Monday 11/9/2017 Charlotte Pass – Club Lake Creek
Kosciuszko National Park, NSW
Ngarigo country
Participants: Damien Aggio, Stephen Davies (Photos), Sue Davies (Report), Stephen Poole
An frequently undertaken day ski trip from Charlotte Pass. It requires crossing the Snowy River and Club Lake Creek in both directions. Mid-winter this can often be done on snow bridges but otherwise requires getting wet feet or attempting to rock hop. In good cover Club Lake Creek provides an easy and direct route to Club Lake.
Max elevation: 1993 m
Total climbing: 1498 m
Total descent: -1480 m
Average speed: 5.77 km/h
Total time: 07:32:32
We set out with the objective of skiing a run between Carruthers Peak and Mount Lee. After the usual traverse of the downhill runs to the road and descent to the Snowy River we were pleased to ski straight across on substantial snow bridges. An easy route up along Club Lake Creek saw us tempted with some slopes off Carruthers Peak. With plenty of low cloud we would need some luck. However, after our climb those same clouds fully embraced us stealing any visibility.
Regardless, we descended, completing most of our turns by feel and blind faith. Needless to say we all agreed there wasn’t much point repeating that run or staying so high. A very cruisy run back down to the Snowy River followed. We had noted our problematic clouds had a distinct tendency to break up somewhat beyond the Snowy River. Our new objective, after a seeking shelter below a cornice near the river for lunch, was to get some runs in on the other side of the Snowy River amongst the broken cloud.
Snowscapes
Sue and I ditched that plan after lunch and did a number of runs immediately above Foremans Crossing. Damien and Stephen headed over to the other side and completed some runs there. Sue and I were joined briefly by other members of our extended party before they left. We caught another run before heading back ourselves. It was a day which snagged some good telemarks but forced several changes of plans along the way. For Sue it was one of her best afternoons of telemark skiing with near perfect snow and a nice and not too steep slope.
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