Club Hocking

Opening weekend for 2010

2010-05-02T20:25:00.001+10:00

Who's in?

I'm getting excited about the prospect of a ski season with more than 2 days of skiing for me!

The doily skii's again!

2009-06-29T13:27:00.002+10:00

My first ski of the season! New skating skis, boots, poles and my own crochet dress and pants!!!!!

I got some skis!

2009-06-10T15:08:00.004+10:00

I'm joining in on with the Apline masters racers this season on my Tele gear. So I got a pair of stock race GS and SL skis for a grand total of $275. I've already sold the bindings for $100, so I got the skis for about $88 each.

They're the beauties on the right. All I need to do now is remount them with some proper bindings.

From 2009-06-10

I went for a ski!

2009-06-10T14:30:00.006+10:00

After some productive time doing Uni assignments I decided I deserved a ski and to check out just how much snow has fallen over the last 4 days. There was snow on ground at home and it had settled on the road just before the Pumping station.

From 2009-06-10

I put on chains at Sawpit Creek and the road was constantly covered in snow after rennix gap.

Uphill of Sponars

From 2009-06-10

This next photo I had to include. Snow and ice on the road,... really?!?!?

From 2009-06-10

An indication of how deep it was

From 2009-06-10

On the hill I got in one quick run with only 4 others on snowboards. Then the V8 was shut for 10 minutes whilst they cleared some more snow.

The que that resulted

From 2009-06-10

I spent the next hour getting fresh windblown snow by Mitchell T and skiing straight back onto the V8. There would have been about 30 other people riding the lift.

Some photos from the V8

From 2009-06-10

Stupid Word lost half an assingment, so I don't think I'll be heading up again tomorrow, but if you have the time come down this weekend, I recon the'll open all of the snowmade areas on Saturday. Waht a season starter.

Enquiring minds want to know!

2009-06-08T11:11:00.001+10:00

What has the skiing been like on the opening weekend?

Brindabella Adventure

2008-08-31T12:05:00.006+10:00

On Saturday 30 August I went up to the Brindies with a mate to see if we could reach the rapidly diminshing snow that had been teasing us from Canberra since July. As we thought there'd be a fair walk in, we also decided to pack the mountain bikes in to reduce the slog factor.

It turned out that it was only 4km to very solid snow on the road near Mt Ginini, so we threw the bikes into the bushes and got skiing. The old ski run on Mt Ginini had such good snow we decided the extra effort to get to Mt Gingera, our original goal, was not worth it. pics below

Snow on the road, looks good but a bugger to ride on, about 1k from were we changed to skiing

Mt Gingera (from Mt Ginini), ACT's 2nd highest. But the snow had really gone from its NE aspect

Me on theGinini ski run, looking back toward Canberra

heading back tothe Mt Franklin carpark, old ski runs of Mt Franklin visible in the background. Gotta get there in decent snow one day...

10th - 12th of August Report

2008-08-13T10:03:00.004+10:00

What a weekend. Saturday night we had 9 people in the house and a pretty good party, except for poor Sid who bailed on monday morning due to the flu. My mardigras skate boots perform excellently and I am now the proud owner of a skating set up, prolly about time since I'm going for my Level 2 nordic certification this year.

Sunday was reported to be a great day, especially in the afternoon. But Monday was amazing, 20cm of fresh, blue sky and 120mm underfoot skis. I borrowed Carls DPS Lotus 120s and they were a revalation, I've been having that a lot with gear of late. Once I started to drive those skis they performed fantastically in the chopped up fresh and smearing is a whole new world. One run at Eyre I would straightline, then smear sideways to scub off speed, getting a face shot, before straightlining again. Marvin fell more in love with with his AK Rockets and Carl did amasingly well on his new touring boots in challenging conditions.

I had too much fun for taking photos.

Sid at Falls

2008-08-12T18:26:00.005+10:00

I went off to Falls Ck from 3-8 Aug, staying in a club lodge courtesy of a mate of mine who's a member there. A lot to be said for ski-in ski-out accomodation. I did a couple of days on the hill, enjoying some fresh snow (and crud) and very good groomed runs, some gentle bc just out of the resort area, and a bit of skating to top it off. Snow was deep, dry and held up well all week. A couple of photos from the phone camera below.

Wallaces Hut - a feature on the xc course used for the Hoppet

A nice hill just outside the resort - when riding the lifts on subsequent days it was nice to see our own ski tracks

An attempt at an arty shot on the somewhat foggy bc day

27th to 30th

2008-07-29T09:11:00.003+10:00

On Sat Marvin, DM Lefty Gray and others came up and had great times. Marvins AK Rockets are fast, fast, very fun skis. I enacted technicians title upon DMs 190 Goats and had a ball. Whilst I did level 2 stuff on Sat the others had a good time and Sid came down and had a ski with Marvin that morning. On Monday morning Marvin and I had a fantastic time. We spent the morning at Guthega in 10 - 20cm deep super dry snow. With the power of his AK rockets and me on DMs 190 Goats we were able to track out Parachute before anyone else got on it. By that stage we were both pretty buggered but managed one last run down through the parachute trees.

As I side note with free pivot you can also kick and glide 190 Goats!

A report with Pics of Monday will be up soon.

Great Skiing over the weekend and Telemark Phat is Liveish

2008-07-15T23:38:00.002+10:00

The weekend polished off a week of training little interschools kids. It was tough on my paunch but it was great to see them race after putting a lot of effot into them. Sid and Hermi both got in some great turns, especially Sid who got to enjoy the freshies on Friday and Saturday.

On Monday Marvin and I went for a stroll up Tate East. It was a great day and free pivot rules.

Tate East Ridge from the Guthega Car Park.

There is a full report over at the liveish www.telemarkphat.org. If any of you guys have anything to contribute to www.telemarkphat.org let me know.

It is dumping like mad!!!!

2008-07-10T20:16:00.002+10:00

I just got home from the hill at 8:00pm. Graham and I skied FV between 5:00pm & 6:30. It was boot deep and after each run our tracks were gone! There was snow on the road almost all the way back down. Snow was setteling on the road above Tyrolean Village and my driveway was icey.
It is on tomorrow. Hermi Sack Up you Sook! If you've been waiting for the snow to get good before you come down,... it will be good tomorrow.
Here is a bad pic of what I found when I got home.

New Terrain is Open

2008-06-27T11:19:00.002+10:00

Went up for a ski this morning, sadly without my camera. All of front valley is skiable,.... just, there is still some grass sticking out of the snow here and there, but it has made a lot more room on the slopes for the first two hours of the day.

The snow making was still going when we left at 10:30. Hopefully with a nice cold night they will be able to get all of Front Valley groomed for tomorrow morning. If we are lucky the quad could be open at mid station on Sunday.

Hydrophylica and I had a ball since we could finally let the skis run with a bit of room on the hill.

New terrain open!!!!!

2008-06-25T08:31:00.002+10:00

Wow, due to amazing conditions, PB have been able to open two lifts over at Blue Cow (early starter and pony ride- that's right, ride that pony)

Well at least it means that there's a little more variety.....

I'm ready for the season!

2008-06-22T23:16:00.001+10:00

Well I've just finished my final piece of assesment for the semester, now I can enjoy the snow! If we only get some snow.

Opening Weekend Report

2008-06-11T10:04:00.004+10:00

This years opening weekend was pretty quiet, only Sid and Hermi came down. But Graham (Nick to be decided) also participated in Opening Apeasement. Sid and Hermi got turns on Sat and Sun, Hydrophylica and I joined them on Sunday morning.

Front Valey only had the Magic Carpet and Mitchel T open to tower 3. So not much snow but for first turns of the season a deceptively large amount of fun.

The big news of the weekend though is the bargains at the ski swap. Hermi got a beanie and some shell pants, I bought a pair of Armada Pipe cleaners for DM (right), but Marvin and I got the cool scores. Marvin got a pair of 203cm Fischer RC4 DH womens downhill skis for $25 (centre) and I got a pair of 207 Elan SGX Super Giant Slalom Skis for $25 too! Both Marivn and I are very afraid of our new skis, but it will be fun!

Another New Snowcam

2008-06-11T09:47:00.004+10:00

PB Have Just put up a Guthega Snowcam. Hopefully it will have good views of Twynam to give us an idea of main range conditions. We'll have to wait untill the weather fines up first.

Club Hocking Calendar updated for this winter's bookings.

2008-05-26T18:22:00.007+10:00

DMs post below combined with the trail of man made on the Perisher Snowcam got my arse into gear and Club Hocking Calendar has been updated with the dates for this winter's bookings.

If everyone can use it to communicate with each other to organise visits so we don't have to organise everyone that would be really helpful. So please have another look at the Club Hocking Guidelines and help us out.

Looking forward to seeing you all this winter!

Plans for the opening weekend?

2008-05-21T22:08:00.001+10:00

Are there any?

Rick and Veka, will you be in residence?

Who else is thinking of heading down?

New Snowcams

2008-05-17T13:06:00.004+10:00

With the snow falling this morning I had a look and discovered a couple of new snowcams. One at the bottom of the ridge at PB.

The Basin cam at Thredbo has been moved to the bottom of the T-Bar.

I've added the Ridge Cam to the side bar, if there are any other cams people woould like to see on the sidebar yell out.

Hopefully I'll be able to get my first turns tomorrow morning!

Charlottes Pass Panorama

2008-05-02T12:13:00.002+10:00

Went for a drive up the hill this morning to have a llok at the snow that feel earlier in the week. Here is a panorama from the top of the Snow Gum walk at CP.

World Record Cliff Jump an Accident!

2008-05-02T11:23:00.003+10:00

Here are the words of Fred Syversen from this thread at the TGR forums.

Hehe,

Somebody told me about this discussion (could'nt read it trough, too much), and I like to add a few facts, the rest I will leave for the film and the pics. I can’t give you any proof, that’s not for me to decide.

My ski philosophy is that you should always stick your landings, that’s gonna progress our sport! Going this BIG we’ll leave to the BASE jumpers.

This was the warm up run at the beginning of the day during heli filming, and it turned out that I missed the end of my line with not to many meters (difficult routefinding cause of similar terrain features ). I let my skis go pretty much into the falline and picks up speed instantly, and just thereafter realises my fault and that I will go out something, probably huge.

The mind works amangsingly fast under stressed situations; breaking or trying to stop was no longer an option, it simply went to fast. If I had tried that I would’nt write this. So that left one choice; go for it, and do it right!

For a fraction of a second I thought this is it, but manages to get in a slight right turn to avoid the cliffs on my skiers left in the landing area. Then comes the take off at an amazing speed ( it felt like that ), I see snow underneath, and I decied that it’s not over yet.

In flight I tried to keep a position as long as I could, but airpressure finally pushes the skitips up and you end up in the backseat. That’s what I wanted as well, because landing it anything else than horisontally was out of the question!

I had an ABS avalanche back pack, and for those who know, it has a little metal/alumunium bottle ? near the lower back, not good if you land on your back. So I tilted my body slightly to the left before impact and that probably saved my spine.

I did’nt want this to come out, but with mobile pones around……

Nuit de la Glisse Films / Perfect Moment Clothing company, producer Thierry Donard
Photographer : Felix St. Clair Rénard
Measure of the jump 330 feet.

For the skiing watch Free Radicals : Rising and Snowblind and Nuit de la Glisse: Perfect Moment ”The Contact”.

And as far as I know; I am not 42 yet, but hope I will be.

Fred Syversen

And here are some images of the Jump.

From Above

Another Angle

For scale here is a photo of the bomb hole in the photo above.

I can't believe that he did that accidently.

Starting to organise a climbing get-together

2008-04-07T07:31:00.002+10:00

Crystal Meet

more vids

2008-02-10T01:03:00.000+11:00

Headed out backcountry with a guide for a day after we got some new snow. Was great... Went ice-climbing too, pics are on facebook.

Descending from Col De La Leisse

Continued descent from Col De La Leisse

I wish that I was as smooth turning as Yannick, our guide... I did some good turns, but a number of head plants. I looked like a frosted topping thing by the bottom...

Yay! I'm skiing again...

2008-02-06T01:53:00.000+11:00

The same Genepy run as in a previous video, but just off-piste and after new snow.

The run down into the stadium.

how's the technique looking?

2008-02-01T02:24:00.000+11:00

Been skiing a mix of on- and off- piste. Lots of snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow, so hopefully it won't be cut up crud off-piste.

Looking at doing some tours next week.

Genepy run.

Double M run.

Grattalu run.

Let's see what's on offer in France

2008-01-22T17:27:00.000+11:00

OK, so the days have been ticking down, and tomorrow it's time to hop on a long plane ride to some mountains that actually have snow. The Blueys have been raining solidly for the past month, and to be honest I'm looking forward to some decent skiing.

http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Tignes/3day/mid
http://www.tignes.net/GB_webcams.html
http://www.tignes.net/GB_plan-pistes.html

Hopefully web access and updates to follow...

All quiet on the western front

2007-12-08T00:09:00.000+11:00

Jeez,
you'd think that nothing was happening down in the Snowies over summer! So what is news from down there? Are the kodama's taller than Veka yet? Have they learnt to put their weight on the back foot? Has Richie been appointed lecturer at the ANU yet?

For the answer to these and other exciting questions, tune in to next weeks episode of....

.... Danger Mouse, the world's greatest super-hero!!!

Long Weekend and 10th of October Reports

2007-10-10T16:56:00.000+10:00

On the long weekend WildandFree, Sid, Skifree and I went out to Camp on Mt Twynam from Guthega. There had been about 10 -15cm of snow down to about 1200m the night before, nice but not enough to ski to the suspension bridge on. After being nearly blown away we found a nice site and made camp, Sid and I spent the afternoon getting some fantastically dry tracks.

Then we spent the next two days in the tent while it rained and came home.

Today I had my first solo backcounty effort, an early morning dash for Blue Lake, got to Charlottes Pass at 7:00am and got back at 1:00pm with six runs under my belt from around the area.

Plenty of Snow

Tracks from my second run, heading towards Elephant Butress Couloir

My Biggest ever Bacjcountry Barney. Don't know how I fell, I think it might have been an icey patch, or I'm just a goose, but I almost slid head first into the side of the Couloir, bruised my arm on a binding got some great gravel rash on my back, lost a ski, snaped the leash toggle, and snaped a stock.

The equipment damage

I went back up to fetch the other half of my pole after I rescued the errant ski, which had slid 20m over the ice of Blue lake.

The second run was more sucessfull but kicking steps got a bit dicey on the firm stuff in the shade.

Then I started heading back. Tracks of my second last run into Soil Conservation Creek

A fantastic and exciting day!

More Pictures Here

September Report

2007-09-26T20:12:00.000+10:00

The last month has been fantastic. I had my birthday bash and Priscilla even made an appearance.

Last weekend Sid and I went out to Leather Barrel and had an amasing day of BC skiing.

Now I'm looking forward to three days on the main range over the long weekend.

first report from wyoming

2007-08-22T13:20:00.000+10:00

Well, the journey was manageable, and customs lenient with me. No strip searches this trip. I found myself in denver, getting picked up by a friend driving past from vermont going to play at being a cowgirl in northern wyoming before patrolling at grand targee (t7 - you were right about the hill!).

We spent four days climbing 14,000 and 13,000ft peaks in central colorado. What to say, it was hot, very little snow left, and at last I'm getting used to the altitude. The first 14er hurt, but since then I've been feeling a lot better.

We then drove north to wyoming, and this is the only part of the states I've been to that reminds me of home. It's a lot like central western NSW, but with the benefit of having some real mountains in the west side. Tobacca chewing, horse riding, hard drinking country folk...

Now I'm waiting to start with nols tomorrow, and will be out in the wind river range for 16 days. I think I might have a bit of having to deal with some cooler-than-thou outdoors types in the states, as well as some nicer ones; I'll try to be my usual mellow self and be quiet.

Still undecided at present, but thinking of hiring a car and driving back to LA after finishing up in wyoming. Canyonlands of utah are on the cards.

love,
owain.

Why you should scope your line first!

2007-08-22T12:09:00.000+10:00

Check out this scary vid I found on TGR

Craigieburn Shennanegans

2007-08-21T17:10:00.000+10:00

Oh, wow!

Look at this, yet another post from Kiwi land. We've discovered that there is a small internet cafe up here in Arthur's Pass. That's a hell of a lot closer than Methven, from whence I last posted.

So today was the Craigieburn day (we tried earlier, but they have a nasty habit of closing the area to non members or ski weekers if they think it might be busy). And I think I can confirm Chris and Owain's opinions that this is an awesome hill. It's a bit of a pity that the snow is pretty ordinary and the avalanche risk quite high (even inbounds), as there is some lovely terrain to try next time.

The forecast apparently talked about snow tonight - we're crossing our fingers, toes and anything else we can find - rum and coke.

Ice and Rocks and Chunky Bits

2007-08-20T12:54:00.000+10:00

Hey, is this Club Hocking's first post from New Zealand

Well, the first week over here has been interesting. The NZ snowfields have decided not to repeat last year's season :-(. Skiing wise, the quick summary is:

Sunday 12/8 - Took the long way around to Queenstown (Ooops) from Wanaka to try to ski the Remarkables, but we arrived to late and they had closed the mountain. Too many skiers! We ended up heading around to Coronet Peak and had a fun afternoon there. It is really amazing how little snow you can have and still open the resort.

Monday 13/8 - Headed up to Cardrona as it looked like it would have the best beginner terrain for our less experienced boarders. Turned out to be a pretty good call. Cardrona was quite cold and still retained some reasonable soft stuff from the last snow fall. Florent, Nir and I had a great time skiing the arcadia chutes - steep, soft, narrow - way too much fun.

Tuesday 14/8 - Headed up to Treble Cone - one of the most seriously expensive resorts around - $100 for a day ticket and $2000 for a season pass. I think it has about 4 lifts. The snow was a bit more hardpacked and icey up there, but we had a good time skiing some of the steep black chutes - drop-off, mine shaft and gun barrel. In the afternoon I hooked up with the local paragliding tandem dude and flew my glider back down to the base of the mountain.

Wednesday 15/8 - I took the day off skiing this day while the others did Cardrona again. I spent the day hitching up Treble Cone and paragliding off it. Another two good flights, but no thermals :-(.

Thursday 16/8 - Checked out of the backpackers and headed off up to Castle Hill Village via the west coast and Arthur's Pass. It was a fairly long day, but as anyone who has driven that road will know, the views are fantastic. We ended up getting in to our little chalet at Castle Hill Village at about 9:30pm.

Friday 17/8 - After a bit of a late start headed up towards Mt Hutt, as it looked like it would have some easy terrain for Scott, our not so accomplished trayer. Fantastic views heading up the mountain, and it looked like we'd have some great steep powder slopes as well. Turns out the great steep powder slopes were scratchy scree slopes with a 20cm or so cover of powder. It was a fun run, but the Gotama's have now been well and truly christened and scratched and core shotted.

Saturday 18/8 - Today it was just Florent and I as both Scott and Nir weren't feeling so well. We decided to check out porters, and were rewarded with a fun day. The first run was down the bluff face. About 500m of steep and not too bad heavy powder. It got pretty chunked and crusty by the bottom, but the Gotama's were more than up to the challenge. We ended up skiing about 4000m of descent that day.

Oh, and my brother Jimbo bid at an auction for me back in Sydney. I won, so I'll soon be living at 20 Binning St Erskineville. House warming plans won't be too far away.

Sunday 19/8 - Tried Craigieburn, but they were turning away all non members to try to preserve their limited snow cover. Next we headed over to Broken River and hiked up the hill for a ski there. There is a decent hike to get from the car park to the lifts - about 300m vertical, so you get well warmed up before the runs. We skied away the afternoon, and fun was had.

Today, Monday 20/8 - has been spent in Methven sorting out house finance stuff while Florent and Nicholas ski Cheeseman.

So that's the news from Kiwiland. Hope all are well back in Australia, and I'll see you all when I get back.

I'm in LOVE!!! ...with my new skis

2007-08-15T12:39:00.000+10:00

My new skis finally arrived ELANs 'free spice'

They look beautiful... they are SPARKLY!!!

...and they ski like a dream.

They are loverly

Weekend Report (4-5th Aug)

2007-08-06T16:29:00.000+10:00

Well even greater fun was had by all this weekend… due to lots of FRESHIES!!!!!

I was diligent and did some work on Saturday but Sid, Freeheel, Wildandfree, T7 (who was teaching Telemania) as always and Hermi who piked and alpined on Saturday.

Sunday ‘The Little One’ on his snow board, Marvin on his tinny icelandics and I on the girls as usual joined in with the rest (exept for T7 who was teaching again for most of the day). Hermi sacked up and teled so their was a posse of telemarkers (and one snowboarder yet to be converted) moving around the mountain soaking up the fresh snow (I even figured out how to ski in it, almost)… lots of fun… Marvin did a Marvin at lunch and went home to contemplate his diodes. Sid went for a skate prep for the hopit. Hermi and I had a tele lesson from T7 in the arvo which was great. Hermi is looking tidy, the little witch, after only 3 days on teles... and I'm getting even speedier.

I had so much fun I had to go back and do it all again today! (Had a go on T7's Slashers... I don't think I'm going to give them back... I like... mine!) Now I’m completely rooted!!

Destructive Chairlift Testing

2007-08-01T13:31:00.000+10:00

Here is a damn impressive video I found during a brief study break today.

Red Bull X-Alps

2007-07-30T23:18:00.000+10:00

Hey Guys,
not much posting here over the last week, so I thought I'd spice it up a bit (i.e. I want to post about paragliding). The red bull x-alps is on at the moment (www.redbullxalps.com) . It's a bit of a crazy competition where you try to fly and hike from Austria to Monaco. You can check out the progress with the following google earth link:

http://tracking.redbullxalps.com/googleEarth/xa2007.kml

Obviously, it is just a good way to scope out the best backcountry and resort lines for the upcoming winter in Europe.

Danger Mouse

21st abd 22nd weekend media

2007-07-25T20:43:00.000+10:00

Here are some images from BBB of herself and her friend Joe Snowboarding, plus this shot of Sid that I think is great!

and some footage of Joe snowboarding and Hydrophilica in switch tele mode!

2007-07-25T17:20:00.001+10:00

I hate you guys

HG

Hermione Granger

2007-07-25T12:31:00.000+10:00

We are making a public notice to say that this weekend the BBB and I renamed Chris N 'Hermione Granger' with approval from all!! (why Hermione Granger? cause he's a good boy that's good at stuff!) So we here by publicly demand that Chris change his profile!

Otherwise the BBB and I got up to lots of mischief as usual... I laughed my guts out while taking photos of the BBB trying to snowboard (T7 said he will put those photos up soon)... entertainment only topped by sing star where BBB got Priscilla out with a glass of whisky and then Priscilla sang Roxanne as Miss Sucky Sucky... oh dear what a weekend... still recovering.

2007-07-23T14:25:00.000+10:00

WOW, That was fun.

I can feel my legs after my first Tele day. Thanks T7 for the tips and thanks all for a great weekend. After that, I am keen now to grab a set of Tele skis and get started. Can I ask what that ski website and and suggested set of skis were again T7? Suggestions on any other website worth a look are welcome from all as well.

Ta much
Chris

21-2 July

2007-07-23T10:14:00.001+10:00

What a magic weekend!!! Perfect weather, nice dry snow and Sing Star
Thanks to all for making it good.

DM and T7 both got to play on new skis yesterday, and both were very happy boys.

Sunday arvo T7 and I went out on the trails and did some skating, now I'm too stuffed to concentrate on work!!

Gotta run now

What a great weekend

2007-07-15T18:31:00.000+10:00

Everyone was amazed to see the entire mountain open this weekend. Hydropphylica has been reaching ever higher top speeds and I managed to wreck myself following Sid on 5km nordic trail. Sorry but there is no media, forgot the cameras both days. If you'vew been toying with the idea of coming down, do it soon cause it is great!

Whites River backcountry

2007-07-07T20:54:00.000+10:00

Just back from a week backcountry up around Whites River and Schlink. Saw some people the first day, then only the two of us for the rest of the time, until the run out.

Cold temperatures, and three solid days of new dry snow - MAGIC!

Photos linked from Flickr

The beautiful skin up to the Rolling Grounds

Part of the ride down, blissful.

And how did the new sled go? Pretty well really. Not too much drag on the uphills or in the deep snow on the way out, and very nice to not have the weight resting on my shoulders. A fair amount slower than when I tour with a rucksack, but can you have as many luxuries then? Fresh baked choccy cake, goats cheese and mushroom crepes, and much much more... On the side slopes it performed reasonably well, although I learned early to try to get the centre of gravity as low as possible. The most evil situation was skiing across slumping snow bridges on creeks, having to turn it accurately to get the sled to climb straight out the other side rather than flip when climbing on a sharp diagonal. Pretty eassy to turn with the hips.

The new O1 bindings and the jak bcs performed fantastically. Longer stride length and no energy spent on bellow flex was well worth any weight penalty.

About Us

2007-07-01T09:30:00.000+10:00

Ha Ha Ha! I beat Yukiko! I was first to post a video of us! Ha Ha Ha! It is a video of the first time we saw white cold stuff falling from the sky. Later it stayed on the ground and it was cold on my pads! But Fun! Ha Ha Ha!

Sat 23rd Video Report

2007-07-01T09:11:00.000+10:00

It's a bit late but here is a video report of Sid and I skinning up Mt P and getting first tracks of the season on International followed by the whole skate back to Front Valley on the Kosciuszko road.

Getting Soggy your softshell?

2007-06-26T14:18:00.000+10:00

Hi,
Just though i'd give you all a heads up.
Sid ordered from grangers superpruf for softshell water repellancy from here.
If anyone else wants some send me a text, I ordered a few extra.
Sorry to advertise on the blog but thought this might be relevent to a few folks.

Snow in the tinderries

2007-06-26T12:34:00.000+10:00

Cold and wet here in Canberra this morning, and if you go to the abc website, http://www.abc.net.au/canberra/stories/s1962097.htm there's been snow in the Tinderries - the mountains east of Michelago.

Lets hope this weeks weather system sends some snow down to the mountains, we may see some more terrain open up if things go right. Alternatively, with this sort of system you can get lots of rain, in which case we'd have to sacrifice those who haven't performed appeasment...

On the Piste - UC ski study

2007-06-22T10:54:00.000+10:00

Just read this on the ABC website

A team of researchers from the University of Canberra is trying to determine whether hydration levels affect the balance and cardio-vascular performance of skiers.
The research is designed to help people who ski socially, and builds on results from last year showing that skiers who had accidents were more likely to be dehydrated or fatigued.
G-P-S equipment will be used to measure the balance, heart rate, speed and fatigue levels of a group of skiers on the New South Wales snow fields.
Doctor Tracey Dickson from the University of Canberra said people often sleep less and drink more alcohol and caffeine when they go skiing, but there were also other factors which affect performance.
"The combination of altitude, dry air, doing a physical activity and not drinking as much can add to dehydration, which can ultimately increase their fatigue, decrease their enjoyment and possibly contribute to injuries" she said.

best word ever

2007-06-21T08:26:00.000+10:00

Nothing to do with skiing, but here at work we get a daily email full of bits of info about seminars, job vacancies in the department etc, along with a word for the day. Today's word was cool, cos it sounds weird, an it applies to T7:

pogonotrophy

(po-guh-NAW-truh-fee) noun
The growing of a beard.
[From Greek pogon (beard) + -trophy (nourishment, growth).]
Pogonology is the study of beards and pogonotomy is a fancy word for shaving.
"Mr. Davis fixed his gaze on the red beard [and said], "Professor Flowers, I must congratulate you on a fine example of pogonotrophy.'"

It's snowing in Jindy!

2007-06-18T15:29:00.000+10:00

And what am I doing? Studying, not skiing! How is that for dedication to study? Here is a pic and you can see some more at my Picasa web page.

And another Photo with some more snow! and it is still nsowing at 5pm!

16-17 june report

2007-06-18T12:42:00.000+10:00

Well, another weekend at ClubHocking has been and gone. Saturday was a bit damp, but at least whole of Front Valley was open and a good ski was had by all. back down at the club an excellent roast dinner was enjoyed, followed by Apeasment by Danger Mouse, Marvin and BB Beaver. Then a game of Pirates (?) curtesy of DM. In the end, most of us got sunk, Marvin got a lot of gold and DM was happily sailing the high seas firing his cannon...

Sunday was sunny and we all got out for a few morning runs. Me and Beaver left after morning tea, and DM was considering purchasing some new skis.

Anyway, looks like some more snow due this week, here's hoping!

My Post

2007-06-16T14:40:00.000+10:00

Hello! my name is Yukiko,

I am 6 and this is my post!

This is me!

This is my bottom.

This is my brother... he's stupid!

These are my pets.

These are my socks.

I let my brother play with them sometimes.

That's me making sure Marvin's boots fit properly.

I let my brother have a look at the boots too.

I win!

12th of June Report

2007-06-12T12:08:00.000+10:00

Wow,..

Ecowain is still up there and Hydrophilica and I only had a couple of hours of turning due to work at home, but this morning was great, no people, a few cms of natural fresh and fresh man made at a nice crisp temperature of -4c. Sadly no photos since I forgot my stills camera but everyone made little ability improvments and we all hade big smiles on our faces. I can't remember a better time skiing only front valley!

Apeasment Weekend Report.

2007-06-10T15:14:00.000+10:00

Hughie has declared the opening weekend Apeasment (correct spelling) weekend. The skiing has varied from uncrowded and drizzly to mayhem and sunshine. Only half of front valley was open but all have still enjoyed the snow. Last night the first Apeasment ceremony to Hughie was held. That night the drizzle stopped and it now looks like snow throughout the rest of the week, I think we will need more ceremonies throughout the season.

Trouser Snake

2007-06-08T13:57:00.000+10:00

Hey T7

I picked up my nice new Cobra R8s today, to go on my old $20 skis.

Any chance I can leave them with you to go on the skis (i prefer not to use the term "mounting" when refering to skis and bindings, too many sharp edges...)

I'm sure market forces will determine suitable remuneration for your services.

Help for Dan

2007-06-04T16:45:00.001+10:00

Dan I have decided to help you choose which skis to buy. Since they will be mine I think you should buy the ones that match my coat best! I have provided a photo of my self and I'll post below pictures of the skis you are thinking of buying me!

Yukiko

From left to right. Völkl Gotama, Dynastar Legend Pro, Dynastar Pro XXL, Völkl Mantra, Movement Gladiator, Movement Goliath, K2 Hell Bent.

The First Ski!

2007-06-03T16:47:00.000+10:00

Yesterday Hydrophilica, Sid and Marvin and I got our first furns for the season up at Front Valley! The snow was suprisingly nice, but thin. There were a fair few icy obstructions but it was great to get the legs moving after 8 months!

Just beware that the file is 20meg and could take a while to download. P.S. I'm new to this video thing and they should get smaller in the future. [Edit] But worry not, Ecowain informs that the video is not that large and you should watch, so fun will be had by all.

Ice Age

2007-06-02T12:54:00.000+10:00

Yay !!! I now have a pic of Sid the sloth to show everyone

Sacrifice to Huey Celebration

2007-06-01T13:25:00.000+10:00

Fabricating thousands of years of tradition in two simple weeks!
The opening weekend of the Snow (9th-11th of June) is now the Sacrifice to Huey Festival!!!!

If God made the world in 40 days then we can invent a celebration steeped in cultural significance in 7 days... yah no worries.

So if you’re bored at work or got too much work and need no excuse at all to be distracted then join in, hit the comments button and say something random. The less sense the better.

What skis should Dan get?

2007-05-30T21:56:00.000+10:00

Ok, so I'm thinking that it is finally time to add another set of skis or two to my collection. Current thoughts are that the next two sets of skis to get should be:

A fat, floaty, big mountain ski of sorts. Something that will work quite nicely in the deeper snow over in NZ, or going down the chutes at club lake. Current suggestions around this are something like a Dynastar Legend XXL or something from the Kingswood range.
A twin tippy ski that's suitable for general mucking around in the park and pipe, possibly something that's fairly comfortable going sideways at speed.

So, what do you guys think?

New Toy for the Gear Freaks out there

2007-05-30T13:17:00.000+10:00

For those of you interested in purchasing a new pair of skis here is a PDF with flexes for a whole bunch of freeride and jib skis. Clicky

Enjoy.

Hi, Testing the Blog

2007-05-30T10:24:00.000+10:00

Hi All,
t'was an icy blast indeed last night up here at the lee of the hills (well tuggeranong at least)

I should be able to come down for a few turns this weekend.

Yay ,.....let it snow oh mighty huey.

It sure is snowing!

2007-05-30T09:18:00.001+10:00

On the drive into canberra the smorning it was snowing proper on the Kalkite turn off. Very cool! I think there will have to be some turns made this weekend. Anyone up for it? Also can every one see the snow cam pics? I can see them at home but not on the uni computers.

Avy Giraffe

2007-05-29T21:28:00.000+10:00

In case of avalaches always take your high visability Avy Giraffe backcountry skiing!

Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, how are you?

Thank you, thank you, I am fine and I hope that you are to!

Opening weekend and Ceremonial Suprise Pea Sacrifice to Hughie!

2007-05-29T19:24:00.000+10:00

The long weekend is just around the corner. Time to put this blog to use and to start organising. If your coming down please comment and we can get orginised. Last year Hydrophilica and myself sacrificed Suprise Peas to Hughie without any ceremony. We think that was the reason for the poor season last year, Hughie was insulted as we failed to honour him properly. To ensure that doesn't happen again we must come up with a suitable ceremony.

I suggest we need an appropriate dress, Gore-Tex and ski boots. I think we will need Tony's Avy Giraffe and everyone will need to bring a packet of Suprise Peas.

For the Heretics among you I will post again later to explain.

Time to Start Organising

2007-05-19T16:24:00.000+10:00

I would type something interesting but I'm just getting this bastard up and running while I procrastinate!

Here is a nice picture in the meantime.