Ski tour Mt Kosciuszko 26-30 Sept 1990

With the blue bird days we had for this trip, in its snow white garb, Mt Kosciuszko and its siblings were nothing short of awesome.

This trip capped a great start to my first year of snow camping and membership with the Melbourne nordic ski club. A new year in a new place, with a new activity.

Our party: David, Mary-Ann, Stuart (me) and Mike. We all had a common goal to get out and enjoy life. With the stunning weather and bountiful supply of good quality snow to explore and play on there were no complaints.

After a long haul from Melbourne (almost 8 hours) we camped at Tom Groggin . Tom Groggin is a lovely place to camp with a large area to camp by the a river. There are loads of kangaroos here, which probably love the retreat from the winter chills up higher.

Driving into the snow fields we passed Thredbo and headed into Perisher hoping to leave the car there. Perisher did not have any overnight parking and the cost of the shuttle to Charlotte's Pass was astronomical. A quick rethink: David drove the car back to Sawpit Creek and hitched back, in the meantime the rest of us played on the slopes at Perisher .

When we regrouped we set out on the road to Charlotte's pass and then headed up towards club lake. We camped near a snow cathedral formed where the creek had carved out a high wall in the snow. The night was clear giving a spectacular view of the stars and the snow fields. Under a waxing moon we took a walk part way up the shoulder of Mt. Carruthers.

Next morning we launched into a big day tour. The cloudless sky beamed down on us with the intensity of a gas blowtorch. We smothered ourselves with block-out sun lotion and zinc cream, even then sunburn was inevitable. Our trip took us towards Mt Kosciusko and the lakes. We contoured round Mt Clarke and then ascended Kosciusko where we could see the Bogong high plains in Victoria.

Next we descended rapidly, enjoying many telemark turns (if you could call mine that !) to Mueller's pass. Here, overlooking Lake Albina we sun-baked and lunched. I evened up the colour of my over exposed face by browning my torso.

Enjoying a rest in the sun, surrounded by snow.

After lunch the weary party ascended Mt Northcote to Lee and Carruthers. Effort rewarding spectacular views of Watson's crags. Stuart followed a trail running down the slopes of the crags, the party gingerly provided verbal assistance as to the way back up. At least there was a conversation topic for the night's regales.

We then skied back to the camp site and washed ourselves at the cathedral. The sight of Yours Truly skinny dipping was perhaps more shocking than the sub zero chill on entry to the water. David scored a few snaps of the scene. Cards and tall stories whiled time at night, but after a big day that night was a somewhat early one.

The following morning after breakfast we climbed Mt Carruthers again. We sighted more adventurous and competent skiers leaping off the cornice. David encouraged, followed the fine example and skilfully carved his way down a slope that many downhiller skiers would baulk at. We found out in the evening that David had attended telefest and had a few lessons - (note to self: go to Thredbo telefest).

At this stage poor Mary suffered badly from blisters on the feet. Being a trainee doctor she was in fine hands. Whilst she attended good care, Mike and Stuart lazed in the sun on a small patch of shrubby grass near the camp. Later that afternoon we ascended Mt Clarke to enjoy some long and steep descents, practising our telemark skills..

An early afternoon again we played cards and rested even earlier, the day putting its toll on a weary party's bodies.

The next morning we packed up , headed back to Perisher through Charlotte's pass. Mary's blisters were too painful so she caught the shuttle back. for an investment of three dollars we showered at the pool in Jindabyne and returned to Melbourne via the Snowy mountain highway.