Skiing into the School Holidays

The end of term bell rang and we were off! Our destination - Guthega for a sneaky last minute skiing weekend. Our main objective apart from remembering how to ski was to show Doorack lodge to Al, Rob and family who were thinking of becoming members. Luckily for us the lodge wasn't at all full probably as the snow hadn't yet arrived and even luckier was the dusting of snow that the mountains received in the week leading up to our stay!

Our drive up on Friday afternoon was uneventful with the added bonus of not needing to use chains on the last 20km section to the lodge. It was a slick process of unpacking, cooking dinner and putting the girls to bed before we could relax in front of the fire with wine and cheese.

Saturday morning we were greeted to the news that the traverse which links Guthega to Blue Cow was open as were most of the lifts. With everyone dressed, pockets full of various snacks we headed outside to climb the steep pinch behind the lodge which leads to the Norwegian trail. From there it was skis on to glide down to tackle the first challenge of the day, the Blue Calf T-bar.

Superb riding by everyone meant it was a first time success in getting to the top! We opted for the Freedom chair which had conveniently just opened rather than another long t-bar and before we knew it we were traversing across to Blue Cow.



A group conference decided that we would ski the Early Starter and after the initial run, Ella and Max were skiing together and catching the chairlift by themselves as were Katy and Mira! It was really wonderful to see their independence blossom while giving them a little bit of freedom. Al was with Alma, Rob and Andy were behind Max and Ella, while I tried to keep in touch with the two little girls.

Soon it was time to rest and refuel. Digging into snacks accompanied by hot chocolates and coffee all round did the trick and also allowed us to plan the next part of our adventure.

Our pre lunch jaunt saw us ski over to Pleasant Valley, a long green run which was enjoyed by all. The only bummer about this run is the flatness and a small hill near the end. Katy, Mira, and Alma never really had enough speed (or poles) to get over these so would need a little help. Meanwhile Ella sought out as many bumps as possible to get some air. The rest of us were just happy to get down. 

Catching the Brumby T-bar saw our first mid t-bar fall from Katy who was riding with Mira so as the last adult, I joined her and we skied back to the bottom to have another go. Must say catching a t-bar with someone so small is challenging with the bar located around their bum and your knees. Thankfully Andy appeared and offered to go with her. We managed to get up and headed straight in for lunch at Blue Cow.

Despite hot food and another rest, energy levels were beginning to wane. With the weather looking a little ominous, we thought heading over to Guthega would be sensible. Along Guthega Way we traversed finding ourselves at the Freedom Chair. We caught this to the top of Guthega Peak then zoomed down Bloody Mary onto the Norwegian Trail which finished outside the back of the lodge. Here the group divided  with only Andy, Al and Ella continuing on for more skiing opting to do a few of the harder runs.

Don't think that Rob and I were putting our feet up in the lodge - no the kids had other plans. So as the clouds scattered, under beautiful blue skies, we took the toboggans out for a spin! Not sure where all the energy came from to trudge continuously back up the hill but the kids were pumped riding these!!

The inaugural Walter Family toboggan championships were held on the lower slopes of the road. The first race saw a false start from Alma resulting in it being cancelled. Max decided to prevent this happening again by constructing a snow bump as the starting line. Rob and Katy assisted Mira and Alma on the line. The gun went - Max had a flying start thanks to positioning himself to the left of the snow bank he'd made; Mira received a good push from Rob and Alma had the slowest start as Katy didn't quiet have enough strength to get her over the snow bank. Thankfully Rob came to the rescue with a massive push sending Alma speeding down the hill in hot pursuit of the others! Not too sure who won or where the actual finish line was but fun was had by all!

With only 3 toboggans between 4 children, attention was diverted to doing other things like Katy making a snowman with Alma joining for the final decorating. Then it was climbing the embankment - Katy and Alma went off exploring for a while and Max, Mira had a snowball fight with Rob and I. All good fun!

As we were thinking it was time to make tracks back to the lodge, Ella appeared. She'd skied enough and came to have some snow play. Meanwhile Andy and Al took advantage of the lovely conditions and by all accounts were carving up the slopes now they had no beginners holding them up!!