sleds, vert & jäger

Well, we just got back from a nice little trip out back... On Sunday, Maria, Beno, Nick, Dave & myself met up in Jindy for a restful night at the Lake Jindy Hotel/Palace - dodgy pizza, masterchef finals & last minute planning was the order of the evening - and some serious sleep after Dan's bucks the night before! Up early on Monday, we headed to Thredbo as our planned starting point of Guthega was too far below the rather disappointing snowline. We geared up then negotiated our way onto the Kosci Express chair fully loaded - including a 20kg+ sled - full of beer no less! At the top we donned skins (snowshoes for the bigfoot) and launched off in the sunshine in the vague direction of Kosciuszko along a well worn skin track.

The Team at Eagles Nest - top of Thredbo

After having a quick lunch we made it to Rawson's pass - between Mt Kosciuszko & Etheridge and decided on a camp in the lee of Etheridge's high point at about 2100m, headed up & dug in.

Your's Truly with the makings of a tent platform

Nick hard at work...

... Dave & Beno not so 

Camp was set in time for a lovely sunset - thats Carruther's/Club Lake Chutes in the centre background, Twynam to the right

...and down to Guthega in the Valley

Nick is stoked with his tent & the terrain over his right shoulder

At this point we had just about finished carving out our eating area/poker lounge so we settled in with some hot chocolate and a few nips of Jägermeister to keep warm. After some gourmet delights rivaling the previous evenings masterchef (mmmm freezedried meals) we decided it was far too cold & headed for our sleeping bags.

...but not before a speci moonrise! (best I could do with frozen fingers!)

The next morning, after thawing out with coffee & porridge we headed for the roof of oz - Mt Kosciuszko! Where we posed for a few token cheesy snaps before skiing off to the north to discover how bad snow can get sitting in the sun for 10 days...

The boys preparing to ski off Kosci

Looking North-ish towards Guthega (Carruther's etc to the left)

Jagungal in the background with some serious skiing in the fore - just need a bit more cover! 

From there we headed along the ridge to the north, stopping for lunch. Afterwards, we split up - Nick & I headed for the summit of Mt Northcote whilst the others headed back to camp. 

View Larger MapDriving Directions

Anyway, just where are we talking about?! 

Along the way, a nice view of some tasty lines off Mueller's towards Mt Townsend 

(just a bit more snow needed!)

Nick atop of Northcote

Back towards Kosci & Etheridge - we were camped just to the left of the highest rocky part on the left

We considered our options...

Club Lake Chutes looked tempting, but steep with dodgy snow? nah, too far!

...but we were tempted by some nice snow down to Lake Albina! Yeah! some turns at last!

Nick drops in

After disturbing a large group having lunch at the lake, we began the slog up & out of the valley

After resting at Mueller's Pass, we traversed and scored a few turns down the side of Mt Northcote...

Am I having a good time?

Damn straight I am! Peace~~~

Afterwards it was time for us to head back to camp - via a grueling 300ish metre ascent to top out the days vert to near 1000m... my thighs are still hurting! Back at camp it was the usual coffee, Jäger, beer & rehydrated food bizzo. We woke to unsettled skies the next morning so we decided to pack up & head home... 

A highlight of the trip home was my turn towing the sled, with the crux being my cannonball run down the narrow & icy path back to Thredbo with dodgy tired legs I came bloody close to eating it several times! But I survived that to well & truly eat shit on my ski down the supertrail to the car in Thredbo - hitting an icy patch I overbalanced my large pack & slid for 10m... right under the quad chair to a rousing applause!

I swallowed my pride and ditched the tele turns for the remainder and skied in survival mode to the car - and a clean change of clothes! With a quick stop in Cooma for a team lunch at the Lott (great food btw!) we made our way home to a rainy Sydney.

With some much needed snow on the way, hopefully I can make it out again soon! 

Thredbo & Beyond!

On Sunday Maria & I headed down to Thredbo for a little ski - fingers crossed for a forecast snowfall to come off (it didn't...) We stayed at the Alpenhorn Lodge in Thredbo on Sunday & Monday nights, which is a pretty nice little joint in a great location, right in the village with great views and a great hot breaky! A great way to start a day of hammering down the slim pickings available in this (so far) poor snow season - but what snow there was, was in pretty good condition due to the fairly cold temps.
The next morning, after a few token stuff-arounds, we headed up the Kosciusko Express chair and skinned up near Signature Hill, setting camp near North Ramshead. After digging in, we geared up to hit up Leatherbarrel Creek but as I put my skis on my heel throw snapped off clean in my hands! NOT HAPPY! My brand-new Axl's! On closer inspection it looks as though the plastic in the snapped section has some ripples, maybe making a weak spot... With skiing no longer an option for me I went for a short hike & took some snaps whilst Maria got in a few turns.
That night, nearby Charlotte's Pass recorded -15! ... and we felt it! In the morning I managed to rig my binding up so I could ski out, but I chose the download of shame on the Kosi Chair - unsure if my binding fix would be up for a big descent!
We stopped by Wild Brumby on the way home for nice lunch and to try some schnapps - which are pretty good, but the chili one sure packs a punch! Anyway, back in Sydney now - almost time to start packing for our big trip next week - we have assembled a team of 5 to head out and this time I'd like to get some skiing done!

High hopes for the drive down!

Breakfast with a view! 

Heading out from the Eagle's Nest (top of Thredbo)

Camp for the night (and my new tent!)

...and I got a little trigger happy with the camera...

Maria digging our couch for the evening - too cold to sit out though!

Looking north up Thredbo Valley towards Jindy

Maria getting some turns on some ok snow

A few scenics...

Maria rugged up in a serious amount of down!

a nice sunset walk through the Ramshead Range

Thanks for watching, stay tuned for next weeks trip, planned out to Blue Lake at this stage :) Cheers!

Mt Kuring-gai with the Rockies

Last Sunday I got the chance at last to head out with the SRC for a climb! I could only do half a day but it was great to get out in the sun with other like minded folk for a climb, a big thanks to Rod for organising the trip!
Things got off to a late start but we made it to the 'Lost & Found' wall without a getting lost - which is apparently common! Once we were organised we started off in an 'easy' bolted area and I led 'Broke Rib Mountain' (14) for a warm up - and after pulling a hold above the 2nd bolt and ending up on my tippy-toes on the ledge, I was definitely warmed up! After a little more mucking around there, including working out that Scorpion (11?) was actually a 18, I led 'Foundling' (17**) before heading off to the snow with Maria. All in all, a great morning out... Lovely morning in the winter sun by the river - even the 40 minute steep walk out!

On the walk in...

A lovely walk in with fog burning off the river, making for a lovely sunny morning

Rod working on the headwall of 'Scorpion'

hollywood

Well, just got back from LA and had a nice treat of visiting an old school friend, Kym who gave me a bit of a tour around hollywood and it's surrounds... went for a nice hike up some canyon nearby to a observatory/lookout for a great view of town & a much needed excape from the madness of LA!

 Towards Downtown

Our destination

There's a "Hollywood" sign back there somewhere!

shaolin temple/chinese theatre 

All in all, a great way to spend some time in LA and a lovely change from the nicely trimmed OC!