Trip Report Windy Corner to The Paralyser. BC XC ski trip.5th July 2021

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

Your correspondent in the field finally obtained some proper relief from SDS.( skiing deprivation syndrome typified by a flat and restless personal state and a lack of joy in the daily humdrum of life).

After seeing the snow cameras and the forecast I packed the car with food, ski gear and attire and a camping kit , booked and printed my car pass for the next day for Falls Creek and drove up from Melbourne on Sunday . I camped at Mountain Creek near Mt. Bogong . It was not as busy at the camp site as I thought it might have been.
It rained all night and Mtn. Creek itself was a gushing torrent!.
The next morning I took some photos before driving up to Falls Creek , bright and early on a clear and sunny Monday morning, 5/7/21. Free at last , a bird released from a cage and there was fresh snow on them thar hills. It was looking good.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

The BIG ORANGE coloured sign said all 2 WD must fit chains, at the chain bay before The McKay Power station road junction. Snow was visible on the road side at The Fainters lookout , approximately 900 M. ASL.
There was a queue of cars at Howman's Gap toll booth but Spion Kopje looked majestic in the morning sun , a blue bird day with fresh snow piled up on the parked cars.
I drove the AWD Tee Mobile up to Windy Corner rather carefully without chains in low gear . It was icy with snow on the road. It was treacherous only because of the other motorists who are not as experienced or cautious as they could be .
" I used to hurry a lot , I used to worry a lot, I used to stay out until the break of day ".....
Yes I had The Birds of Prey playing on the car ;-P.
Camping, skiing , road trips, snow and sunshine.... My life out of lockdown was improving exponentially.
I found a parking spot and got ready and Off I went on my NNN BC rig.
The snow was fresh , firm and dry.
Oh . This was good!.
I was just getting back into it so I went out over the dam wall out towards Watch Bed Creek rather than over the summit to Pretty Valley. That will come soon once I get my ski legs back.
I had Fresh Tracks and I saw nobody out there until I reached Watch Bed Creek.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

A beautiful day for XC skiing out of the resort and into the Alpine N.P. on ungroomed snow. The Table o meter near Rocky valley picnic area looked like 15-20 cms IMHO.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

I took a lot of photos. I was enjoying this but it took a while to get my rhythm back and work up some Nordic ski fitness. My abductor /adductor muscles seemed to have been abducted.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

I ate lunch at Watch Bed Creek and contacted my g/f by SMS to tell her what she was missing. Snow, peace and quiet , sunshine, natural beauty , fresh air.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

I had vexing Decisions to make regarding where to ski to next .... Langford Gap Hut or up towards The Park via The Paralyser.
The snow was deep enough to ski on up towards Mt. Nelse so after lunch off I went.
I slogged it up that track all alone thinking I would get an easy run back down but there were some odd shaped snow drifts , a couple of exposed rocks and wash outs and the snow was so fresh and uncompacted that gliding rather than classic striding even with double poling was marginal .
When I reached the tree line at the top of The Paralyser I realized it was Turn around O clock. So I sat down on a rock and ate some fruit and trail mix , drank some water , took some pictures and then skied back towards Windy Corner. If I was ski fit and had my ski legs I could have gone further , faster , harder etc. but I was just getting back into it.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

A great day . Life is good. Scummo or Stairman Dan would not understand!.

I had another snack / water/ rest stop back at Watch bed Creek . I had a chat with Two Young women were ski touring the BHP with big packs on their backs using rented ski boots and NNN BC gear :-0.
They had stayed at Tawonga Huts and at Cope Hut over 3-4 nights . Well Done ladies !!.

 

[skimax]

Hey MrTee glad to hear you've had a taste of freedom and a brilliantly narrated and photographed trip report. Well done !

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

Heading back to Windy Corner. The fog rolled in and rolled away again and I saw some other skiers .One chap had skied out to Langford Gap . He said there was almost continuous cover 10-20 cms deep the whole way along the BHP road.. The early bird gets the worm I have heard @beefa skiing tell me. So early starts in winter well before the Kookaburras have woken up are the way to operate for getting fresh tracks in the B.C. .
I had to remove my skis and crawl under the locked gate, again, when I reached the Dam wall on the return trip .

 

[TinkyH23]

Thanks for sharing MrT. Love your trip summary and especially your photos.
I bet Don Henley would too.

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

.After skiing I drove back down to Tawonga , filled up my car with more fuel and drove over Tawonga Gap to camp by the Ovens river near the Old Harrietville Rd. bridge. I had a log fire at my camp site .I was up at 6 am the following morning. In fact The next day I went over Mt. Hotham in the Tee mobile and XC skied at JB Plain. See the forthcoming trip report for that

Trip Report - JB Plain to Paw Paw Plain. XC ski day trip. July 6th 2021

Your Correspondent in the field woke up before dawn on Tuesday July 6th 2021 . I was camping by the Ovens river and having packed up early went into Harrietville to get some more drinking water and use the loo there. Then came the drive up and over Mt. Hotham. Chains were...

www.ski.com.au

 

[Carola]

Reading about how nice it is to be outdoors and not being allowed out is hard. Looking forward to future trips!

 

[Ubiquitous Steve]

Well I never!Parks have an actual sign with useful information and warnings!

Those written ideas are spot on........

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]

Well I never!Parks have an actual sign with useful information and warnings!

Those written ideas are spot on........

Of course I would never go out into the ungroomed Back country on XC skis alone. Perish the thought!!. ;-P .

 

[Mister Tee on XC Skis]