Hotham 10 – Day 4 – Rain, rain… rain.

Today was a slack day for most – the snow conditions certainly hadn’t improved since yesterday, and the (lack of) visibility and strong winds were making things relatively uncomfortable outside. Regardless, some did choose to brave the conditions and hit the slopes as early as they could, but the remaining few of us spent the day inside – observing the poor weather from the comfort of the living room. Those who did go skiing did so up until lunch (although both Michelle and David stayed out on the slopes during the quiet lunch period), and after lunch, even fewer returned. Although I didn’t make it out there myself, I’m told the conditions were actually better than yesterday due to the fact that all of the... [Read More]

Hotham 10 – Day 3 – Surveying the damage…

Today was our first official day on the slopes, after most of the adventurers decided not to venture out into the wild yesterday on our arrival. The house we were staying in, while nice to be made of timber, certainly had a few disadvantages in that any footsteps upstairs were well and truly well-heard below in the bedrooms. This meant that most of us were awake not too long after 7:30am. I decided to try and stay in bed as long as was physically possible, but by 8:30am decided it was time to stop fighting the noise and embrace the sunshine outside. Lifts officially open at 8:30am, and a few keen skiers were out on the slopes not too long after this (of course, this... [Read More]

Hotham 10 – Day 2 – Washout!

Last night brought floods of rain to the mountain, and after a quick check of the conditions, we soon decided that it wasn’t quite as urgent to get up and moving as perhaps had been encouraged in the past. Luckily the morning wasn’t quite as chilli as may have been the case at the Bogong View on previous occasions (it probably helped that it was 10C outside as well!). We didn’t hang around long, however, before picking up the freshly waxed skis and grabbing some breakfast in Bright. Some of the Bright locals advised against heading up the mountain, saying “there’s nothing but grass and rocks up there”, (but what you could do in Bright for a week is beyond me). The drive up the... [Read More]

Hotham 10 – Day 1 – Hit the road…

The first day of any ski adventure seems to start early. Really early. Today was no exception – with a 3:30am alarm call to make a 4:30am rendezvous. We were glad to be gone of the wild weather hanging around Adelaide, but it didn’t let us get away without some hairy driving first – including sections of the freeway being subject to complete darkness (where they would otherwise be lit), and rain heavy enough to make seeing anything very hard. Regardless, we soon escaped most of the wild weather (although the rain continued for some time), and headed towards the Victorian border. For the first time in a number of years, our traditional “convoy” was a convoy of one – just us. Others were making... [Read More]