** All plans weather and Covid dependent **
* Update: Date moved to Sunday 18 July to avoid blizzards *
The snow has been very slowly accumulating but in the next week or two should be good enough for some proper ski-touring!
Guthega Creek is near the Perisher ski resort area, and easy to access, so it's a good all-round spot for building up ski-touring skills. If we are mainly working on skills, or if the weather is not so great, we can go up one side of the valley and ski on slopes running down toward the Guthega dam (a short day). If people are confident and conditions are good, we can reach the summit of Mt Tate, at 2068m a great first-time ski-mountaineering objective, and even do a full circuit of the Guthega Creek valley (a fairly long day).
This trip is suitable if you have skied a little before (a few cross-country/backcountry trips or comfortable on blue runs at a ski resort) and are at least comfortable with day bushwalks (not supposed to be hard, but we do have to go up hill a bit!)
The purpose of the trip is to build up confidence and experience among up and coming skiers in the club, so you can lead your own trips in future, eg:
- Skinning uphill
- Navigation with map and compass
- Taking the weather into account.
Places are not first come first served, so when signing up, please indicate previous ANUMC trips you have done and/or outdoor experience, any backcountry/cross-country skiing experience, and confidence in downhill skiing such as whether you ski green/blue/black runs.
Cross dam wall and ski in Guthega Creek valley. If weather poor, only the Guthega Trig side. If weather good, chance of skiing as far as Mt Tate and return via Tate East Ridge.