Well once again I'm starting the update with reports
of more fresh in Oz.
Just
when it was getting back to 'real' Oz conditions (ie.
a thin layer of ice with some rocks poking through)
a blizzard suddenly sweeps through the Snowies and
dumps another 20cm.
Looking
for a little variety I spent a couple of days in Perisher
Blue this weekend. Perisher is Australia's 'Super
Resort' with over 50 lifts making it the largest ski
resort in the Southern Hemisphere. Where it suffers
is its lack of vertical (300m) and lack of challenging
terrain.
It's
an intermediate paradise as it's virtually impossible
to accidentally stray onto difficult runs. In fact
a large amount of the area is so flat I only had to
make 9 turns in my first 2 hours of skiing..... Luckily
on Sunday I had the chance to go out with a local
(well actually a guy form Sydney but local compared
with me) and discovered the hidden backcountry.
Perisher
Blue is made up of 4 linked resorts and Guthega
being the hardest to reach offers empty runs and some
great tree skiing. Sunday morning it was blowing a
blizzard and by lunchtime there was 20cm of fresh
on the pistes and 50 in the trees. Unfortunately I
was on snowblades for the day - (they are much cheaper
to ship out to Oz than skis). Anyone else tried blading
in powder? Definitely good for your balance....
On
balance I would recommend Thredbo especially
for advanced skiers but if you do ever get over to
Oz skiing give Perisher a go, just don't count on
powder every time....
James
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