Growing Up

Tobee and Jesse are growing up fast. They turned 3; started pre kindy and look to be enjoying life up north. Can't wait to see them again.

 

Second Gym Comp

Katy made it to her second gym competition. Again held at her gym, this comp was the State Level State Championships. Katy competed in the Level 5 section completing the same routines as she did last month.Our day as a family was much more complicated as Ella had athletics training and her netball wind up wither side but slightly overlapping Katy's gym competition.

Katy's group was not on an apparatus for the first session - great for Andy and Ella who were coming from athletics. They then began with vault. Her performance on vault was noticeably better and Katy scored a 8.82 (previously 7.83).

Next was uneven bars. Katy ironed out her previous mistake, making it cleanly up and over the bar for her mount. She scored 9.05 (previously 8.58).

After this, Ella and I headed off leaving Andy and Nana to watch the remaining sessions. Beam was up next and Katy had another solid performance without any obvious errors although only scored 8.70 (previously 9.05)

Floor was the final apparatus. Katy had another great routine scoring 9.00 (previously 9.13)

Ella and I arrived in time for the presentations. Kat placed in floor (=5th) and beam (6th). Her overall score was 35.57 (previously 34.59) which meant she placed much higher but just missed out on the podium.

Short Last Day Ski

More snow but unfortunately it was quite wet so we after a few runs we were all soaked and decided to try to dry out with coffee. The gang had already split again as Aoife took off (with Cath in tow) in search of a Mountain Dew flags. Turns out the Grab the Flag promotion happens every Saturday which involves a scavenger hunt for a flag that you can redeem for a prize. Aoife's lucky stars aligned and in the moment where she thought all was lost, a flag appeared! A quick trip on the train to perisher allowed her to claim her prize a jumper!

Anyway back over at Guthega, we didn't last much longer with the poor visibility and wet conditions and retired into the lodge thus concluding our annual ski week as we would be leaving in the morning.

More Skiing

Thursday was a lodge type day. A fresh coat of snow had fallen overnight blanketing the mountain once again. Snow continued to flutter down and the winds prevented the lifts from opening so we were restricted only to Blue Calf t bar. Many of us skied for a few hours before getting too wet and / or cold.

Andy and Patrick headed out for a tour around Farm Creek in the afternoon in nicer conditions.

Friday's conditions were more favourable - with blue skies threatening to break through the grey clouds several times during the day. There were multiple splits as people decided on their preferences for the day. Andy went out with Katy to help build her confidence up which seemed to be dwindling as the week progressed. I joined Cath and Eoin. Ella was off with Mira and Mia.

I skied only for half of the day as did Ella. Andy and Katy stayed out a little longer. Everyone else dribbled back into the lodge at various times during the afternoon.

Again Andy took the opportunity to do a back country trip up Guthega Trig. He was joined by Patrick, Susie and Mia who was testing out my skis. A successful outing.

Mt Twynam

With the only blue sky day forecast for our week, we decided today to have a back country ski trip - our destination to the trig at Mt Twynam. The group included all the adults with Eoin replaced by Mia. Eventually the group got going by 9am with the trip expected to take around 5 -6 hrs.

 

 

 

We skied down into Farm Creek, taking off our skis to cross over the bridge. Opting to not to put skis on we walked up the steep incline on the other side before a long traverse through the snowgums trying not to loose too much height. It was tough going and not particularly enjoyable. 

Eventually we emerged from the snow gums  and put on the skins for the first time in order to walk up towards Illawong and the suspension bridge over the Snowy River. Under blue bird skies and vast expanses of snow-covered rolling hills, the scenery was just gorgeous and we were all so happy to have the opportunity to experience such a glorious place!

 

 

 

The skis came off to cross one at a time over the suspension bridge. In summer, crossing this bridge usually involves climbing up/down quite a few steps however during winter, the snow covers most of these steps. The Snowy river below twinkled in the sunshine.

  

 

On the other side, the skis went back on and the climb began. From the Snowy it is a 550+m vertical climb to the top Mt Twynam and roughly 3km in distance. We passed a few skiers and several snowshoe groups plus a tent on the mountain all heading in different directions. Halfway up we stopped for morning tea.

 

Closer to the top the windier it became. Our trail led us over an icy rocky outcrop before coming through a saddle above Blue Lake then up a steep spur to the left before traversing the plateau to the trig. 

 

 

 

 

Covered in wind blown ice, the trig was an interesting sight to see. Not wanting to get too cold, we took various snaps of the said trig, the 360° vista and each other before commencing the descent. The ski back to the Snowy was fun but way too quick! From there it was an easier traverse with skins on through the snow gums reaching Farm Creek with a straightline ascent to the lodge. Stats for the day - 14.5km total distance with 800m climb taking us 5h50mins. We all agreed it was an excellent day out in perfect conditions.