Another mass of extremely cold air has hit the Alps, with snowfalls occurring to low levels, and the intense weather is expected to continue for much of the week. MountainWatch has declared it to be ‘the storm of the season’, even better than the ‘Blizzard of Oz’. Apart from lots of fresh, the current storm does bring blizzard conditions, the possibility of lightning in some areas, and the likelihood of increased avalanche risk on steeper slopes.
According to the poll, we have a slight majority keen to go sidecountry.
Let’s aim to go out to Mt Loch and possibly Machinery Spur, etc.
Please come prepared for an outing: lunch, water, skins, etc.
The skiing out at Loch is quite varied, so will suit all levels of skier. Its about a 70 min ski to get out there.
Let’s meet in or right outside the day shelter at the top of the Heavenly Valley chairlift. Its a 1 min walk from Loch carpark, or a 10 min walk up the road from Hotham central if you don’t have a lift pass.
Meet at 9am this saturday Sept 2, for a 9.15am departure.
I reckon I will ski in resort on the sunday, and would welcome anyone who wants to join me.
My mobile, if you’re lost or late: 0419338047
Cam
There has been another significant avalanche on Mt Bogong, with a skier being caught in the slide and carried around 80 metres. They are OK.
The following comes from Mountain Safety Collective/ SnowSense.
CELEBRATING THE WINTER HUMAN-POWERED EXPERIENCE
The Backcountry Film Festival is produced each year by Winter Wildlands Alliance as a celebration of the human-powered experience and a gathering place for the backcountry snowsports community. Winter Wildlands Alliance is a nonprofit organization working at the national level to inspire and educate the backcountry community to protect and care for their winter landscapes. Funds raised at each screening stay in the local community to support human-powered recreation and conservation efforts, winter education and avalanche/safety programs and to raise awareness of winter management issues.
For a full listing of the films in the festival please check here.
Thursday August 31
Harrietville Community Hall
210 Great Alpine Rd, Harrietville, Victoria 3741
Starts at 6.30pm.
Fundraising event by Mountain Sports Collective & Harrietville Community Hall
Soup and Drinks available
Entry: $10 Adults / $20 Family
Aidan Kempster has been raising profile about the proposal for the Great Forest National Park through riding the trails and roads of the Central Highlands, VIC.
He is offering a guided ride through a section of the Central Highlands on Saturday September 2. Aidan describes it as ‘a free, self-supported day of cycling in Toolangi State Forest. Bring your own bike, repair kit, water, wet weather gear and snacks’.
Full details available here.
We’re getting close to World Telemark Day. There will be an informal gathering at Mt Hotham on saturday September 2.
All welcome. Free event. If we have a mix of abilities, we may split into two groups. Please remember to fill out the poll if you’re coming so we can decide whether we’re going to ski in resort or backcountry.
After that depressing rain, the snow is back – with a vengeance. Weather is wild in most mountain areas right now. But enjoy it once the winds drop.
Hotham is reporting ’25 cm of cold dry snow in the last 24hrs’.
Mt Buller is reporting ’15cm fresh on top of 10cm yesterday and still falling’ (It’s going to be ‘EPIC’ says the over hyped snow guy on their daily video update).
Thredbo is calling the storm the ‘Blizzard of Oz 2.0′, with ’40cm of fresh in the last 24 hours’, and Perisher is reporting ’50 cm’ in the same time period.
Please check road conditions before heading to resorts and consider taking a chain saw if you’re accessing the backcountry via unpatrolled roads.
Apart from all the resort websites, there is a list of snow reporting and forecast sites available here.
The image at the top is the MountainWatch forecast from this morning.
Just a reminder that the NSW Splitfest DownUnder will be held on weekend of the 25 – 27th of August in the NSW main range.
Register here.
There is the usual friday night entertainment at the Jindabyne Bowling Club in the downstairs room, starting @ 6pm 12 Bay St, Jindabyne NSW, camping up at Island Bend in the national park, and a tour out of Guthega on the saturday.
For full details please check here.
Anyone who is paying attention to the state of our winters knows that they are getting more erratic. Often they start later (it’s a rare thing to ski on natural snow on opening weekend) and subject to more rain events, with big impacts on snow pack. While our climatic patterns go through natural wetter and drier cycles, climate science tells us that these patters will become more extreme, with less overall snow and shorter seasons.
Anecdotes and personal experience are one thing. But when did the snow pack actually start to decline?
While all resorts track snowfall, the benchmark of snowfall in Australia over time comes from Spencers Creek, at a site at 1,800 metres above sea level, in the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains. The following article comes from ABC Rural and gives a sense of the decades worth of data that is available from this site, and the process of getting the data. The measuring site was originally established to give the Snowy Hydro managers a sense of what water was trapped in the snow pack and hence how much water would be released in the spring. As skiers and riders, what it gives us is a long term summary of the trends in snowpack over the past six decades.
The take home message is that, overall, snowpack has been declining for decades and unabated climate change will make that worse. While the article does not drill into this issue in detail, previous analysis of this data by Terry Giesecke suggests that:
“There has been a downwards trend (in snow pack) from 1957 to 1989. It then goes up dramatically for about four years, before resuming a downwards path”. This research suggests that the increase in snow depth between 1990 and 1994 could have been due to global cooling which occurred as a result of major volcanic activity in the Philippines in 1991. Using data collected up until 2016, it also notes:
“There is evidence of further decline in the first 16 years of the 21st century.”
The full article is below.
Continue reading “Australian snow pack in decline since 1957”
World telemark day is celebrated in both the northern and southern hemispheres
In NSW World Telemark Day will be celebrated on Saturday 9 September.
It will be held at Perisher. Meet at 8am at Perisher skitube.
The Plan: there will be two groups; 1 will go backcountry (ideal for those who don’t want to lash out on a lift ticket for the day) and 1 will take to the lifts to explore the great terrain that Perisher has to offer!
Both are great options, especially with the awesome snow that’s out there at the moment!!
There will be demo gear available through the Wilderness Sports Perisher store, with both NTN and 75mm gear to try!
Hire is also available through the store in Jindabyne on Friday night and Saturday Morning, as well as in our Perisher shop on Saturday morning. You can bring book through the WS website https://www.wildernesssports.com.au/pages/telemark-hire.
Come join us and have an awesome day with fellow freeheelers!
Please email or PM us to let us know whether you are interested in resort or backcountry to bruce@wildernesssports.com.au
For full details on world tele day, please check here.
Mountain Journal has often reported on the long campaign against the proposal to build a cable car up the face of Mt Wellington/ kunanyi, in Hobart.
If you’re a Tasmanian, please sign this petition which opposes the recently tabled Mount Wellington Cable Car Facilitation Bill 2017, which intends to facilitate the acquisition of land for the cable car. It calls for the Bill to be rejected.
You can sign the petition here.
You can find extra info on Mountain Journal or through local resident’s group Respect the Mountain.
Many people will know the Windy Corner day shelter/ café/ ski hire shop above the top car park at Falls Creek. It is the ‘skiing arm’ of the YMCA operated Howmans Gap Alpine Centre, located just down the road, literally at the gateway of the resort. Both Howmans Gap and Windy Corner have undergone some major changes this season as part of an ambitious campaign to be more accessible to people, families and groups and to lift the profile of cross country skiing/ alpine recreation to people of all ages and ability levels. They are seeking to encourage a greater diversity of people to visit the resort, and also act as the base for Disabled Wintersport Australia. As part of this process the Windy Corner facility has been renamed as Falls Creek Cross Country.
This seems like a great initiative to broaden the appeal and accessibility of resorts. It seems to be working, with ski rental having increased by 300% this season. The following comes from Sandra Bucovaz.
Continue reading “Windy Corner becomes Falls Creek Cross Country”
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