Mount Hotham, Australia
Snowy Mountains Skiing
Friday, August 3, 2007
Lawrence looking very happy about going skiing.
I got up early and was picked up by my brother, Lawrence,
in his Land Rover for our ride up to the Snowy Mountains. Lawrence's Land
Rover is now just 9,000 kilometers short of completing one million
kilometers (621,371 miles). Lawrence certainly gets his money's worth out of
his vehicles.
It was a lovely drive up to the Snowy Mountains.
We were joined by Steve and Cynthia, along with their two
children, Riana and Brendon. They were in their own vehicle as the Land Rover
was packed full of gear for the week ahead.
Mount Hotham is located in the northwest region of the state of Victoria in
Australia. Yes, I know snow-covered mountains are not what most people associate
with Australia, but they do exist.
Click here to see the general route we took.
We were headed for a small village just before the ski
resort of Mt. Hotham called Dinner Plain. Dinner Plain is a beautiful
little village.
Sunrise over Dinner Plain as seen from the apartment we stayed in.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Andy, the snowboarder.
My good friend and snowboarding buddy, Andy, joined us later that Friday
night. We all headed to Mt. Hotham for a day of skiing. The weather was
a bit nasty on Saturday—very foggy, cold, and it snowed most of the day.
But this was no deterrent for the hardened skiers.
Actually, Lawrence wasn’t able to start his Land
Rover in the morning due to some diesel fuel he bought in Omeo that wasn’t
compatible with the very cold temperatures. He got it going
later that day and joined us skiing after spending many hours with a
hairdryer on his fuel lines. When we left the ski fields that afternoon,
Andy had to tow the Land Rover back to
Dinner Plain as it broke down again on the way back and wouldn’t restart. I
wish I had a picture of Andy's little Subaru towing the two-ton Land Rover
through the snow!
Lawrence, the Land Rover mechanic.
Mt. Hotham is a very demanding ski resort. The runs are
not long in comparison to many North American resorts, but they are far more difficult
to ski. Many of the runs are very steep, and it’s a great place to ski natural
gullies. The snow conditions can change quickly at Hotham, going from powder to ice
sheets in a single day. As they like to say at Mt.
Hotham: "If you can ski Mt. Hotham, you can ski anywhere." I believe this to be true.
The last time I skied at Mt. Hotham was 16 years ago. The
resort has changed a lot since then. Many of the areas we used to walk to
have been opened up by the installation of chair lifts. This is
great, as much has changed with me as well in the last 16 years.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
We didn’t ski on Sunday but drove the Land Rover
back down to Omeo to resolve the issues with the diesel fuel. Andy followed us
down the mountain in his trusty Subaru and then continued on home, as he was
only there for the weekend.
Monday, August 6 to Friday, August 10, 2007
The sun did shine once or twice.
During our week at Mount Hotham, we had some excellent
days of skiing. Although we experienced more bad weather during the week, the days
when the sun shone and
the snow was soft made up for it.
Lawrence heading out bush.
At Dinner Plain, I tried my hand at cross-country
skiing. This type of skiing involves a lot of walking, as there are no lifts. It
is more physically demanding than downhill skiing, but you get to see some
really beautiful places, especially around Dinner Plain.
Lawrence also braved the bad weather and showed us
that you can still have fun in the snow, even when it’s blowing a blizzard
outside. We all sat in the warm pub drinking beer while Lawrence braved the
harsh elements outside.
See a video of the team.
See a really cool video Steve made.