It's Begining To Look Like Winter - Finally

15cm of much needed snow has fallen over the last 24hrs with more forecast for the remainder of the week and next week - just in time for the school holidays.

The wind is howling which is always a good sign with gusts over 100km/h having been recorded today!

Quite a few extra lifts at Perisher should open as a result of the fall with the Forester Quad expected to open to mid station tomorrow.

Ski Fitness

The snow might be taking it's time to arrive, but that leaves us all some extra time to get ready to ski.

Long time friend of Illabunda, member in waiting and legendary super Physio Karyn Whelan has kindly supplied some info on getting fit to ski - Thanks Karyn!

Take a look:

5 TIPS FOR GETTING FIT TO SKI AND BOARD
by Karyn Whelan BAppScCumbMAppScSyd, Physiotherapist

1. Start training 6 – 8 weeks prior to your ski trip.
   



2. Improve your cardiovascular fitness with exercise that is relevant for downhill, cross country, and telemark skiing, and snowboarding such as:
   *cycling
   *stair climbing
   *running
   *step-ups and side-to-side jumps (see the cardiovascular exercises on the attached Australian Physiotherapy Association leaflet)
   *skateboarding or surfing (for snowboarders)
   
   Exercise for at least 40 minutes 3 x week.
   Exercise at lower intensities for longer periods to improve endurance, and for higher intensities for short periods (eg sprints or hills) to improve power.
   



3. Improve the strength and endurance of relevant muscles.
   *see the strengthening exercises on the attached Australian Physiotherapy Association leaflet
   *Wall-sits can be progressed by doing them without using a wall.
   *Perform slow deep lunges with one leg in front of the other. Hold for at least 3 seconds. Swap legs. Repeat until your muscles feel tired. (Telemarkers could add a twist while lunging to mimic the turning action).
   



4. Stretch to improve your flexibility.
   *see the stretching / warm up exercises on the attached Australian Physiotherapy Association leaflet
   



5. Improve your Balance
   *side-to-side jumps (see the cardiovascular exercises on the attached Australian Physiotherapy Association leaflet)
   *one legged squats
   *skateboarding or surfing (for snowboarders)
   *lunges with a twist to mimic the turning action (for telemarkers)

A Message From The Race Captain

Hi Everyone.

Well, it’s that time of the year again and I’m sure that the white stuff will start falling soon. Let’s hope so anyway.

The first week of the school holidays will be here soon and that means the Illabunda Junior race team arrive at the lodge for their training program from the 7th July for the entire week.

We will be welcoming a few new faces to the team this year and hopefully they will enjoy the experience and benefit from the training.

Monday through to Friday will be the GS downhill training each morning for a few hours with a bit of Cross Country training thrown in on a couple of afternoons. The weekend will see the kids get stuck into the Snowboard training.

The main focus is to have fun while building on our great team spirit and hopefully fine tune their skills for the races in late August.

Bye for now.

Terry Dryburgh
Race Captain.

Nearly There

The long summer has now passed and we are just days away from the opening of the season.

Matt and Louanne, our fantastic managers, are in the lodge getting it ready for the busy season ahead.

Unfortunately the weather hasn't been kind over the last few weeks and there is only man made snow to kick off the season.

Even still, Illabunda is nearly booked out for the opening weekend with just two beds free!

Alpine Photographic Exhibition

Snowmaking

Preparations are well underway at Perisher for the opening of the ski season, with snowmaking giving mother nature a helping hand.

The new snowmaking system at Perisher has extended right up to the halfway station of the quad, so it might be possible to ski from there, right from the word go!

Opening Weekend Activities @ Perisher Blue

Blog Visitors

Here are some interesting facts about the Illabunda News Blog from last season:

• 199 different people visited the blog!
• Those people visited the blog a total of 1096 times!
• 163 of those people viewed the blog more than once.
• Blog visits came from Australia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Solomon Islands, Jordan, Singapore, Italy and the UK!
• 70% of the visits came via the Illabunda website, 26% visited the blog directly.
• 20 comments were made on the blog using the comment feature.

Illabunda Member Seen On Every Qantas Flight For Months

One Illabunda member has been seen on just about every Qantas flight for the last few months!

Ian Gracie has been featured on Q Media's "Australia - Behind the Scenes" updates on the progress of Baz Luhrmann's new film - Australia.

Ian is the Supervising Art Director for this project and is a long time member of Illabunda.

The Q Media update is screened on most Qantas flights both domestic and international. So next time you are aboard a Qantas plane - keep your eyes peeled.

If you haven't heard of this new film, check out the trailer that has just been released and admire some of Ian's work.

The Perisher Card

Perisher Blue has just announced a new deal that might be of interest to
Illabunda members and guests.

From Perisher:
The Perisher Card
The Perisher Card offers loyal guests the chance to save on day passes. Designed specifically for those who fall short of spending enough time in the resort to purchase a Season Pass, the Perisher Card can be purchased for $45 from all Perisher Blue ticket outlets. It then entitles frequent skiers and boarders to buy mountain passes for just $85 per day from Friday to Sunday and $79 from Monday to Thursday. Perisher Card holders also receive the benefits of two for one First Tracks access. The Perisher Card can be purchased at any time through the season.

So if you're skiing just two weekends or more over the season, it might be worth your while taking advantage of this offer.

Winter 2008 Bookings

Illabunda Booking Officer Leo Delissen says that winter 2008 bookings are the best they have been in years.

As usual, strong demand has occurred for the prized mid winter dates especially July and August weekends.

However the shoulder season is a great time to visit the lodge with a quieter mountain and great skiing conditions can be had at any time in the season.

Improved snowmaking at Perisher will improve early and late season conditions and cross country / backcountry skiing is great at any time of the season.

Cheaper rates at the lodge in the early and late season is one reason to take a look at the vacancies here and book yourself in for what is always an awesome stay at Illabunda!

Many thanks to Leo for doing a great job of sorting through the mountain of booking requests he gets each winter.

Revamped Deck

The fabulous Illabunda deck has been revamped and is looking fantastic!



The wood has a great colour and the balustrading is super safe and kid friendly.

Thanks to Les Smith for the photo and thanks to the members who made this awesome improvement happen.

Online Bookings

The Illabunda website has a great new feature that will greatly benefit members and people on the membership waiting list.

ONLINE BOOKINGS!

Simply log on via the Illabunda website and you can:

• Submit booking requests
• Retrieve and modify and resubmit existing booking forms - greatly simplifying multiple bookings for large groups or for families from year to year
• See how much a booking will cost

Check it out!

The Ski Season Opens In Just 20 Days!

Welcome to Winter 2008!

With the ski season just 20 days away it is time to get excited - I know I am!

Snow has started to fall tonight - and Perisher have fired up their snowguns.

The lodge has a new look thanks to the hard work of all the members and friends that attended working bees over the summer - make sure you get down there this winter to check it out.

Summer 2007 / 08

Summer is a great time to enjoy the mountains.

Perisher is certainly a very different and quiet place.

The lodge is an ideal place to base yourself for even a few days or something much longer.

Bushwalking, fishing and sightseeing are just a few of the activities you can enjoy, and right now, there is still skiing!

The rates this summer at the Illabunda have remained the same as last, so that means it is CHEAP!

You can check the summer vacancies here.

Get down there and enjoy!

Winter 2007 - It's Over!

Winter 2007 has come to a close, and what a great season it was.

August and early September ended up being fairly dry in terms of snowfall, and it wasn't until the final two weeks of the season, did snow finally fall again.

That doesn't mean the skiing was bad - in fact, the solid snowpack that was on the ground held up really well, and even on the long weekend - the whole resort bar Smiggins could have been open - an amazing situation.

The lodge was full almost all season, and a huge vote of thanks must go to our fantastic managers Matt and Luanne who made every guests stay an absolute pleasure.

When the closing weekend arrived, it came with a surprise - 10cm of fresh snow - the Saturday was great skiing, with no - one around!

While the lifts are closed, there is still plenty of snow to enjoy on the higher slopes of the main range, and if you are keen, it is there for you! 5cm of new snow fell on Friday night!

So goodbye to all the Skiers, boarders, snowshoers and holiday makers and welcome to summer!

Tragedy

I hadn't seen Tyrone Monkman in a few seasons, but from all reports he was still a keen skier. A few years back, he was a regular guest at Illabunda.

Late this season he was killed in a skiing accident at Blue Cow.

Tyrone tragically left behind his wife Renee and their baby daughter Olivia. The thoughts of all Illabunda members, guest and friends are with them.

Make sure you think of Tyrone the next time you ski under the Ridge Chair at Blue Cow, and if you knew him, even stop for a moment to remember him.

2007 Illabunda Junior Race Report

The Illawarra Junior Interclub races were held on Saturday 1st September in brilliant sunshine.

Our considerably young team turned up ready to tackle their more fancied rivals from the big budget clubs but were certainly not intimidated.

The Giant Slalom and Snow Board events were contested on the Upper Rollercoaster Race Course at Blue Cow on a testing layout with softening snow in the morning followed by the Cross Country contest which was fought over at the Nordic track in the afternoon on what was described by experts as a tough course.

Our little tackers not only looked the goods in their team attire but performed admirably on all fronts and did us proud with their efforts.

Lauren Egle Marshall skied her last race for the Juniors this year but also raced for the Seniors as a 16year old. She has served the Juniors well over the years and showed that she will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come by being crowned 2007 Female Combined Champion in the Senior competition.

Ben Dryburgh also heads to the Seniors next year after a very successful reign in the Junior competition. Ben had to unfortunately miss this year’s Junior races due to other commitments.

Thank you and good luck to both of them.

The recruitment phase continued this year with Oliver Howden joining the team. Oliver padded up for all three events and did well.

I would like to extend my thanks to the parents / helpers who provide me with great assistance on the training and race periods. Also thank you to our new Illabunda managers, Luanne and Matt who looked after us with fine food and great hospitality.

Thank you to all of the Juniors who trained and raced for the club in 2007. I hope they all had a great time and enjoyed the team spirit of the club. They all performed very well and I look forward to seeing them in 2008.

We at Illabunda, now enjoy a very good relationship with Rhythm Snow sports at Cooma. Mick and Rolph kindly donated many items for our presentation night as well as the benefits we enjoy when hiring our equipment on each venture to the snow. Let’s show our appreciation by continually supporting Rhythm in the future.

See the Illabunda Web Page Race section for all results.

Terry Dryburgh

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!