- - Please briefly outline your hiking and skiing experience before signing up and if you are willing to drive a car (should we need another)- -
There are still a few snow drifts about in the higher reaches of the Snowy Mountains. The plan is strap skis (or snowboards) to our packs and hike out to find some skiable snow high on the peaks!
The snow is very patchy this close to summer so consider this a hiking trip where you carry skis and maybe get to do some skiing on very hard packed or slushy snow. We will leave the cars at the end of the road at Charlotte Pass on Saturday and walk ~ 5 km to Club Lake where we will setup tents nearby (outside the lake catchment). From here, we will aim to get some skiing down Carruthers Peak into the lake which usually holds skiable snow well into late spring. Skiing will continue on Sunday before we walk the roughly 5 kilometers back to the cars.
Obviously, the skiing isn't that great or easy this late in season otherwise everyone would be doing it! You must have experience downhill skiing/snowboarding before signing up and be happy with poor snow conditions.
The gear you will need is standard bushwalking equipment for an overnight trip and ski equipment (http://anumc.org.au/files/Skiing%20what%20to%20bring.pdf). You will also need some way to attach skis to your backpack which can be done with most hiking backpacks in an A-frame carry (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC9d8VKI4R4). Your backpack may be quite heavy though when carrying skis! I will send around a more thorough gear list closer to trip.
Saturday - Hike 5 km from the cars at Charlotte Pass to Club Lake (about half on track, half off) and then ski around Club Lake (involves hiking back up the hill each run). Sunday - Ski some more into Club Lake and then hike the 5 km back to the car.