With excellent recent snowfalls, it's time to visit one of the great spots where you can ski straight from the car - Dead Horse Gap, near the Thredbo ski resort. We climb steeply uphill from the car, before emerging from the trees and finding ourselves in the snowy Ramshead Range. We can explore the area and hopefully enjoy excellent views, before reaching the Rams Head itself. From there we finish with one of Australia's biggest continuous ski descents, about 600m vertical all the way back to the car.
This trip is intended to give you skills to participate in and indeed organise your own skiing trips with the club in future. My emphasis will be to help you: get used to the gear and some uphill techniques using Alpine Touring equipment; finding the route/navigating; some safety aspects. You won't be rushed to get anywhere, letting you handle the gear (very fiddly at first), ask questions, and just get used to everything.
In turn, we are hoping for a group that will continue to make a contribution to ANUMC (including participating in snow-camping trips running through the spring), so selection criteria will be a balance of:
- Downhill skiing experience: this is by no means everything, but please indicate if you ski green, blue or black runs at a ski resort (you will need basic skiing skills already for this trip);
- Cross-country (XC) or backcountry skiing experience: hoping for a mix of people with little/no XC/backcountry experience and those with a bit already;
- Previous trips/involvement with ANUMC and/or previous outdoor experience or programs. You do need to be comfortable climbing at least 600m vertical, at a moderate pace with breaks.
We also need at least one driver with a car - I will already be in Thredbo on the day. The road is much less snowy than the Perisher/Guthega route.
[As always, everything will be weather and Covid-dependent!]
Ski from Dead Horse Gap to the Ramshead, explore slopes in the area, then return via descent to Cascade Trail car park.