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The Snow thread(!!!!!)


PN

23-Jun-2005
11:07:57 AM

It is snowing big fat flakes of goodness in the NSW and (to a lesser extent) Vic Alps as we speak

GOLD!! or should I say White!!!

From http://www.thredbo.com.au

"The big one we've been waiting for!
It's dumping down! Mother Nature went to town last night adding 25cm of fresh snow to the upper trails. Mid mountain got 20cm and there's a lovely 13cm blanket of white stuff on the village this morning. Snow is still falling and there's more on the way. Excellent"

At this stage it looks like Sunday/Monday and into middle of next week could be absolute pearlers if anyone's thinking of going.

Do many people ski/board?

a) Ski downhill
b) Ski tele
c) ski cross country classic/skate
d) snowboard
e) schnapps
f) hot tub?

dalai

23-Jun-2005
11:13:54 AM

Try http://forum.ski.com.au/scripts/ultimatebboard/ultimatebb.cgi


PN

23-Jun-2005
11:17:49 AM

Cheers Dalai,

Has anyone been up yet? I'm thinking of blowing off work for a day next week and hitting thredders

dalai

23-Jun-2005
11:22:11 AM

If this cold weather continues, it will definitely create a good base for the rest of the season...

Though how many seasons in Australia start just like this only to all melt in the following weeks!!

For those who do enjoy the white stuff, I hope this isn't the case!!


PN

23-Jun-2005
11:35:42 AM

Yeh it's always a very real risk, particularly at this time of year when the temps are still fluctuating like crazy

What I'm finding really interesting is the cloud seeding saga. Snowy Hydro have commenced a 6 year study into cloud seeding in the snowies - the idea is to augment the melt run-off for the summer seasons, increase the levels in the snowy pondages/storages for peak load summer electricity generation from Hydro generators in the Alps.

See here for more info about the cloud seeding trial

http://www.snowyhydro.com.au/LevelThree.asp?pageID=85&parentID=254&grandParentID=3

It's been used in Tassie for years apparently

I had a bit of intelligence that it was done last week the day of the first decent dump. I wouldn't be suprised if they are at it right now. They have a couple of launch sites on the main range - as well as the more risky and difficult seeding from small aeroplanes


Romfrantic

23-Jun-2005
3:48:53 PM

Hey P.N....yep, I'm hitting the slopes there at PB (and hopefulyl BC) as of tomorrow ! :-)
....can't let this opportunity go to waste.

The www.ski.com.au forum section (e.g. weather) has some interesting discussions on the cloud seeding trials and geenral weather patterns hitting the slopes right now - lot's of good info there.

----
Post edit: Telemark skiing, both resort and BC! ...did the xc-ski/skate thing before, but not as much (if at all) these days. And for option (e), it's Jägermeister.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

23-Jun-2005
4:17:26 PM

Cloud seeding makes 'wet snow'.
Good for water. Not necessarily good for snow sports.
Its supposed to be a blind trial, but I have heard technical advice that suggests it could be easy to see past the 'blind' for those limited few in the know.


Alex

23-Jun-2005
4:33:31 PM

Telemark either resort or backcountry with a bit of touring and skating thrown in.

Hot tub with schnapps is always good too. :)

Heading up this weekend to Falls to make the most of it..


alrob

23-Jun-2005
4:58:53 PM

yup! big downhill skier. unfortunately, my run of spending the first week of july up at Mt Hotham comes to a sad end, after 5 years of tradition......so any chockstoners here up for daytrippin, but to the snow, gives us a hoot and i'll be there! especially if it raining in the youies :D


Alex

23-Jun-2005
5:42:50 PM

BTW theres a possibility of a spot or two up at Falls Creek this weekend staying on the mountain Friday and Saturday and a ride there and back with mainly climbers. Accomodation is somewhere a bit less than $50 each night + petrol and your lift tickets and ski hire if applicable. (we'll be leaving by about 5pm Friday)... Oh and BTW rides are available from both Melbourne and Canberra :)

Anyone who interested get in contact with me before late tonight...


dan

23-Jun-2005
9:57:32 PM

Alex,

Im up at Falls most weekend days (day trips from Albury). Usually tote-ing 2-3 petrol subsidisers :)

Where is this mythical $50 a night accomidation? I have tried to contact Bright backpackers, but the closer the better.


cheesehead

23-Jun-2005
10:53:28 PM

dan, refer to the bivvies thread....

I'll be up for sun/mon daytrips/dualies.

Always was a BC boarder, but I sold my last board to buy my England 'plane ticket. So this year I'm learning to tele. Resorts suck. Especially as Australia has the most expensive resorts in the world for such relatively crud snow.
I haven't become a snow snob. I always knew that resorts suck


climbau

24-Jun-2005
8:22:01 AM

On 23/06/2005 cheesehead wrote:

> So this year I'm learning to tele.
me too.


Romfrantic

24-Jun-2005
9:15:06 AM

Cheesehead/climbau, going to Telefest ? (unfortunately, it is held at the resorts - both in NSW and VIC - BUT the w'shops do help improve teles very very quickly = less frustations and more enjoyable BC skiing later on :-)
I also cringe at the thought of resort skiing, but I try to make the sacrifice only 2-3 times a season (at most) just to quickly get my tele legs back and for telefest ;-) ....the rest of the time is all BC * free * snow.


Alex

24-Jun-2005
9:47:00 AM

I can second that, I finally learnt how to get my turns together at telefest, very much worth going to. Will be attending again this year, but can only get up for the Sunday.

gfdonc

24-Jun-2005
12:00:30 PM

Resort tele, the steeper the better.


Megan

24-Jun-2005
12:02:31 PM

Woohoo, telemarking all the way :)


Alex

24-Jun-2005
12:46:26 PM

'nuff said :)


shaggy

24-Jun-2005
1:53:40 PM

So, what are you saying Alex, Did I not help your turns at all? Bah!

Vail in colorado have had an active cloud seeding program for well over 10 years, since they started it, thay have had, on average, nearly 70inches higher snow falls. Some seasons, where it was really shite, they say that the seeding was the only thing that saved them, but then, unlike here, they often have the temperatures for it to be effective for snow, ours is not so much a cloud and precipitation problem, as it is a temperature problem at the right time.


Tav

24-Jun-2005
5:13:02 PM

On 24/06/2005 Alex wrote:
>'nuff said :)

Mmm...I like your thinking Alex. I like it very much indeed.

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