Pirate's Tale Part Two

Hey guys,

Today after a light snow storm in the early hours of the morning, the crunchy frozen base combined with an inch of powder made for an interesting combination of skiing impracticability. The terrain park on Pipers was my pick of the day, an awesome combination of rails and jumps (which the groomers managed to work their magic on!)

The Bunda Challenge Day Two

Today Smiggins (in its tiny entirety) was covered. The 'snowboarder' Ellie would like to think she can manage on her own but on several occasions resorted to grabbing my pole for support!!! I cannot say I enjoyed the extra baggage, especially on the way back.

The crazy managing blogger would like it noted that his wife has been spotting doing something 'crazy'. He claims that the 'brain teasers' from the local magazine is 'silly'....something she blatantly denies. (He probably thinks its silly because he cant do them. Another reason why the guest bloggers should start a 'coo' of this blog. Now who looks silly?)

Well it's Ellie here now, and I would just like to defend myself against these allegations my sister is making about my laziness. She OFFERED to drag me from the top of the Link T-Bar and seriously, who could decline such a tempting offer? Anyway, she's not so innocent herself, she led me astray into trees and steeps, although I did make her drag me out as revenge.

So as you can tell, so far today has been quite interesting.

Something I forgot to mention yesterday, and wish I'd taken a photo of is an echidna in the snow, I know it isn't un-common to see these interesting ant-eaters whilst cross-countrying in the back-country, but this one was hiding out in the middle of Interceptor!! It would have to be one of the cutest things I've ever seen. :)

So, I'm going to say adios to you for today!!

The Smiths

Pirate Bloggers

Hi There,

Well it seems the guest bloggers are more like pirate bloggers, so just to make sure you know who they are - here is a pic of them I snapped - catching them in the act!

Guest Blogger Report: Katherine and Elloise Smith

hi everybody,

Its Ellie here, and I'm here to report about the 13th of August at Perisher Blue.

The weather here is clear but the snow is, average. Although, Eyre and Towers were the pick over on Mt Perisher.

We're hoping for some great snow on Wednesday, to counter-act the recent rain which broke a lot of our spirits.

One interesting thing that happened today would have to be the debacle at the 'Over d'Eyre @ Eyre' kiosk. After warring for a seat and waiting half an hour in a queue, the four-dollar hot chocolates weren't as great as they're cracked up to be.

Today I'm seeming very negative, but other than that it was an amazing day out.

So now I'm going to hand over to my big sis Katie to tell us about her day. :)

The 'Bunda Challenge

The lighten the lack of inspiration and (I dare say) motivation I was finding common when thinking of my upcoming holiday, I set myself a 'challenge' of sorts.

By the end of the week (from Monday to Friday afternoon), I aspire to ride every single lift in Perisher Blue (at least those available to the general public, however a $10 bribe may buy the favour of a ski-school liftie).

DAY ONE

Today I sought to conquer Mount Perisher and the perilous Center and Front Vallies. Eyre and Towers proved to be the pick of the Mountain though International was so icy it made you feel like throwing down your stocks and giving up the sport altogether.

The Center and Front vallies were a blast from the childhood past. Indeed I passed all stages of my skiing life on the way down. As a MILO kid resembling a lolly pop, trying to master the pizza slice technique, as a grade three to four (ten year old) managing parallel turns and as a younger teen black diamonder, a speed demon with no sense of control (i formed a very close relationship with lift pylons).

Anywho, tomorrows destination is Blue Cow!

Au Revoir!!!

The Smith Girls

PS The Smith girls would like to point out the obvious lack of sanity possessed by the Managing Blogger on this site and would like to start a movement to remove the managing blogger and instate the guest bloggers as permanent resident of this site. SO THERE.

PPS just kidding.

PPPS not

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!

Weekend Update

What a day. Snow fell all day over Perisher Blue today, and the skiing was fantastic!


Mt Perisher was open today for the first time this season. Towers was the only run, with the double and triple running.

Above is the view over towards Interceptor, looks pretty good there, but that lift isn't running yet.

The McCulloch's have arrived for their first visit this season.

Al was straight into the skiing

The Quad is open to the top, and so is the traverse over to Blue Cow - so you can now ski to and from Blue Cow from Perisher.

Illabunda is looking a treat now with the snow pack really starting to build up.

Mt Perisher To Open Tomorrow

The snow that has fallen this week has made a huge difference. The valley looking fantastic as I walked up the hill tonight.

Snow is falling as I type, and the guns are also pumping.

Mt Perisher is set to open tomorrow which pretty much means all the resort areas are open.

The pic was snapped today from a Qantas plane at 10,000m. You can see the range, fully covered in snow with Lake Jindabyne at the front. You can see the Jindabyne township.

Blizzard Conditions

Full on blizzard conditions have produced 20-30cm of new snow.

If you are heading down, take care when driving as there is reportedly snow and ice on the road between Canberra and Cooma!

Stay tuned for a pic as soon as I can get my hands on one.

Conditions are starting to look great for the coming season, and the Illabunda kids down for Junior training next week should have a fantastic time!