International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) Australia/New Zealand Snow Season 2017

[sinbad7]

It's not that bad over here, mind you.

 

[Jellybeans1000]

Buller looks awesome!!! And I am stuck in Melbourne... All 22 lifts are open there. Must admit the season isn't bad at all, although much of the steeper stuff isn't open.

Meanwhile yesterday at Falls Creek, a Aussie forumite picked up some amazing Aussie powder conditions.

 

[sinbad7]

That looks fantastic. Good day to be practising your figure eights.

 

[sinbad7]

We are off to the snow early Friday morning (very early), hopefully returning on Monday. The forecast is for a not-cold-enough system to bring mostly rain and/or sleet on Friday, with some snow up high. The current forecast says that's followed by a blizzard Saturday afternoon through Monday. Over half a metre of snow may accumulate, and the usual spots in the lee of the ridge will pick up far more than that. I imagine we'll be driving out of the village just as things start to become amazing. Always the way.

On Tuesday it's back to work for a few days and then we drive back down again on Sunday, 13 August. Staying for a week that time.

Prepped our skis last weekend; three pair each; five pair of Kastles and a pair of Blizzards. That should cover most conditions.

 

[sinbad7]

Can't imagine we'll see blue skies like this.

 

[sinbad7]

Some good sidecountry action shots in here.

http://forums.ski.com.au/xf/threads/thredbo-sidecountry-2-august.78864/

 

[Bigtinnie]

I'm heading down to Thredbo in about a week so I'll miss the fresh. No matter - I don't ski in Oz for powder obviously. Just a good excuse to use my Mountain Collective days and find my ski legs again.

 

[Jellybeans1000]

I'm heading down to Thredbo in about a week so I'll miss the fresh. No matter - I don't ski in Oz for powder obviously. Just a good excuse to use my Mountain Collective days and find my ski legs again.

Sounds good - heading to Buller in two and a half weeks. Hoping that the base stays solid for that time period.

 

[Tricia]

News like this makes me giddy!
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/s...torian-alps-this-weekend-20170804-gxp9z9.html

 

[Jellybeans1000]

News like this makes me giddy!
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/s...torian-alps-this-weekend-20170804-gxp9z9.html

Already occurred. Dump of the decade here in Australia.

Perisher.

Guthega.

Falls Creek... yes those cars are fully buried. A proper NH system, we very rarely get those types of systems.

 

[dbostedo]

^^^^

Wow! That's a lot of

 

[MadPatSki]

Ohhhh!!!!

I just found this thread. I might as well post my Australia ski deal question here also (here is the link to the thread I started)
https://forum.pugski.com/threads/ski-industry-deals-on-lift-tickets-downunder.5543/
Ski Industry deals on lift tickets Downunder

 

[sinbad7]

We were down in Thredbo for the same storm. Only just got out of the village on Monday after breaking one of our chains. Who breaks a chain???

Here's the car with the offending chain, prior to it breaking.

 

[sinbad7]

Few more shots.

This was the view across the village on Monday morning. Note the crow sitting patiently in the tree.



The local bird life was out in full force, puffed up, trying to stay warm and hoping for a feed. Crows, currawongs and magpies (various mixtures of black and white) plus crimson / green rosellas for a splash of colour in a monochrome world.



On the hill things were filling in nicely. this was taken before the big snow event in the small hours of Monday morning.

 

[sinbad7]

First time I've checked our snow depth measure this season. It's caught up quickly after a slow start.

 

[sinbad7]

Busy down there today.



We're off to Thredbo again on Sunday for a week. The forecast is for a major rain event on Tuesday, with some new snow to follow.

 

[sinbad7]

Looking hard and fast today. Time for a refresh. Luckily there's snow in the forecast for early/mid next week, just in time to freshen up the hill for Spring skiing.



Meanwhile, some significant rain (inches of it) a couple of weeks back turned to snow at the back end of the weather system. The snowfall replaced much of the snow pack lost to the rain (when measured as a depth). Depths seem to be measured on Tuesdays meaning the below chart wasn't heavily impacted by the rain.

 

[Tricia]

That's looking pretty decent. How late does your season go, and when do you usually see a storm cycle?

 

[sinbad7]

The season usually closes on the first weekend in October, which is a long weekend public holiday hereabouts. Skiing on closing weekend can sometimes be a bit sketchy, although last year closing weekend brought a snowstorm that meant max snow depth for the season was measured on the Tuesday after the end of the season. Once it starts to melt it really disappears in a hurry though. Below is a comparison of the last two years. You can see our slow start this year (and 2016 was a late start also). The locals were grumbling about it half way through July ... then it kicked off properly.



We have another 40-50cm forecast from this Sunday night through Tuesday, so the chart is going to spike again. It would be unusual in this day and age to have it top two metres, but that's a strong chance now.

My significant other (in fact now my fiance) will be driving down again on Monday for a few days, to celebrate the Memorial Cup. Might be better to drive down on Sunday and avoid the forecast blizzard. We'll also be going down again for an extra long weekend on 15-18 September.

I still have some shots that I need to sort out from the last couple of visits. Slack of me.

 

[Jellybeans1000]

That's looking pretty decent. How late does your season go, and when do you usually see a storm cycle?

The resorts stay open until the end of September/start of October. But there are people who ski in the Aussie backcountry in January and very occasionally into autumn. You can still ski Upper Thredbo/Perisher/Falls/Hotham after the lifts close normally.

Our storm cycle usually happens once a week and a bit. It fluctuates a bit. Given the snow depth reached it's peak last season after lifts closed for the season, we seem to be in a trend of late seasons ATM. The lifts could have run, but September in Aussie resorts is deserted. So October skiing is unprofitable for resorts. It is very possible the same may occur this year.