Monday 17/09/2018   Charlotte Pass – Twin Valleys

                                         Kosciuszko National Park, NSW

                                          Ngarigo country

Participants: Margaret Baz, Helen Cromb, Stephen Davies (Photos, Report), Sue Davies, John Fuller, Kathy Husselbee, Jacque Paynter, Stephen Poole, Colin Ridley, Jean, Kevin, Rod, Wayne

A lack of recent significant snowfalls, warmer temperatures early last week and recent overnight minimums of about -10degrees have the cover set hard. With the days forecast of cold winds to 50km/h our options were limited. Hoping that the recent light snowfalls may have accumulated on the lee side of Rams Head Range our party of thirteen led by Colin had decided to head over to Twin Valleys hopeful of some shelter that it may provide and to ski the pockets of snow we envisaged would be found there.

Download file: 20180917.gpx                         Track Info

We set out up the hill (The Foxhole) directly behind Southern Alps Lodge. Our party included skiers of all skill levels on a variety of ski types. Progress was  fairly slow, as not everyone had skins and this necessitated a zigzagging route. Over an hour later we reached the saddle below Mount Stilwell. Here and beyond we found mostly an old multiply refrozen surface interspersed with smaller patches of two day old snow. Uphill ski grip and downhill glide on this patchwork varied tremendously, requiring a cautious approach to any attempted turning.

The breeze was cold and seemed to easily penetrate multiple layers of clothing. Our morning tea stop at the old chairlift ruins was very chilly as no where seemed very sheltered.

On arrival at the first of the Twins we were dismayed to find the cover to be very patchy, so we proceeded over to the other Twin. The cover there was very good and although there was a greater extent of fresh windblown snow it did not form any extended downhill runs. Here we broke off into several groups and searched for our patch of snow. About six of us headed straight down towards the trees and although managing a few reasonable turns found it only getting worse lower down. So we skinned or booted it back up the hill before reaching the treeline, a longish steep climb which negated any joy we had on the descent.

Near the top of the valley we huddled in a group behind a large boulder which partially protected us from the still very cold wind for lunch before unanimously deciding to head back. Along the way we spent some time doing several runs down one gentle incline at the top of Wrights Creek that provided a more consistent and softened surface.

Past Mount Stilwell we split, some heading back to the lodge via the resort runs whilst the rest of us sidled around a little before completing a fantastic tree run on the best, softest snow of the day down The Foxhole. Overall a day of few quality downhill runs under clear skies with very cold wintery winds. We were all very pleased to be back on the comfort of a lodge!

Photos

Panoramas

 

Map View

Clickable icons on a world map which open the related trip report

Contents

A detailed, searchable trip list with links to reports, photo galleries and other content