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After a late night with Pip, who was not very well at all, I was a little slow getting out of bed this morning. Most other people were up and moving, ready to hit the slopes, before we were even eating breakfast – which was a shame, as there had been another 14cm of fresh snow overnight. The “early risers” enjoyed the first few runs, while the less “early risers” enjoyed the view from the top level of the chalet. Nick still wasn’t fully recovered from an asthma incident the day before, and spent most of the day in bed, but Pip was determined to get out on the slopes at least for a few runs while she was feeling OK. Unfortunately, my gloves were still soaked through from the day before – the drying room making very little difference over night – and so I stalled even longer trying to dry them out using Kim’s hairdryer (which died while I was blasting my gloves full of hot air).

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Kim, Max, Pip and Nat made their way to Hotham Central to get a lift ticket for Kim, and before long I met up with them after a run or two at the Playground. A quick spin up the roadrunner and there were strong suggestions that Kim should wait until tomorrow to hit the slopes with the wind blowing a gale, and the sleet falling hard on the cheeks. Everyone went off on their own accord for a few runs while some group tensions wound down, but then I met up with John on the Roadrunner and we skied numerous runs around this area. We discovered that the large clump of trees between Wendix and Beauchamps was packed with deep, soft powder which had been hardly touched by others. Run after run after run we made lots of new tracks, while trying our hardest to dodge low-lying branches. It was certainly a powder day, with everything we skied was covered in a nice layer of soft, fresh snow. It was unfortunate about the strong winds and poor visibility, but apart from that, it was grand!

Neither of us had a watch on, so we skied until the crowds disappeared – guessing it must have been somewhere between 12 and 1pm. We continued skiing the same area, but this time went beyond the Mother Johnson’s Trail and continued through the trees until we met the Gully Catwalk – a few hundred metres below. Unfortunately our efficient route planning lead us to a rather large drop-off, and so we had to try our hardest to traverse to a nearby run and save jumping down a few metres in front of an ever-gathered crowd at this point on the run. Looking back up, we were certainly glad we had chosen to avoid the drop, as it looked even more menacing from the bottom.

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We continued skiing to the very bottom of the mountain and caught the Village Chair back to the top. We stopped for lunch, after realising it was 1:15pm. Lunch was, again, in the chalet and it took considerable effort to get back up off the couch and into the layers of wet clothing we had only recently removed. John, Max and I headed out towards the Roadrunner for a few more runs while Pip took a rest on the couch. We only managed literally one, however, until we were radioed by Kim to let us know her and Pip were on their way to the Medical Centre – after two days, now seeking medical advice for the bout of sickness that had persisted through numerous home-grown treatments.

The three of us met them at the Medical Centre, although John and Max attempted to get a few more runs in before the lifts closed at 4:30pm. We didn’t leave the Medical Centre until after 5pm, and were largely unimpressed with the diagnosis given – a typical viral gastro. In our minds, the symptoms didn’t match the diagnosis, but who were we to know – we’re not doctors I guess… We returned to the chalet where everyone relaxed for the remaining hours of the evening, with yet another home-cooked meal to enjoy. There is some talk of taking part in the ridiculous ritual of 7:30am skiing at Heavenly Valley tomorrow morning, but this will likely depend on overnight snowfalls and us actually being able to get out of bed at that hour.

Here’s today’s 30 second wrap (visit OnSno.com if it doesn’t appear):