First Ski of the Season

Our family annual ski trip has been foiled this year due to our lost booking. As a result, Susie & family went for their week in the school holidays, Cathy & family have other trips planned and we have a booking for late August. So with the cousins up in Guthega for their week of skiing, we were happy to snag a spot at the lodge for the Saturday night and join them.

Saturday morning saw us in the car by 6am driving in the dark towards the mountains. The drive was ok despite numerous idiot drivers overtaking multiple cars on double white lines! We came across a single car accident just before Jindabyne a timely reminder not to rush!

Under blue skies we joined a traffic jam before the Thredbo River (34km from our destination). Initially we thought the queue was due to the need for chains to be put on a few km's later at Waste Point. A quick pit stop saw us back on the road with our chains well fitted on our 2wd. The traffic was flowing much better and we were ready to tackle the unknown conditions of the drive in.

5km's later, we grounded to a halt with the traffic jam reappearing! It was frustratingly slow - a result we learnt of the combination of factors - first snowfall, school holidays, a Saturday and snowy conditions. We were happy as the Guthega Road turnoff appeared meaning we could leave the masses who were travelling to Perisher.

Conditions on the first 10km, the bitumen part of Guthega Road was fine but quickly deteriorated as it turned to gravel. The road hadn't been ploughed and at times our chain strapped tyres struggled to grip. Several times we thought perhaps we weren't going to make it! We did though in a record worst travel time of 5 hrs - with the last 34km taking us 2 hours!

A quick unpack saw us out on the slopes and skiing with the cousins. Only the Blue Calf t-bar was open as the snow coverage higher up was too patchy for the other lifts to open. It was good to get out - the snow was soft and fluffy and nice to ski on however the low clouds made visibility variable and soon had up retreating back to the lodge.

The following day, after a few runs on Blue Calf, the top t-bar opened allowing us to traverse over to Blue Cow terminal, where Josh and Susie caught the skitube to Perisher so Josh could join up with his school ski group for ski camp. Meanwhile we warmed up inside with food and coffee and watched the hundreds of skiers and snowboarders trudge uphill from Terminal chair after the chairlifts unexpectedly were placed on wind hold. What a spectacle...I've  never seen anything like it!

Susie rejoined us and with conditions deteriorating we decided to make our way back to Guthega. The headwind was brutal and the trail patchy making our progress slow. Eventually making it back to the lodge, we were keen to get going, so Andy headed straight to the car which required a little bit of shovelling of snow to get out. Unfortunately one of our snow chains broke(!) as Andy drove out from the carpark. He managed to borrow some pliers to bend the chains temporarily and precariously back into place, hoping that they'd hold up in the snowy conditions. I'd jammed the roof box locked the previous day so we piled the skis in the boot ready for the nervous drive out.

Thankfully the Guthega Road had been cleared and was in much better condition for driving. I'd hang my head out the window enduring an icy blast every few minutes to check on the snow chain. It held up until we could take them off at Wilson's Valley 25km later.

Made it home uneventfully with several jobs lined up for Monday - fix roof box, buy new snow chains and buy new boots and poles for the girls!