Australia: Skiing Perisher and Thredbo

Dates Traveled: 9-11 August 2013

It was a Thursday before a weekend I was not planning on leaving Sydney, but I had some friends driving down that night for a long ski weekend in Australia's Snowy Mountains. An invitation was given kind of last minute as someone had dropped out and there was suddenly space in the car. While my bank account said, "No," my heart said, "Go!" And soon, I was off for my first International skiing experience!

Australians don't seem to realise just how cool their own backyard is, it seems! Everyone I spoke to about skiing in Australia just kind of scoffed at their resorts and in a seemingly ashamed way told me that, "Well, it's nothing like New Zealand, or Japan, or the Rockies, or the Alps." But growing up in Michigan, skiing anywhere that is more than a big hill is pretty exciting for me! But it wasn't just the quality of skiing Australians scoffed at. When I told people I wanted to climb Mt. Kosciuszko, Australia's tallest peak, which is in the Snowy Mountains (in Kosciuszko National Park), the typical response was, "Oh, don't waste your time. You don't really climb it but walk up to the top, anyway." So because of all of this, I wasn't really sure what to expect. The main resorts in New South Wales are near the town of Jindabyne, pinched between the New South Wales-Victoria border and the Australian Capital Territory. I'd been to Jindabyne the previous November while doing field work and saw all of the rental facilities, restaurants, repair shops, and hotels that were all closed for the season then, and I figured that surely the skiing must be good enough to support this much infrastructure.

The aptly named Snowy Mountains, Australia's highest mountain range

Needless to say, I was confused about the trip, but was excited to go. There were five guys that I knew going, both skiers and snowboarders of various levels of expertise and after a night spent in Cooma, we stopped in Jindabyne to pick up a few sets of rentals for my friends, and continued on the road up to Perisher where we were going to spend two days skiing.

Let me say this, and let me be clear about something: Australian mountains are nothing to be ashamed of! The granite mountains were tall with wonderfully deep valleys and the white snow that blanketed the tops of the mountains contrasted awesomely with the green valleys! Of course they aren't Alps or Rockies, and the ski resorts are few, but that area is beautiful!

I quickly hurried in to get my rentals from the resort and by mid-morning, we were all set to go! The sun was shining and we all set off as a group around Perisher. I've never skied anything like Perisher before! The granite mountain was nicely rounded and there were huge outcrops sticking up out of the snow which made the resort to be a veritable playground for a quality skier. Plenty of little jumps to hit and nice tree-less runs that you could build up huge speeds with enough space to race in and out of the outcrops.

White-out conditions on top of Perisher

It didn't take long for our rather large group to splinter and my friend Craig and I were soon off to explore more challenging terrain. The west end of the resort is where the highest slopes are and we slowly worked our way up to the lifts on the far side. As the afternoon carried on, the weather started to get nasty and an incredibly dense fog moved in, but only blanketing the top of the mountains. We kept taking the lifts up, though it was pretty scary skiing down a slope on ice where you can only see a few metres in front of you! Once we got about a third of the way down, though, it was still foggy but you could see much farther, and then at the bottom everything cleared up just fine. We did that a few more times but the fog got worse and soon I couldn't see where Craig was. I noticed some orange posts in front of me to my left and to my right with a gap between. Knowing that the posts indicated huge rocks I should try to avoid, I decided to go through the middle. Looking over my shoulder for Craig to show him which way I went was a mistake because as soon as I did, my skis dropped out from under me as I went off some sort of steep edge and my body slammed into a snow bank below. I thank God there wasn't a rock there and that I had my helmet on, because I hit the ground hard! Somehow or other, Craig saw me and came to my aid laughing at me all the while.

Perfect weather in a beautiful winter wonderland at Perisher

I was a little dazed, but got up quickly enough and we kept going until the lifts shut down for the night. The great thing about the bad weather that night was that it gave us a ton of awesome fresh powder for the next day, which weather-wise, was the best you could have. Clear and sunny, warm but skiable. Our group started off together, but again split up shortly into the day, meeting up every so often to do a few runs or get a coffee. One of the really weird (but cool) things about skiing in Australia is that you're skiing through gum trees which don't lose their leaves ever throughout the year. So while anywhere else in the world you ski through evergreens and leaf-less gray trees, in Australia, you ski through lush green vegetation. And the branches are high enough that there is plenty of room to maneuver through them like wide open glades. Like I said, Perisher was just a skiers playground! Plenty of great runs, fun terrain, and lots of variety!

The third day we switched it up a bit and headed to the nearby, and probably more popular resort of Thredbo. Thredbo occupies generally steeper terrain and the runs are your more typical alpine runs and lanes as opposed to Perisher's openness. Australia's highest lifted point is here, and it is well above the treeline so the winds just rip across the mountain top, blowing away much of the powder and leaving behind a thin sheen of ice that you really have to carve through to get your hold. It wasn't long before three of us headed up to the top (via a series of T-bar lifts, which I found really bizarre!).  Here too, there were big granite outcrops and Rick, Craig and I started off toward the Golf Course Bowl (not sure why it's called that - I get the bowl part, but not the rest), but it was roped off so we had to navigate our way down a different way. There was a turnoff to go down an insanely steep chute called Cannonball and Rick and Craig just took off. Not wanting to get too far behind, but being less adventurous than them, I took my time. And holy hell!! It was pretty much a vertical drop covered with moguls with nothing but ice to try and grip into! Needless to say, it put my skills to the test, but I got through.

The highest lifted point in Australia! Top of the world!

A fun thing we all did throughout the weekend was track our runs using the Alpine Replay app for our phones. The app has trail maps from ski resorts around the world loaded in and uses your GPS position while you're on a chairlift to figure out exactly where you are. It then monitors your speed, records the total elevation you've skied, and tracks the runs you've taken with GPS. It also uses the accelerometer inside the phone to log how many jumps you've landed and how much air time you've had throughout the day. Without meaning to, I checked my speed at the bottom of one of the runs I bombed down and saw that I reached a top speed of 79.4 kph (50 mph)!! For the rest of the day, I tried breaking the 80 kph barrier before I realised it was a reckless endeavor and that I'd end up seriously injuring myself if I didn't stop!

The guys who ski!

Anyway, it was a great time with good friends and we had the most perfect weather for the weekend! By late afternoon of that third day, it was time to pack up and start the long six-hour drive back to Sydney. I may have learned to ski on little wee hills in Michigan, but I've skied the Green Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains in Maine, and I've got to hand it to Australia. Your resorts may be few, but they are fun and challenging and it was well worth taking some time out from my week to spend it in the Snowy Mountains with great friends!