to vacate the area for the public. If multiple laps of sideslipping and stomping out of ruts is required then they do so. If the rest of the resort is required for the public, and they send the racing squad out to the Siberia that is Australia Drift, where would you propose to put them for training as an alternative? Is there a run that is less utilised by the public than Australia Drift that they could train on?
Howdy Flakey, look overall I agree with you - that was a rotten period to ski & nowhere was perfect to put the squad. You've explained the coverage which limited grooming out the far right - ordinarily They were be no problem one would gofar left in the gully or right near the poles. Being a tele head I too can't understand how few head to drift - yes when really icy/ windy it's interesting but most of the time it's a great area. Having skied down to almost the waterfall area one Cup weekend and skinned back up I can fully appreciate ADs assets - a shame in a way the business case for a lift didn't stack up. Fwiw - train in peace mate - will wave hello and keep clear when I see our. Future stars in action. (I love it when the slalom poles are left on the summit RHS - great fun! (;-)
Could they ever put race training on Hoggs Back, to Davenport access? I don't know much about race training, would it be suitable?
The cover on Hoggs Back thins out quickly (and lower Davenport Access often has bare patches). Grooming would probably be required as well which is probably not going to happen too much due to pygmy possums.
Hotham needs everyone to be happy with wat you got , in ten years time we might'nt get any snow , we might be sliden down the hills on plastic sheets . be happy with wat ya got .
Yes! An international destination for blacker than black. VSG to plan lift and runs from the summit down the Dargo River. (Instead of cutting it in half with his new road....)
Baw of Bels... the plan is progressing. Crayons wielded on a virtual canvas, from an Earth goggled. Bowl of Dargo pow for those so inclined and with Smiggins skills honed finely.
Eckcellent work! I think that you may clear any vegetation that gets in the way of skiers (safety comes first). Also the resort boundary can be extended as needed. (foreign exchange from French parapente visitors). So go right ahead and indicate where the bungee fence will be built, please. (a dead skier stops spending). I don't see where the home trail will be. Maybe a bus pickup like at Bernhoud Pass. Feel free to name a run after your grandaughter.
Said it before and I'll say it again. Hotham needs fast quads. OK, so keoghs/orchard can't be a detachable because u catch it both ways, and blue ribbon is too marginal. But both Village and Heavenly should be fast quads. The runs are too short and the queues too big for a slow chairlift ride. I love Hotham but this is just another reason why I ski Thredbo
The who The lift system sucks at Hotham. Wether it is skiers per chair or on slope. Heavenly and village need to be detachables. Heavenly especially. Running it at half speed is pittyfull. There shouldn't be low intermediates on it as there are no real intermediate runs on Heavenly. Wrong mountain, go home. Your igloo is on fire!!
Last major lifts built in 1997! Thats way too long for any new lifts or upgrades. I agree with most on here. Heavenly at least needs to be a six seater detachable like holden on buller. Most of the lifts run too slow.
Where is the Google view gone? Must get to work before we all end up sliden on grass (or rock) skis. Want to begin the necessary clearing and bottom road joining Blowhard base with the gondola. The Blowhard ridge will be the only place in the world where flying-suiters can land back on top. Initial access for clearance work will involve driving a large bulldozer 1500 feet down from the road, probably following the path of a certain Volkswagen years ago.
having a great season this year (assuming it will go into Oct with great snow) will help bring the next step in investment in the resort - they will make good money this year which hopefully make the company feel like spending some more money - probably be more snow making and not another lift but one day they will do some more lifts or replace current ones
I very much doubt that there will be a new lift put into Hotham. They may replace lifts, but I don't think they will ever open new terrain.
I disagree with this to a certain degree..... pop a six pack detach into HV means more more people up top quicker which means more people to spread accross the runs. The wait for a chair at HV is not that long when you really think about it. maybe once or twice a year on a Saturday morning would the wait be more than 4 minutes (go on time it..I know I have). maybe try using the singles line if you really want to get back up that quick. I agree that village should be upgraged to at least a detach...but then there are issues with the size of the stations required for a detach...both ends of the village wiould create issues with this. Even now on a busy day when all chairs are full coming up, they have problems with clearing the unload area. I beleive the lift compnay was waiting for the BALE redevelopment before they replaced this chair, as then it could have been brought into the "village square" area that would have been created by this development. The other option is to replace the village with a "two way" lift such as orchard and lift skiers (and boarders if you must) up into golden point....just a thought. I would also think that the priority at the moment would be to get snowmaking onto the summit side of roadrunner, thus creating a reliable season opening run. This way they can finally get rid of playground chair....which will be sad to see go.
lift waiting times at hotham has never worried me - when the whole resort is open the longest i ever waited was 2 to 3 minutes during peak time on village or heavenly sunday to monday and orchard and blue ribbon there is almost no wait - was there in july 2006 when only village was running and there was a wait but that was a crap year and wouldnt go again if similar conditions
They should have never moved the bottom station, they could have had the two stations near each other with separate queues, would have made the line for village shorter because some would prefer a run down sun run as the beginning of their loop to the basin. I like the chair too, but the positioning of the present day load minimises it's usage I'm happy to add to the list of things that'll never happen with a second bridge over the GAR near the corner at loch carpark, by cutting the road further into the hill they can build the bridge/tunnel along the original contour of the hill, the run can than go down to join Mother johnsons and the canyon. This would open a new loop trail which can be circuited with the road runner chair, as well as better utilizing current terrain on that side of the summit
true and they hardly ever open playground to the bottom as you get access down to village - went down lower playground the first time last year and its hardly ever used as a run (except after a dump)
... and that is the other reason playground is short. Natural snow often runs out at that point. 1500m, there abouts.
