There is now very nice snow on the peaks, so let's enjoy a day trip with a friendly group to get a feel for backcountry ski-touring. It will be an easy introductory day, letting us build up to bigger trips as the season goes on.
The good snow is still quite high up, so this trip will ride up the Thredbo chairlift. This costs $49, but saves us a lot of climbing and ensures the whole day will not be too strenuous. From the top of the chair, we can ski across to the high peak of the Ramshead (2189m), and then get a wonderful ski all the way down into Bogong Creek. Based on our energy levels, we could do a couple of runs in this large valley, before returning to the Thredbo resort area.
For skills, an introductory ski-touring trip on alpine touring gear means you have to be at least an intermediate alpine skier - able to ski blue runs at the ski resort. However, we want to focus on the chance to get used to Alpine Touring equipment, so this can be your first time on touring gear. We will show you how to use the bindings, take skins on and off, and so on. We also encourage you to sign up if you have general outdoor experience, either in ANUMC or other adventure activities (Duke of Ed etc), as downhill skiing technique is only one part of the ski-touring experience.
We are keen to develop a group of skiers within ANUMC who can collectively build up confidence to run their own skiing trips, including more ambitious adventures such as snow-camping out on the Main Range. We would like everyone on the trip to get to know each other and form a sociable team based on common enthusiasm for snow!
(Note: All the above is especially weather dependent because we are forced to go higher on the peaks than is usual this time of year. We will set up a Whatsapp before the trip to discuss the conditions.)