Trail Reports

International

• Aug 22 - Mount Stirling (Victoria, Australia):
  
  We left a bit after 6:00 and I was able to put a jacket over my head and sleep most of the way to Mount Stirling. I had a pasty in Mansfield before the final leg up the hill. The snow at tle low elevations was wet, but except for a bare spot 50 meters up the trail, there was good cover. It seems that the snowstorm last week took down a lot of branches, as the trail was kind of messy, but otherwise pretty well groomed.
  I had a skating companion on this trip, Lincoln, who has skied the hoppet and was able to give me a description of the course. The two worst hills are "the paralyzer" and "the wall." We skied up the Bluff Spur Trail, which I was able to get up much easier than my first day skiing a couple of weeks ago. Kind of promising. At the hut near the summit we found that the South Summit trail was groomed, and took a very nice route to the open peak with some great views which were obscured last time I was here. The snow on the summit was pretty firm, and it was possible to skate all over most of the peak, and then turn and glide in to the saddle between the two peaks. I tried to telemark, but couldn't in Pilot bindings. Some time later in the winter I'll go up there with Tele skis from the club and learn.
  The weather on the summit became cold and windy, with passing snow squalls. Having only my windbreaker and rollerski gloves (so I didn't have to carry a pack) I set off from the peak to ski some of the trails further down the mountain. I found a good 1.5k loop on the Stirling trail and skied it three times as a bit of an interval session, the continued down a new trail at the mountain called Wombat's Drop. It was a very nice trail, descending a series of switchback turns at high speed before a flat section across a meadow. Most of the trails which go down hills have tricky turns, but banked and laid out so they are not dangerous.
  From the end of Wombat's Drop, I skied up the Fork Creek Trail to the black section of the Stirling Trail, which is a pretty thrilling descent. I then skied up a connector to the Fork Creek Trail and back down to the base at Telephone Box Junction.
  All in all, it was a very nice day of skiing, and will hopefully prepare me for the 42k race I get so ski next weekend.
  (Ari Ofsevit)
• Aug 15 - Lake Mountain (Victoria, Australia):
  
  The skiing today was prime. Wonderful. Supreme. Superb conditions for Australia, which would even be excellent in North America. We left in a three-car caravan with ten people for the drive to Lake Mountain. We stopped in Healesville and I got a pasty, a meat pasty, which was okay, and especially good at nine in the morning. I got some chocolate and museli bars in the Coles grocery store too, which were a whole lot cheaper than the snack bar at Lake Mountain.
  As we crossed Black Spur (in the beautiful forest) I actually spotted snow on a nearby mountain, which is very rare. It is actually going to get very close to 0 in Melbourne tonight, a rarity. Anyway, we stopped and picked up chains in Maryville and proceeded up to Lake Mountain, along with everyone else. Four kilometers from the summit, as we drove along wet pavement, they made us put on chains. Huh? There was a bit of slush the rest of the way, but nothing that we couldn't have handled. People here don't know how to drive in the snow, and I guess, since it's a private road, they are covering their behinds. Still, I was advocating for driving through the chain-up area and back on to the wet pavement. Chains are a pain.
  So we parked close to the lodge and walked to the snow. I was wearing my Macalester ski jacket, but got hot in that very quickly. They got about a foot of snow yesterday, and it was well below freezing in the morning. Which meant that I would get to use my classic skis. I put on some of the Swix red wax (only wax they had) which I got yesterday which was good from -3 to 0, and it worked very well. The trees were full of the brand new snow, and the scenery was gorgeous. Just spectacular. Unbelievable. If you could take this scenery and put consistent, good snow, it would be a world class ski area. Seriously.
  I skied about 18 k in the morning, up the Snow Gum trail, where I gave some instruction and pointers to the beginners in our group. I was happy to be classic skiing, since I like classic and decided that I didn't want to deal with klister south of the equator, plus I don't have a heat gun or blowtorch. The wax held well and I skied up to the Wollybutt trail, along that to the Muster Trail, up to Panorama Point (which had a view this time, see the photoset), and then down the Muster Trail. At this point I saw a good hill for some classic interval-transition workouts and did a few repeats of the trail. I skied back up to Helicopter Flat and down the Home Trail to the lodge. I marched down to the car and grabbed my lunch and skate skis, as the sun was transforming the snow and it was becoming a slippery day.
  I put on the dancing skis (I call striding "kicking" and skating "dancing") and went on up the trail. It was about 2:20 when I set off, and I had to be back by about 4:15. At the beginning of the Jubilee Trail I talked to an Aussie bloke for a while who was nice enough to take my picture (see photoset). He said he'd only do it if I got my two laps of the Jubilee Trail in, which I promised to do, even though time might be a bit short. I danced around the wonderful loop the first time, and was passed by a couple of ski instructors on a snow machine (or as they refer to all of them here, a skidoo) setting a best-line kicking track. I asked what they were up to, they said they were going to have some fun later. Too bad I had to leave, I said, and danced off.
  So after the first lap, I decided to try a second. It was at this point that I first began to feel really good about my skiing in Australia. I felt strong, fast and happy. I motored around the track, steaming down the hills and softly dancing up the upgrades.
  I got to the end, and with half an hour left planned a route around the Wollybutt trail, on to the Panorama again, and then down the Royston Road Trail to the bottom. I felt good and fast, and Royston was fast as ever, as I tucked and flew down it. I felt great, and the scenery was beautiful and the snow was wonderful (75 cm deep, that's two and a half feet!). And I began to remember how great skiing is.
  I skied about 22 ks in the evening, which means around 40 for the day, or about one Hoppet (42k). Actually, I found out that the last 10k of the Hoppet is downhill, which is good unless the wind is blowing you back up it. Two weeks, and if I feel good, I could place real well. We'll see.
  I will be skiing next week and hopefully post pictures from then. Now, this is out there, but the Hoppet will be run on the 28th, and the snow should be fabulous. In addition there are some airfares on United or American/Qantas for around $1000, which is as cheap as fares to Australia ever are. Plus, you get nearly enough frequent flier miles for a free ticket in the US. So come on down for the Hoppet in Australia, and all of us here downunder can show you a good time. Get your Worldloppet passport stamped, get a good Birkie qualifying time, and see a new part of the world. Plus, pasties.
  Photos:
  (Ari Ofsevit)
• Aug 8 - Lake Mountain (Victoria, Australia):
  
  Lake Mountain is only two hours from downtown Melbourne (by far the closest skiing to a major city in the Southern Hemisphere). The drive there is spectacular, crossing through the Yarra Ranges National Park, amongst spectacular Alpine Elms and Tree Ferns (There should be a couple pictures at the end of the photoset of these), at times in an eerie, dense fog. The road then goes through Marysville, which has more than half a dozen ski hire shops; Lake Mountain seems to be the main industry in the town. Aussies love what little snow they have.
  Anyway, Lake Mountain is, according to several sources, the third most popular cross country ski resort in the world. Today it was about 1 degree (celcius) and raining/sleeting and the place was jumping, with cars being parked a kilometer down the road, and there is a big car park at the top. Many people were just coming to see the snow and paly on the sled hill, but a lot were skiing, too. Snow is a novelty to the Aussies, since it falls only above 4000 feet, and usually only for a couple of months. This year is an exception, they have been skiing since early June and it is the best year in at least a decade. The snow here was deep, but also quite wet from the constant drizzle and intermittent heavier rain and sleet showers.
  They have 37 k, 33 of it groomed and I was able to cover pretty much all of the groomed system. The base was thick, over a foot in most places. I arrived too late to participate in the 8k race they ran in the morning, but I was able to watch the finish, which was fun (the racers appeared out of the fog, also a big part of Aussie skiing it seems - there should be some pictures of the race in the photoset). The trails are well laid and well groomed, even with its wet nature and heavy traffic it was firm and held up well. The trails are mainly one-way, and those nearest to the lodge are easier with more difficult loops farther afield, although none starts more than 4k from the base. Unlinke Mount Stirling, the trails are undulating, all between 1320 and 1440 meters (around 4500 feet), but there are some big hills.
  Some of the best trails were the outer, more and most difficult loops, although one easier trail had some turns which were fun at high speed. The Jubilee Trail, a 6k black run, was spectacular, winding through the snow gums with well-laid but challenging hills and turns, none of which were too long or steep. It reminded me in some ways of some of the trails at Telemark in Wisconsin, which are built to use the bumps in the landscape the best possible. Wollybutt (a great trail name) was similar, as was Panorama (the whole place was socked in; visibility was often only 100 meters or so), although there was no view. At the end of the day I came down Royston, which was a gradual, 2k downhill, with no interruptions, which was very fast.
  There are a lot more skaters here, and less Tele skiers (Stirling would be good if you wanted to train on long hills), since there is no bare summit. I found that technique and balance comes back much more easily after four months off the boards, as opposed to eight or nine (although rollerskiing helps). I covered a bit more than 30k, skating (classic is not prevalent in the horrid Aussie waxing conditions). The resort opened a brand new lodge in July, which was a good place to warm up when I came in soaked.
  Since Aussies drive on the left, they also ski on the left (although this is pretty loose). Still it is very hard to correct the instinct of moving to the right when you see a skier coming the other way; I had a few close calls and am only beginning to figure it out.
  Well it is back to classes in beautiful Melbourne, the city by the bay (complete with palm trees! There is skiing two hours from palm trees!). I hope to get on the snow again next weekend, maybe at Falls Creek, home of the Hoppet, to get a feel for the trails, and I will file a report. I also found out that the hoppet is run between 1500 and 1700 metres, or near or over 5000 feet! However, it is run on the Bogong high plains, and has some long climbs, but also long, flat sections. It was a good sign that I was able to ski 35k (not in a row) at altitude my second day back on the snow, since the Hoppet is but 20 days away.
  Photos:
  (Ari Ofsevit)
• Aug 7 - Mount Stirling (Victoria, Australia):
  
  Before hitting the snow (it is a three hour drive to Mount Stirling from Melbourne) we stopped at a bakery in Mansfield where they had pasties! Most pasties in Australia are veggie, but it looked and tasted like a pasty. I almost felt like I was in the UP (except for the 50 degree temperatures, complete lack of snow and the fact that everyone drove on the left).
  The trails at Mount Stirling are covered with a thick layer of snow all the way down below 4000 feet, where the trails start. The grooming was decent; not perfect by any means, but considering the quality of the snow and a snowmobile they did a good job. I skied the Baldy Loop to warm up (and after four-plus months off of snow there is a whole lot to warm--the altitude surely didn't help), and then the Bluff Spur trail towards the summit of Mount Stirling. The summit is 1750 meters, which is approximately 5700 feet. The summit was pretty much socked in but the views which were there were great. You could see in to the valleys where there was no snow. The temperatures were hovering just above freezing (or naught degrees as they say here, they also call poles "stocks"). I found out that, for this reason, few Aussies ski classic with wax, since it is almost always impossible waxing conditions.
  The snow on the bare summit was very nice, firmer than that below. The snow gums above 1400 meters (there are alpine ash, which grow 100-200 feet, below) held the foot of snow which fell earlier this week very nicely, so that the trail was shrouded in white. I returned down the Stirling trail, which had a black section which had some nasty turns, and found some wide, well packed trails to practice technique.
  All in all, the snow was great for Australia, which is equivalent to good spring conditions in the midwest. The base ranged from eight inches as 1200 meters to over three feet at 1400 meters to over two meters at the summit. There is something wonderful about skiing in August on real snow. Tomorrow I go to Lake Mountain (the third most popular resort in the world, so they say) which supposedly has excellent grooming. There is an 8k race there tomorrow, and it would be nice to get a race in
  before the Hoppet in three short weeks.
  Photos:
  (Ari Ofsevit)