Tuesday 12th – Thursday 14th August

Tuesday – POWDER
Wednesday – POWDER
Thursday – POWDER

On Monday, Yardsale looked at the BOM website and announced “I’ve filled up your car ... You’re heading back up tomorrow ... Blizzards are forecast ... It’s going to be too good to miss!” Who was I to argue? So Tuesday morning I headed off alone for the long drive back up.

When I arrived in the afternoon, Hotham was clouded over, absolute pea soup, with heavy snow falling ... just what I was expecting. And it delivered everything I had wished for.

I bummed around Sun Run for a while, as this is a great, protected spot when there’s poor visibility. The snow was great, a soft layer of fresh, constantly topping itself up, over a groomed base. Eventually curiosity about the conditions down in Lower Playground got the better of me.

So I skittled on in, and found the best conditions I have ever skied down there. It was superb! Only a handful of people were checking it out, so invariably you had the entire run to yourself.

Beautiful deep, smooth powder, with a superb under-layer. I was so blown away I didn’t stray from there for the rest of the day.

When last lifts were called, I skied down Sundowner which was in great nick, and then down a little end-of-day favourite, Pump House Drop. Down the extreme right, where the snow banks up, I skied fresh tracks through powder on my last run. Incredible!

With the promise of severe blizzards on Wednesday I got up the mountain early. To my amazement, it turned out to be a perfect bluebird day – only with the temperature at -6˚, there were no ill side effects from the sun. The cold temperature kept the snow in peak condition for the entire day; no ice, no slush ... just perfect powder everywhere I skied.

My first focus was Heavenly, and heading up the chair I surveyed the runs for my first pick. It was a hard choice – they all looked terrific.

I was tempted by Twilight Zone, but when the chair began the final climb up over Race Gully and Race Gully Spur, and the snow had only a couple of tracks ... I knew where I was going!

Race Gully Spur, adjacent to Purgatory Spur and below to the left as you head up the chair, was absolutely incredible – deep, soft, fresh powder the whole way. I almost felt guilty for carving up the run. Race Gully below was also terrific, with a lovely soft and smooth surface, funneling down to meet the Canyon and then into Slalom Gully. To my surprise very few people tackled the Spur that morning, so I was able to repeat the run, again through untouched powder. I was feeling terribly spoilt.

Working out which run to choose next was almost a head spin, as it was hard to imagine anything wasn’t brilliant.

Next I went down one of my favourites, Peach Bowl and Purgatory Spur, where a nice little cornice was forming, into the Canyon. Again it was deep, incredible powder. I was relieved to see that the cookies down Canyon had finally been sorted by the snowfall and the grooming, with only a couple of large ones remaining down at the bottom.

Meanwhile Slalom Gully was standing up very well – the snow was very good, and the crowds building.

I headed back into the Village via Mother Johnson’s which I was pleased to see was perfectly groomed with no more of the trashy crud from the road clearing of recent weeks.

I met a snowboarder on the lift with hard boots who was doing loops of Mother Johnson's down to the Heavenly Chair, as he thought the conditions on the return were so perfect.

Skiing down the Summit was a treat, as the snow was so fabulous – it would be perfect conditions for a beginner’s day out – divine snow, gorgeous weather!

After a caffeine fix, I headed out to the Australia Drift, where the telecommunications tower was standing like an enormous ice sculpture. It’s a bit of a late season favourite of ours, but I thought there might be a nice build-up of powder on the steep side face.

The groomed Drift run was in pretty nice shape, and race squad was doing gate training down beside the T-bar in preparation for next weekend FIS competition. I did one wide sweeping run down the untouched resort boundary side, which was reasonably good, then focused on the face.

Only a few people had headed down it, and it was easy to find new snow. Like the other side of Australia Drift, it was a little crusty, and had a little crud under the surface, so while nice, was comparatively disappointing compared with the other runs that morning.

The Gully between the face and the groomed Australia Drift run, however, was a treat - this was where the powder had all collected. Only thing being the rather massive obstacles, which no-one could ever refer to as cookies – they were massive boulders! But they made for a mighty fun course!

I decided to see if Lower Playground was matching its phenomenal standards of the day before. I was sadly disappointed. The enthusiasm from Tuesday had simply provided a crud layer over which light powder had settled, and then gone crusty. I wasn’t surprised they had no-one loading the chair. It’s amazing how a run’s conditions can change so dramatically from one day to the next. Nevermind, I’m sure it will please again later in the season.

The Orchard was calling, so I headed on out to find that Initiation and Keogh’s Bash were in great condition.

I went down the groomed sections which had a generous fresh supply over the top. Very few people were out there, so again I mostly had the runs to myself.

I skied down the ungroomed sides of Big Slope, which was reasonable nice, but found the little gully one up from there was absolutely lovely. A little cornice was forming here too, which allowed for a nice drop in.

Perhaps my dream run for the Orchard was the little ridge down beside Russell’s Runway through the small trees. Some fabulous snow had collected there and again, in the afternoon, I was able to find untouched powder. It rivaled the sensational morning’s skiing down Race Gully Spur.

My favourite run from last season was One Tree Hill, so I decided to give it my first go for this season. I tucked down the track that leads to Spargos, and watched the Kat skiing heading out to Golden Point.

I was quickly distracted by tracks leading off into the Out-of-Bounds between Twirligig and Spargos, and as it provided a tree-skiing option to the uphill traverse I followed. Through the trees the snow was amazing, and I had incredible fun.

As could be expected, One Tree Hill was fabulous. There had been quite a few people down before me, but it had in no way diminished the quality of the experience. I traversed across to the far left, and skied down through the gully and trees, where I found large areas of untouched and very deep powder.

I always find One Tree Hill so relaxing – you can see the Village in the far distance, however there’s no sound of people, lifts, vehicles, etc, yet you know you’re safely within distance of return.

All day I had been watching Wendix, in particular the top section, which had only a handful of tracks down it for the entire day. I hadn’t been able to get there as the Boardacross track had the area closed off, but in the late afternoon I had my chance.

It wasn’t long before I realised why it had so few tracks ... it was the dud run for the day. Cookies and crud underneath a layer of fresh- gone-crusty. Funny how sometimes it looks so perfectly good, but fails to deliver. I knew only days earlier it had been fabulous.

My last couple of runs for the day were down Poma line and Black Snake (which had been closed earlier in the day for the Police Games). Poma Line (perhaps know to some as Upper Brockoff) was sensational, even after 4pm. Black Snake was a match, and down lower the high walls of Snake Gully were still terrific, though down the centre was becoming hard packed by contrast.

Thursday was going to be a short day for me as I needed to be back in Melbourne at a restaurant for a 6.30pm birthday celebration for my dad, so again I headed out early. This time the conditions were more like the Tuesday. The clouds had set in, though visibility was reasonable, and constant light snow was falling. First up I focused on the Heavenly runs. With overnight snow, all the tracks from Wednesday had filled in with lovely soft powder, and more on top, so I was once again able to ski the same runs as Wednesday, in close to the same conditions.

Race Gully Spur was fabulous, and it was as if no-one had skied there the previous day. Peach Bowl was similarly great, and the cornice that had begun forming the day before was developing into a nice soft peak.

After the previous day’s sensational runs down One tree Hill I decided to go on a mission to repeat it. But I was quickly distracted. Initiation’s ungroomed ridge was magnificent – the best I have ever seen it, and Keogh’s Bash was its rival. I was so stoked I repeated the runs. Gotcha Bowl was also a powder-filled heaven and I had a great time down there. Non Nonsense wasn’t much chop as it had cookies and crud below the surface; upper Leap of faith was a little better by comparison.

Finally, out at the Orchard, Big Slope is not usually a favourite of mine as it is prone to icing up in the sun, however today it was brilliant. It had a heavy cover of fresh snow over the groomed surface, and I was happily making long sweeping carve turns down it. The bottom where the various runs collect amongst the trees was beautiful deep and soft. I was tempted to stay there the rest of the day, which astounded me! Eventually I dragged myself away to Zirk’s, Chiron’s and Watershed, and Bushwacker. These were all great, with lovely snow filling up between the trees, and fresh banks of snow built up down the edges of the groomed runs, which was superb to ski.

Finally I headed out to One Tree Hill, which was only a slightly lesser sensation than the previous day. Less snow had accumulated as I expected, so it was a bit churned up, but lovely nevertheless. Good enough though, that I decided to make a repeat dash out there for my final run of the day, before hitting the road home! The lower sections were a dream – this was where the snow had collected and only a couple of people were taking advantage of it. Perhaps because most cut back to Spargos half way down to avoid the tree-skiing at the bottom. I certainly wasn’t going to argue with the chance to ski Imagine and Keogh’s Bash again ... they were just phenomenal!

So I ended my day on One Tree Hill ... and so happy. I’d had three days of skiing pretty much exclusively off-piste powder, like nothing I’ve ever seen in Australia. I heard from person after person that they’d never seen snow like this here. My hope is that it’s just the start, and that the rain pounding down outside my window now is an indication that I’m in for more of this beautiful, deep, light powder this weekend! Over 3,000km of driving up and back to the snow 3 times this week is evidence that I’m beyond hope.

Pics from top to bottom:

View from the top of the Heavenly Valley chair

Zirky's in pea soup from Sun Run/the Playground chair

Lower Playground trees in powder

View down Lower Playground

View of the off-piste side of Twilight Zone from the Heavenly Valley chair

View down Race Gully Spur from the top of the Heavenly Valley Chair. This is the Spur that runs beside Purgatory Spur, beside and below the chair lift.

View of Heavenly Valley runs from Road Runner Chair. Runs from left to right: Purgatory Spur (with a nice little cornice forming), Peach Bowl, Race Gully Spur, Race Gully, Twilight Zone, Gun Barrel, Imagine, Cornice and Poma Line down to Brockoff, Black Snake behind. In the background Gotcha lift showing Gotcha Bowl at left, and Mary's Slide to the right in the Extreme area, and the Orchard beyond

View from The Canyon towards Golden Point. You can see the end of Spargo's to the far left, followed by One Tree Hill

Slalom Gully and Snake Gully (Blue Snake)

Hotham Village looking across Wendix

View to Heavenly Valley and Orchard from Mother Johnson's Return

Lookign down the Summit to Hotham Village

View up the Summit

The ungroomed side of Australia Drift provides great skiing both on the steep and in the basin

Australia Drift side face

The off-piste basin side of Australia Drift provided a great cookie obstacle course

Lower Playground

View to the Orchard from the top of the Heavenly Valley chair

Gotcha Bowl and Initiation to Hotham Village

Keogh's Bash and Leap of Faith looking towards the Orchard

Orchard trees

Spargo's and One Tree Hill

View towards the Orchard from trees near Spargo's

One Tree Hill side view

Looking down One Tree Hill towards the Village

View up Wendix from Mother Johnson's Return

Deep powder at the lower section of One Tree Hill

This is the easy section of the return along Swindler's Creek from One Tree Hill, Spargo's and Extreme area to the Snake Gully Hut