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| Mt Buller 03.08.14 |
A very cold blast hit the Australian Alps at the end of last week, bringing with it some much-needed new snowfalls to top up the ski slopes.
Up to 30cms of dry, fluffy white stuff fell across most ski resorts, and on the lower areas of the Great Dividing Range, with even some hilly parts of Victoria and New South Wales seeing snow on Friday.
The weather cleared somewhat on Saturday, and on Sunday it became clear and sunny.
The fine weather has continued through the week until today, when the cloud has started to come in from the west. This cloud has brought a small chance of snow before the weekend, but the best bet for new snow is not until Sunday.
We skied at Mt Buller last Sunday for the first time this season. As we drove up from Melbourne on the Saturday there was snow on Mt Donna Buang visible from Kangaroo Ground in outer Melbourne, and snow all across the Cathedral Ranges. A fantastic and fairly rare sight.
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| Mt Buller 03.08.14 |
The mountain was very busy and you needed to get going early to beat the queues at the gate. we heard later that there were some major delays for people on the way up.
The snow from Friday had settled almost to the start of the climb at Mirimbah, but the roads were clear all the way to the car park.
All the lifts at Buller were running, and all runs open for great skiing and riding across the resort.
It was still a little patchy at the bottom of Federation and on the north side. But there was very good snow all day on the south side, staying dry all day despite the sun. Lots of people were heading for the chutes off the summit. The snow softened significantly on the north side, but it didn't get heavy as it remained cold (top of -3c) throughout the day.
This weekend we are up at Falls.
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| Mt Buller 03.08.14 |
Relief first then happy days for some areas in New Zealand as the same weather system that hit Australia brought a good snowfall over the weekend. Then more snow during the week.
Dropping temperatures on Sunday turned things white and erased the memory of the rains that dampened the snow at the end of the week.
The weather then cleared for a couple of beautiful sunny days across the South Island on Monday and Tuesday with visitors enjoying the fresh snow from the weekend.
The snow fell again into Wednesday, with up to 15cms at some skifields, replacing some of what has been lost. A storm then brewed up into Thursday with very strong winds putting lifts on hold in Canterbury and Otago.
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| Mt Hutt 06.08.14 [Source: Mt Hutt FB page] |
Winter has finally arrived in New Zealand and the skiing and life is good in the Southern Lakes and at least somewhat better in the Mackenzie and Canterbury.
North Canterbury and Nelson
North Canterbury is still a bit of a mixed bag. Hanmer Springs (11cms) has not quite had the joy yet and is still closed. Mt Lyford (28cms) was closed today. Rainbow (45cms) survived the horrible rain and worked very hard to open Sunday, when it snowed 15cm in the base area and about 20cm on the upper mountain. Rainbow has now opened the T-bar to the top.
Porters (50/30cms) received 17cm of snow since the weekend and but says it needs another 20-30cms to give access to the upper mountain. Mt Hutt (70/55cms) is looking better. After a shocker last week it got 30cms on the weekend. Then another 11cms and snow down to the Canterbury Plains into Wednesday.
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| Treble Cone 07.08.14 [Source: Treble Cone FB page] |
Mt Dobson (30cms) and Roundhill (40cms) have lifts open, while Ohau (100/55cms) has the best conditions in the area.
Cardrona (75/50cms) received 4cms into Wednesday and it is snowing again today. Treble Cone (75cms) had some good snow this week and the Saddle Basin has full cover now. Its still snowing today.
Queenstown
Coronet Peak (70/45cms) is looking a lot whiter, and The Remarkables (110/60cms) recovered well after the warm and windy wet and is looking great.
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