From: harsant@headplant.trl.oz.au (Dave Harsant)
Subject: Snow report: Mt. Buller, 8/8 - 16/8
Organization: Telecom Research Labs,Melbourne, Australia
Distribution: aus
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 07:28:33 GMT

I was up at Buller from Sat 8th Aug 'till Sun 16th.

For Sat 8th, the top half of the mountain had reasonable snow, with a
good cover on the Summit.  The bottom of Howqua was mainly ice/rocks,
except for the edges which were still passable.  It was possible to ski
Grimus to the bottom, but not recommended.  Wood run was open, and a
path could be picked to the bottom through the rocks and trees, but
this was not really recommended.  Southside was running, but the top of
Men's downhill was not recommended - it was very brown. Conditions were
generally icy, as the temp was below zero, and good edges were
required.  The rain during the previous week had significantly affected
the snow cover.  During the afternoon, the weather closed in a bit, and
some light snow began to fall.  This became quite promisig around 5pm,
with heavy snow falling, but lasted only about 15 minutes.  Perhaps 1cm
in total fell over Sat afternoon and night, drifting to around 2-3cm on
the south side of the mountain.  Federation chair was running, but the
only way down was to walk from the corner at the bottom of Little Buller
Spur.  Definitely not recommended.

Sunday 9th began fairly clear and sunny, with the fresh snow over ice.
The summit bumps were groomed, and there was a significant crowd on the
summit area 'coz not much else was worth skiing.  The crowd decreased
around 3pm as fog began to move in.  The temp was below zero, and we were
all waiting for the snow which was forecast for Sunday night.

Monday 8th was cloudy with a strong NW wind.  The weather began to
deteriorate and light snow began falling during the day.  The wind
strengthened in the late afternoon.  Tuesday there was very little open
due to the strong winds, I didn't ski 'till about 2pm.  It had been
snowing on and off overnight and during the day, with the temp varying
from around -1 to -3.5.  The fog was down to the bluff, but fresh snow
could be found around Wood Run.  Not many people were out, and I skiid
wet powder around the trees.  The snow increased late afternoon.

Wed there was a strong SW wind, which turned back to the NW during the
day, and snow showers continuing.  A few cm of fresh snow could be
found, and it was still foggy.  It had snowed overnight, with some
brief rain.  We finished off around Southside.  Womens Downhill and Sun
Valley were still closed, and a number of people had their tickets
crossed for crossing ropes.  The Ski Patrol seemed a little over
officious this day, with only the Southside chair gate open into the
Federation area, despite good cover all over the top half of the
valley.  In the late afternoon, they were at the bottom of Bull Run
waiting to catch people skiing Sun Valley.

Thursday was the best, snow showers were still around with the wind
strong from the SW again, and 20-30cm drifts in the Federation/Bull Run
areas.  The snow was wet and heavy, lots of dynamics required.  Sun
Valley looked great as the day wore on, but was still closed. That
night, it snowed heavily until around 10pm, when it turned to rain,
then back to snow. It must have rained again early morning, because
Friday we had a thick icy crust.  Sun Valley was now open, and the Bull
Run area was almost smooth again.  I skiid this area most of the day, a
couple of snow showers were still around, as was the wind and fog.  In
the afternoon, around 2.00pm, it cleared briefly, and we had a few
great runs on Summit Slide with wind blown/packed powder over the icy
groomed base, great for high speed GS turns until the fog closed in
again.  The intermediate skiers around were having a hard time with the
wind pack and ice combination.  We finished over on the top half of Dam
Run when the fog closed in again, going into Burnt Hut Spur chair.

Temperatures during the week were generally between about -1 to -4,
with winds strong from the NW turning W to SW and back, as the cold
fronts crossed.  Most of the snow fell with the wind in the NW.

Saturday morning was again windy with sleet, snow and rain.  We skiid
the Bull Run area.  Standard was flat and fast initially, Wood Run had
a few small bumps which grew through the day as the snow softened and
slowed down.  Gloves were soaked by lunchtime. The afternoon was fine,
the Wood Run bumps grew.  Team Buller were practising down the fall line
of Wood Run, creating a bump course.  The Funnel was good, small bumps.

Sunday began with patchy cloud, and a maximum of +1.  Everything froze
overnight, and the snow was very fast all over in the morning.  Did
some great high speed GS runs down the Summit, Fast One, and top half
of Federation. The bumps were only very small on these runs, since they
hadn't been skiid much during the week.  Did a few down Sun Valley, now
soft and bumps increasing.  After lunch, did the Plughole and a few
down Wood Run and Sun Valley.  The bumps in Wood Run were now growing
huge, with rocks in the bottom of a few in the Paddock area below Sun
Valley.  The bump course was looking big.

Summary: As of Sunday afternoon, everything was open.  The lower slopes
have reasonable cover, but not a lot of it as there was no base.  I
estimate about 40-50cm fell during the week, perhaps drifting up to
100cm in some spots.  The strong NW winds helped put snow lower down on
the Southern slopes, where it was desperately needed. The North side is
good, but does not have a good base down low.  Federation valley needs
snow below the mid-station, it is not currently worth skiing, and most
of the lower runs are closed.  Bloody Hell looked OK from the Southside
chair, did not get over to have a look.  Snow depth at the bottom of Wood
Run is probably about 50-60cm average.  The summit has plenty.

Mid-week crowd was very small, there was a fair crowd Sunday - 5 minute
wait on Bull Run before and after lunch, big queue on Federation, and a
fair queue on the Summit area from 10.30 to about 12.30.

I'm going up again next week.

--
Dave Harsant,
Telecom Australia Research Laboratories  |  d.harsant@trl.oz.au
Newsgroups: aus.snow