HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: solnorda@dmpe.csiro.au (Chris Solnordal)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Transport: Canberra to Thredbo (or any NSW resort)
Date: 2 Sep 92 07:38:26 GMT
Followup-To: solnorda@dmpe.csiro.au
Distribution: aus.snow
Organization: CSIRO Div of Mineral and Process Engineering.

Hi everyone,

I am going to be in Canberra from 27-30 September for a conference
(yes, very boring reason to be in Canberra), and I thought that maybe I
could take advantage of this and get some NSW skiing done while I'm there.

So what I'm after is information about public transport from Canberra
on a Sunday morning going to the snowfields (pref. Thredbo)
for a day trip, and return that evening.  Maybe availability of buses,
or if someone is planning a day trip for 27th Sept., I would be happy
to contribute to petrol costs for a lift !

I am assuming that ski fiends are day trippable from Canberra - looks like
it on the map (I mean, people drive 3 hours from Melbourne to Buller
and back for day trips).

Replies to 

solnorda@dmpe.csiro.au

Thanks in advance,

Chris Solnordal.
Newsgroups: aus.snow
From: joe@andosl.anu.edu.au (Joe Elso)
Subject: Re: Thredbo, Perisher, Blue Cow 16-22 Aug 92
Keywords: snowboard wind
Organization: Comp. Sci. Lab., Autralian National Uni.
Distribution: aus
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 92 22:58:53 GMT

In article <1992Aug25.021522.19292@ucc.su.OZ.AU>, matth@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Matthew Hannigan) writes:

|> and Fri Blue Cow, back to Thredbo Sat.  It snowed Mon, Tue Wed;
|> sunny Thu Fri Sat.  _Perfect_ Fri.
                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                         I'll say!

We were at Thredbo Friday - blue sky, nil wind, lots of yummy
snow (drool, drool) - except for the lowest slopes, which were the
usual Thredbo slush/mud which froze into ice sheets & sugar late in
the day.

The only disappointment was the incredibly long queues, especially
on the t-bars.  There was a woman on the radio claiming that
they didn't need any more lifts at Thredbo - garbage!  Now, if
they could get the queues down to about the same size as at
Guthega...right, dream on :-).

-- 
Cheers,
Joe Elso, CSLab, ANU
joe@andosl.anu.edu.au
From: djm@kbs.citri.edu.au (David Mills)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Snow report: Mount Hotham
Summary: Finally: lots of snow.
Keywords: snow, cover
Date: 17 Aug 92 07:11:32 GMT
Distribution: aus

As always in Australian skiing, several days of snow has made a world of
difference.  From ice and rocks, to powder (occasionally wet) with no rocks
and great skiing.

Details (Sat 15th and Sun 16th):
	Summit - excellent (as always even in a bad year) - soft snow.
	Big D - the same.
	Sun run - excellent - soft snow.
	Slalom gully - as good as it gets - no rocks smooth soft snow.
	Heavenly Valley - likewise for all runs - no rocks, great skiing.
	Lower playground - would be good if the queue at the bottom wasn't so
		bad.  But a good cover (although not as much as heavenly).
	Blure Ribbon - Open again - good cover, but a few rocks appearing in
		the usual places (below the access trail etc).  Big bumps
		under the chair as usual.
	Off piste - great cover everywhere - easy return access.  Where the
		wind has not got it there is about 2-6 inches of soft snow and
		great skiing.  Where the wind has got it (most upper areas),
		is mostly sculptured hard wind pack.  Some large sheets of ice
		can be found on the top of ridges.  BE CAREFUL.  Given the
		piste skiing, unneccessary.

Sunday evening was a little warmer at first and then cold.  So expect more
hard (perhaps crusty) snow than mentioned above.  Next front was expected this
morning (Monday) so it may be back to powder everywhere.

David.
CITRI

Sorry I've no information about other mountains at this stage.  I presume that
they have equally improved.
From: paulr@fulcrum.oz.au (Paul Rosham)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Mt Buller conditions - 20 Aug
Summary: daytrip experiences
Keywords: good better best
Date: 21 Aug 92 01:59:17 GMT
Distribution: aus
Organization: The Fulcrum Consulting Group

Yester day started off well, we were on the Maroondah Highway at 6:00 am, and
made the Horse Hill chair at roughly 9:00 am. No traffic (thank god), and
chains fitted about 2 km past the gate.

Easy trip up, skiing by 9:30 ;-).

The cover over all was great. We skiied Tyrol and the cover was thick and
dry. The whole Burnt Hut area looked to have good cover all the way to the
bottom.

Summit slide, Grimus and Boggy Creek all had excellent conditions, as well as
Koflers, also to the bottom.

Powderkeg, Mens Downhill, and Wood Run had challenging moguls, with lots of
soft snow making the turning an effort. The blue ice on Powderkeg was,
mercifully, visible and mostly avoidable.

We skiied for most of the day, despite the extrme cold of the weather. The
snow started falling at 2:30, while we had a pizza at the Abom.

Hopefully, the fine weather this weekend will not melt all of the snow.

-PaulR.
From: djm@kbs.citri.edu.au (David Mills)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Snow report: Mount Hotham 29-30th August
Keywords: snow, powder
Date: 31 Aug 92 06:48:08 GMT
Distribution: aus


The cover at Hotham is great.  It ranges from 100-200cm.  Even Blue Ribbon has
a great cover.  So no run can be faulted on the cover.

On Saturday the snow condition left a fair bit to be desired.  The were some
areas of soft dryish snow (about 10% of the slopes), but most had obviously
got damp and then re-frozen.  Consequently there was a good mixture of ice and
frozen clumps of snow.  Not the best skiing at all.

A testimony to the ice was the fact that one poor sod in his 20's, fell and
slid at high speed into some trees and was killed on impact.  This happened in
the middle of Saturday on Hoggs Back; part of the Blue ribbon area.

Sunday, however, was a completely different story.  Snow, snow and more snow.
It had started snowing late Saturday afternoon.  By midnight there was very
little fresh snow.  But on Sunday morning there was 20-50cm of fresh snow
everywhere (20cm where the wind had got it, 30 where it hadn't and 50 where it
had dropped it).  The temperature remained below -3 all day, so the snow was
also very dry.  Fantastic skiing.

Given such wonderful conditions it was suprising that there were so few skiers
in comparison to Saturday.  Even better for those who were skiing.

It was possible, if you were willing to do a little traversing and/or walking
to ski untracked snow all day - I did.  Slope after slope of virginal snow.
Even the occasional face shot (for those who don't know, a face shot is when
the snow is deep enough, and light enough to billow up over your face at the
end of a turn.  A great experience if you haven't experienced it before.
There were still areas of untouched snow on the lifted slopes at 11:00am.
After that, one had to venture further afield.  But it was well worth it.

There is something magical about standing at the top of a 30-40 degree slope
with not a track or another person (except those you are skiing with) in
sight.

Sunday night snow heavily all night, and it is still snowing heavily now
(Monday afternoon).  The road (Harietville only) has been closed since 8pm
Sunday evening, and doesn't look like opening for at least a day (so check the
road conditions before leaving, and for the forseeable future go via Omeo).
To find out the road conditions during business hours, ring the Mount Hotham
ARC office on (057) 593550.  There is also an afterhour number but I can't
remember it.

Happy skiing.

David
CITRI
From: dougcc@brt.deakin.edu.au (Douglas Miller)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Snow report: Baw Baw Plateau
Date: 31 Aug 92 19:24:35 GMT
Organization: C&CS, Deakin University

Sunday 30-AUG-1992
==================

There is very good snow cover ranging from 30cm at St Gwinear car park, to
aprox 80cm at Mt St Phillack.  There was about 5cm fresh snow overnight on
a very firm base, which made for a superb skiing surface.  The snow was
topped up during the day by the ocassional light snow shower in between
sunny periods.  On top of this there was only a light wind, and excellent
visibility.  It's days like these that make it all worthwhile!
From: EXPECD@santos.com.au (ERIK DUNLOP)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: <None>
Date: 26 Aug 92 06:26:57 GMT

<none>NMessage-Id: <-01GO1K5HX9TU91VVI5@santos.com.au>
X-To: aus-snow@unimelb.edu.au
X-Vms-To: IN%"aus-snow@unimelb.edu.au"

Can anyone recommend a good cross-country ski-hire centre in Mt. Beauty? If so,
any details regarding the range of gear available would be greatly appreciated.
Newsgroups: aus.snow
From: tamas@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Tamas Keresztes)
Subject: Re: Thredbo, Perisher, Blue Cow 16-22 Aug 92
Keywords: snowboard wind
Organization: Sydney University Computing Service
Distribution: aus
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 04:06:23 GMT

In article <1992Aug25.225853.12301@newshost.anu.edu.au>, joe@andosl.anu.edu.au (Joe Elso) writes:
> 
> We were at Thredbo Friday - blue sky, nil wind, lots of yummy
> snow (drool, drool) - except for the lowest slopes, which were the
> usual Thredbo slush/mud which froze into ice sheets & sugar late in
> the day.
> 
> The only disappointment was the incredibly long queues, especially
> on the t-bars.  There was a woman on the radio claiming that
> they didn't need any more lifts at Thredbo - garbage!  Now, if
> they could get the queues down to about the same size as at
> Guthega...right, dream on :-).

We were at Thredbo Monday, 24th and the queues were not too bad.
Tuesday decided to go to Perisher - excellent conditions, lot of sunshine
and again no queues (except the Front Valley, but who cares).  Sun Valley,
Mt. Perisher and Olympic was ideal, but good snow everywhere. On 
Wednesday we tried Blue Cow-Guthega. It is really beautiful, but... believe
it or not, we found the longest queues in Guthega. Perhaps just bad luck.
Anyway, I didn't like the Skitube-idea very much. It's cheaper if you don't 
have an annual Nat. Park permit, otherwise I still prefer driving. It doesn't 
really matter if you have to walk to the tube or the ski field. The $12 entry
fee is excessive, the annual permit costs $60 now. I have been a Thredbo 
fan, but we again went back to Perisher and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Anyway, it is still snowing! I wouldn't mind to go back today. 

Happy skiing and be careful with the police radar-control. There are 
lots of them.

Tamas
----------------------------------------
                |  Tamas Keresztes                       
   ,-_|\        |  University Computing Service,        
  /     \       |  The University of Sydney, N.S.W. 2006
  \_,-._*       |  AUSTRALIA                             
       v        |  Tel: +61 2 6923491                    
                |  E-mail: tamas@extro.ucc.su.oz.AU     
----------------------------------------
Newsgroups: aus.snow
From: ccasm@cc.newcastle.edu.au
Subject: Re: Snow prediction
Organization: University of Newcastle, AUSTRALIA
Distribution: aus
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 23:23:03 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.074459.17436@trl.oz.au>, harsant@headplant.trl.oz.au (Dave Harsant) writes:
> A few years ago, one of the ski mags had charts of the cumulative
> snow depths for the Aus Alps (from gauges near Falls Creek) for each
> year, going back about 40 years.  The result was that there is no
> discernible pattern, no five year cycles, no consistent big year
> followed by little year.
> Dave Harsant,


David, was this the max. depth or the depth at some common date, etc?
From: cej@dstos3.dsto.gov.au
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Re: BigDudd
Date: 26 Aug 92 18:47:27 GMT
Distribution: aus
Organization: Defence Science and Technology Organisation

In article <1992Aug24.165953.1@cc.newcastle.edu.au>, ccasm@cc.newcastle.edu.au writes:
> In article <2996@ariel.its.unimelb.EDU.AU
>>, david@mullara.met.unimelb.edu.au (David Jones) writes:
>> ........1991 well that was a freak (the snowiest for 50+ years).
>
> A very interesting article, David.  However I find the above statement
> interesting.  My memory of 1991 is not good.  Late start - Falls creek in early
> July was a washout. Thredbo in late July was unskiable until a large drop on
> the first day of August. How do you conclude 1991 was the snowiest for 50
> years? In my opinion last year and this year support your theory.

Based on my experiences...

Falls Ck Mid-Late July               5-20 cm (stuffed)
         Start of 1st Week August    60 cm   (v. good)
         Start of 2nd Week August    130 cm  (excellent)
Hotham   Early September             302 cm  (wow, amazing, fantastic,...)

* You don't _really_ expect reliable snow in Aus in _July_ do you ???!!! :-)

--
Chris Jones                                  E-mail: cej@dstos3.dsto.gov.au
CSS/CD/ERL                                    Phone: +61 8 259 6758
DSTO Salisbury, South Australia                 Fax: +61 8 259 6328

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are purely personal and do NOT represent
            the official view of DSTO.

"I'm going to put the shame file in the sludge file!  Or is that the sludge
 file in the shame file? Shame, sludge, sludge, shame, ...
 That's life, get nicked.."   Derrin Hunch, Fast Forward
Newsgroups: aus.snow
From: ccasm@cc.newcastle.edu.au
Subject: Re: Snow report Hotham
Organization: University of Newcastle, AUSTRALIA
Distribution: aus
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 00:04:05 GMT

In article <djm.713421735@phobos>, djm@kbs.citri.edu.au (David Mills) writes:
> Having just spent a week at Mt. Hotham, I'd have to say it is probably the
> worst snow cover I've seen in August, since 1982.

Earlier this year I posted that I had observed a good indicator of the coming
snow season. This was based on moisture in the ground, or in this case the lack
of it - the drought is still widespread.

Those who had intricate theories why this (and any other predictor) would never
work must be now wondering. After all we had the best start possible - early
snow and lots of it.

What about it guys. Do you still reject this observation?

Big Al.
From: julian@saxon.syd.dwt.CSIRO.AU (Mister Damage)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Telemark Heaven (the FEST)
Keywords: telemark thredbo fun games
Date: 2 Sep 92 15:26:28 GMT
Distribution: aus
Organization: CSIRO Division Of Wool Technology,Sydney


The Australian Telemark Association Tele Fest is to be held
in Thredbo over the weekend of September 19-20.

This event is basically a gathering of the country's finest tele skiers
and the rest that aspire to their greatness. 
Tele Fest is your chance to ski with some of the best tele skiers around 
and learn from them. There are instructional/coaching sessions covering
beginner,intermediate and advanced. The advanced level will cover
racing (busting gates), bumps ( busting your skis) free skiing ( getting 
busted for riding without a ticket) and extreme ( busting every last bone).
The Fest is awesome value as you get tele-saturation with basically all-day
tuition with some very talented skiers. It is also an opportunity to 
hang out with other like minded telemarkers.

The second day is generally a party day with some racing, jumping and general
free-heel madness. Paddy Pallin brings along a heap of gear for
people to try out.
In past years there have been cheap lift ticket deals, but each year Thredbo
seem to get stingier.

If you already know ALL  about this and the ATA then please contact me....
I have been out of contact with the ATA for a while, my details
may be a little sketchy.
If you want more info drop me a line, I will ring some contacts in
Jindy in the next 2 days to confirm things.


Julian Dryden
CSIRO DWT
Sydney 
02 809 9345
julian@dwt.csiro.au
Newsgroups: aus.snow,rec.skiing
From: g9129499@cc.uow.edu.au (Jeremy Lawrence)
Subject: New Zealand snow conditions
Reply-To: jeremy@snrc.uow.edu.au
Organization: University Of Wollongong
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 92 01:34:48 GMT


Just a quick note: there is now a 4.2 metre base at Mount Hutt. This is the 
greatest depth I've heard of at NZ ski field. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
Jeremy Lawrence        | Home is where the heart lies,
jeremy@snrc.uow.edu.au | But if the heart lies where is home... -- Marillion 
Newsgroups: aus.snow
From: solnorda@dmpe.csiro.au (Chris Solnordal)
Subject: Re: Snow report Hotham
Organization: CSIRO. Div of Mineral and Process Engineering.
Distribution: aus
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 00:42:21 GMT

>In article <djm.713421735@phobos>, djm@kbs.citri.edu.au (David Mills) writes:
>> Having just spent a week at Mt. Hotham, I'd have to say it is probably the
>> worst snow cover I've seen in August, since 1982.
>
>Earlier this year I posted that I had observed a good indicator of the coming
>snow season. This was based on moisture in the ground, or in this case the lack
>of it - the drought is still widespread.
>
>Those who had intricate theories why this (and any other predictor) would never
>work must be now wondering. After all we had the best start possible - early
>snow and lots of it.
>
>What about it guys. Do you still reject this observation?
>
>Big Al.
>

Just because the outcome appears to agree with your prediction, doesn't
mean you were right !  (If I told you you'd be safe if you jump off this
cliff, and you jump and somehow miraculously survive, that doesn't make
me right !).

jjh@cs.adfa.oz.au (Joe Holloway) writes:

>The snow in australia seems to cycle through bad and good seasons every five
>years. Once every five years you get a big snowfall and the year after a bad
>season.

Weather is notoriousy hard to predict - many may even say that long term
predictions are impossible.  When I was younger, I was told of 'the four
year cycle', which happened to coincide with leap years.  ie the classic
season of 1964, along with the good snow of 1972, 1976, and 1980.  But the
really BIG seasons of the past 15 years have been 1981, 1990, and 1991.
Where do these fit in ?  Not in ANY cycle.  And so far this season has been
terrible, so that wrecks the 'four year cycle'.

But it seems that the last 5-6 days have changed all that, with extensive
falls throughout Victoria at all resorts.  So maybe the 4 year cycle IS correct.
Then that stuffs up the 5 year cycle Joe, and also the bad snow predicted
by David Mills.

Let's face it, no-one knows what the snow will be like at any given time,
or in any given year.  It's luck - and it seems that we are finally lucky
this year.  I'm booked in for 4-7/9/92 - hopefully I'll be lucky !

Cheers,

Chris.

solnorda@dmpe.csiro.au
Newsgroups: aus.snow
From: ccasm@cc.newcastle.edu.au
Subject: Re: BigDudd
Organization: University of Newcastle, AUSTRALIA
Distribution: aus
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 06:59:53 GMT

In article <2996@ariel.its.unimelb.EDU.AU
>, david@mullara.met.unimelb.edu.au (David Jones) writes:
> ........1991 well that was a freak (the snowiest for 50+ years).

A very interesting article, David.  However I find the above statement
interesting.  My memory of 1991 is not good.  Late start - Falls creek in early
July was a washout. Thredbo in late July was unskiable until a large drop on
the first day of August. How do you conclude 1991 was the snowiest for 50
years? In my opinion last year and this year support your theory.
>David.


Big Al..

Newsgroups: aus.snow
From: harsant@headplant.trl.oz.au (Dave Harsant)
Subject: Snow prediction
Organization: Telecom Research Labs,Melbourne, Australia
Distribution: aus
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 07:44:59 GMT

A few years ago, one of the ski mags had charts of the cumulative
snow depths for the Aus Alps (from gauges near Falls Creek) for each
year, going back about 40 years.  The result was that there is no
discernible pattern, no five year cycles, no consistent big year
followed by little year.  We have marginal snow conditions, and small
variations can mean the difference between rain or snow (or nothing).
The weather of last week should illustrate the unpredictability of the
weather.  The initial forecast from Sat 8th was for perhaps 1 day of
snow.  As it turned out, it snowed roughly all week.  It is often
difficult to forecast a couple of days in advance, let alone 6 months
in advance.  It can rain at -1 (as it did for a while on Saturday at
Buller before the temperature rose), or snow at +1.  So do not be
surprised if people have a bit of a laugh when the latest long range
snow prediction technique is launched onto the net.

--
Dave Harsant,
Telecom Australia Research Laboratories  |  d.harsant@trl.oz.au
From: jjh@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au (Joe Holloway)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
Subject: Re: BigDudd
Date: 25 Aug 92 01:08:48 GMT
Distribution: aus
Organization: Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, Australia

From article <2996>, by david@mullara.met.unimelb.edu.au (David Jones):
> 
	Lots and lots or REALLY GOOD Stuff Deleted....

> I rest my case with the data from the Snowy Mountains Authority
> snow course from Spencers Creek (alt. 1800 m half way between Perisher
> and Charlottes pass). If one takes the four seasons to have a snow
> depth exceeding 300 cm, (what I would call a bumper season (~ 1 in 10 years))
> one finds:
> 
>     1956:   318 cm.
>     1957:   151 cm.
> 
> 
>     1964:   356 cm.
>     1965:   146 cm.
> 
> 
>     1968:   307 cm.
>     1969:   115 cm.
> 
> 
>     1981:   360 cm.
>     1982:   91  cm.
> 
> The average max snow depth at these resorts is 203 cm. As can be seen
> every bumper season in the period 1954-1989 has been followed by a dudd.
> Pretty strong evidence.
> 
> Of course It could snow for the next month and blow all this apart but 
> who would complain?? I just hope there is good snow for my next ski,
> in a weeks time...
> 
> David.

Outstanding Stuff !!! Look out here comes aus.snow.stats. My theory being based
on a feel for things over the years, and discussion with other skiiers, it is
good to have it backed up by some good solid Numbers.

I had a skii last Monday. It wasn't all that great as the weather was not good
to us, but it was enough to satisfy that hunger that eats away in the back of
your head.

We went up to Blue Cow Mountain, and the snow there was outstanding. Anyone
heading there in the next week should have a great day, if the weather is good.

Still hanging out for more....
					-Joe- B^)
Newsgroups: aus.snow
From: len@mel.dit.csiro.au (Len Makin)
Subject: Snow Report: Mt. St. Gwinear
Followup-To: aus.snow
Organization: CSIRO DIT (Melb.)
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 92 06:28:46 GMT


Went up with a load of beginners on Saturday 29 Aug.
Weather fine with clouds and intermittent sun.
Made the car park early enough to be next to the ski hire
/kiosk area. No chains needed, road clear.
Snow down below car park level. Good cover on the road up
from car park. Close to car park was pretty thin, but
no rocks showing. We got to Jeeptrack Flat and messed
about with "slalom course" lessons. The snow changed
from firm to a bit mushy. Depth was around 50cm to 1m.
Bushes were mostly undersnow and plenty of clear areas.
As usual, I enjoyed the 2Km downhill run back in the afternoon.
Snow by then was porridgy, wind gusting cold, clouds thickening.
Don't know whether "rain falling as snow on the higher peaks"
became snow at Gwinear on Saturday evening. If it did,
should be more good cross-country conditions this week.

| Len Makin,  CSIRO, Division of Information Technology (Melbourne)    |
|             Supercomputing Support Group                             |
|723 Swanston St, Carlton| (TEL) +61 3 282 2622   (FAX) +61 3 282 2600 |
|VIC 3053, Australia     | Internet:len@mel.dit.csiro.au               |

Newsgroups: aus.snow