The Real Snow Report #3: Fairweather skiers out in force

Blue skies. Mostly.

Exhibition groomed for the first time this season. Today we skied like we meant it skiing all the runs we haven't been able to see all week.

Schnappy hour at Black Sallee's.

The Real Snow Report #2 - a much better day

Snow falling softly, wind today was 'moderate' compared with 'gusty' yesterday. Visibility, reasonable.

Ready for a day on the snow.

Going up the Kosciusko Chair. A little blustery at the top but nothing like yesterday when this chair was on wind hold.

Lots of lovely fresh snow scattered over the resort. Not so much powder as that deep wet stuff that catches on the skis but still loads of fun. Proper Australian skiing conditions (rocks, crud, rain, wet slush/snow) - love it.

Spying on the kids skiing the Bowl.

A full day.

Sunshine is promised tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it. Who cares. Here's hoping for another magic day at the snow.

The Real Snow Report (aka $30 a run)

So, day one started out okay. Clear skies, hardly a breath of wind. A full day of skiing to be had.

Day two started with a light rain/slush falling from the sky. No wind with conditions improving by lunchtime. Only Thredbo die-hards and those who had already pre-paid their lift tickets were on the mountain.

Day three. Well the fact that it is 11.55am and I'm back in the lodge blogging should give you an idea of the conditions.


All the lifts are on wind hold except the Gunbarrel, Snowgums and the old Merritts Chair. This effectively funnels all the traffic onto two lifts - Gunbarrel and Snowgums. After a 20 minute queue at the Gunbarrel we skied down to Snowgums.



Oh dear. Snowgums is an old, slow, double chair. 30 minutes in the queue...



... to sit in blustery blowy conditions like this.

I love my skiing and will ski in just about anything but after freezing on the double chair we decided it was time to come in. We calculated that after a total of three runs this morning we paid $30 a run each (on a discounted ticket).

Being parent-of-the-year my children are still out on the snow developing a tough skin.

Now excuse me while I take a blog-break to enjoy a hot tea and chocolate cake.

Skiing Part II: Oopsie-Daisy

I would have to declare 2008 the best year for snow since 2004. We had lovely sunny days and lovely snowy days and everyone had a great time.

That is, except for Domestic Goddess's 8 yo son ...

who broke his leg on the very first day, and one of the parents ...

who broke a bone in her hand on the third day, and Domestic Goddess's 5 yo son ...

who had an altercation with a window ledge in the lodge on the fifth day and has the coolest looking black eye to show the kids back at school.

They say things happen in threes, but Firegazer also has a suspected cracked rib.

I wouldn't want to put anyone off skiing. We are normally injury-free.

It seems churlish with all these injuries to then want to brag a little... but after six years of skiing at Thredbo I finally got up the courage to ski my nemesis black run Funnelweb. And then I skied it again.

Gone Skiing

Gone Skiing.

Back soon. Hopefully with lots of fun pics to show you.

Girls' Ski Trip to Thredbo '08

The weather was magnificent and there was just enough snow.

The company was just the right amount of crazy

The food was better than any on offer at the local restaurants.

But if offered a sample of the 'Rainbow Python' Schnapps, we recommend you just smile and back away slowly lest you be convinced to swallow this cough-mixture-like concoction.

Only three weeks until my next trip, this time en famille. I'm a lucky little B.