Weekend Update

This weeks update comes courtesy of Terry - Illabunda Race Captain:

2007 Senior Training Weekend Senior training was held on the weekend of 28th and 29th July.

The weather varied from a little rain and snow on the Friday with improved conditions on Saturday.

We awoke on Sunday to a pearler of a day.The troupe was in usual high spirits and the look in their eyes was enough to realise the determination that they would be taking into their training.

Our race coach Dave Bale put on a skiing display that inspired us all and demonstrated how to race a Giant Slalom course with passion. He was very informative and gave us precise individual feedback.

This brought out improvements in each racer which will hopefully pay dividends on race day.The weekend produced a few minor injuries which are expected when giving 110%.

A couple of our top end skiers were spotted receiving a verballing and finger pointing from the mountain speed police. Maybe he was just applauding them for the fastest ever approach to a lift line. Maybe not! We blamed the coach anyway for hyping the group up.

The Illawarra Interclub Races are being held on Saturday 18th August and I’m sure the team will fly the Illabunda flag and do the club proud.

Thanks to Luanne and Matt for the fine food as usual.

Terry Dryburgh Race Captain

Weekend Update

WOW - what can I say - the skiing is awesome.

Cold temps have kept the snow in great conditions.

Sorry for the late update and no pics - I'll rectify the situation this weekend.

If you are heading down, you are in for a real treat.

Hopefully some more snow will top up the great cover.

More Interschools

Alex McCulloch also competed in the division 1 Interschool races for Kambala and achieved some great results:


Cross country relay 2nd

Cross country skate 2nd

Skier cross 3rd

Moguls 4th

Alpine 3rd

It is great to see some Illabunda Juniors competing in the Interschools, hopefully it will inspire others to get school teams together, and even go on to state and national championships!

2007 Illabunda Junior Training Week

What great relief it was to see the snow falling for this eagerly awaited training week for the Junior’s, especially after last year’s lacklustre corresponding week and the dismal season.

The snow was falling when we arrived and virtually didn’t let up all week except for a few patches of sunshine.

Conditions were wide ranging and contained everything from peppering blizzards to calm winds with heavy falling snow flakes.

According to the Illabunda Junior’s Official Snow Depth Gauge (on the orange pole outside the lodge), the snow depth rose from 0.4m on arrival to a satisfying 0.8m on departure. And the pole doesn’t lie.

The G S Race Coaching was once again conducted at Blue Cow with Perisher Blue coaches Damo and Heidi commending our juniors for their commitment and attentive attitude to training. Each child showed varied improvements by the week’s end.

Snowboard Training was at Perisher and was also well received and the usual enthusiasm and will to learn was evident.

Cross Country Training didn’t get the planned amount of time allotted due to the feral conditions but raw mongrel plays a big part on race day for our club.
Some of our junior’s were involved with NSW Inter schools races during the training week and did us proud by association.

Emma Gracie picked up a 3rd in Mogels, Skier Cross and Alpine and Tahlia Jackson excelled for a 1st in Alpine for her division and 3rd in Skier Cross. Well done girls.

A big thank you to our new lodge Managers Matt and Luanne, who’s baptism of fire went well with the littlies and I’m sure they will be appreciated by all members and guests.

Thanks to all the parent’s who assist during the training week.

Illabunda Junior’s also won the Snow ball fight against Telemark Lodge convincingly.

I look forward to seeing the entire Junior contingent for the Races in September.

Cheers
Terry Dryburgh
Race Captain

Just in!

A minimum of 15cm of snow has fallen since 5pm today!

3cm per hour could leave us with a massive total in the morning if it keeps up.

More Snow

As the icy temps grip Sydney another storm has rolled in over the Snowy Mountains.

Blizzard conditions are expected tonight and snow may fall down as low as 500m!

The next few days should offer awesome skiing.

Working Bees

A message from the booking officer regarding working bees this summer:

Dear members and friends of Illabunda

please be advised that the working bees for next spring and autumn are -
2/3/4 November, 16/17/18 November, 8/9 March, 23/24/25 May.

Contact Ron Fitzgerald if you are able to help out. Click here for contact details.

The Lodge will not be available for Summer bookings for the two weeks between 2nd and 18th November.

Regards
Leo Delissen

The maintenance and improvements done at the working bees are one of the things that make our club so good - they all keep Illabunda in the impressive shape it is.

Please set aside some time to attend a working bee - yep there is some hard work - but they are alot of fun too!

Weekend Update

Fantastic skiing again this weekend, with the resort now at full strength.

That's right 50 lifts up and running!

There wasn't any fresh snow about but the skiing on Mt Perisher was as good as on any day - the piste that is.

An amazing amount of snow is on the mountain and the runs have filled in beautifully.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures - the skiing was simply to good to stop!

Weekend Update

This weekend delivered some of the best skiing that Perisher has seen in recent years - well definitely better than last season for sure.

Blizzard conditions continued for most of the weekend, keeping visibility low, but Saturday the fresh snow was fantastic.

Those that were lucky enough to ski on Friday reported that it was even better than Saturday.

The Illabunda juniors appeared to have had a fantastic week, and we all look forward to hearing from Terry on the events of the week.

Blizzard!

A full on blizzard has been raging in the mountains today and last night.

At least 20 - 30cm of snow fell last night, and the blizzard intensified today.

Hopefully the Illabunda Juniors have been enjoying the snow and the storm.

The temp hovered around -3 today and a further 10cm fell from the sky.

One skier and mountain local described the snow as "Aussie windblown velvet"

Its easy to head to Mt P or Blue Cow on epic days like today, but consider Smiggins - apparently the skiing there today was fantastic!

More Snow Depth Info

Have you ever wondered how the snow depth this year compares with past years.

Snowy Hydro have a great feature on their website that allows you to see.

Click here to check it out!

You can compare against every year right back to 1954.

Season 2007 is doing better than season 2006......but that is hardly surprising.

Snow Depth

Have you ever wondered how Perisher come up with the snow depth?

Check out how they do it:

http://www.perisher.com.au/pub/BlueChip/July%202/depth.html

A Great Place For Celebration

Illabunda is the perfect place for a celebration.

Helen, a recent Illabunda guest, celebrated her birthday.

Have you got a special event coming up that you would like to celebrate.

Check the vacancies and book you and your friends in for a memorable stay!

It Is All Happening

Snowfalls continued throughout last night, as did the high winds.

Illabunda is now packed to the rafters with excited juniors down for their race training week.

Eyre lift on Mt Perisher opened for the first time today, with access via Sun Valley lift - nice stashes of fresh snow mixed with horrendous ice and wind pack. The visibility was also a little limited.

Once groomers get over there though, the skiing will be superb. Welcome July!

Telemark lift also opened today, making Illabunda skiers and boarders very happy, now able to ski / board in and out of the lodge. Telemark lift was only open for one week and two weekends last season!