Last Thursday night it was freezing cold and *#@%ing down, so Jayne and I decided that you only live once and if we didn’t go to the snow that weekend then we’d be letting ourselves down.
So we did.
On Friday morning I hastily arranged accommodation at Bogong Village, which is halfway between Mount Beauty and Falls Creek (we were lucky to get number 27, the only 2-person house in the village), and late afternoon Friday we were on our way up the Hume. We arrived in time for a couple of beers and some pool at the Bogong pub (small, friendly) but even though it’s impossible to get a hangover at the snow we took it easy and were back at our cabin early, relatively speaking.
We were expecting snow overnight but the stars decided to shine all night long, so we awoke to a frost and clear blue skies instead of 30cm of fresh (never mind). We’d brought no breakfast provisions (mistake), so after a quick shower we drove the 15 minutes up the mountain to the day car park at Falls, geared up, and headed to what used to be the Snowlands cafe for a cooked breakfast.
Gearing up in the car park
With full bellies we were ready to hit the slopes, so we took what used to be the Halley’s Comet chair (now Falls Express) up to Cloud 9 and made our way to Panorama (green) so that Jayne could iron out some of the cobwebs that had formed in the 4 years since she last strapped into a snowboard.
Me near Cloud 9
Ooh she was rusty. Like a 3-day beginner at times. But after three or four runs she started to get it together and was looking good. Her confidence was even built enough to have a crack at the blue stuff through the trees (Milky Way, Last Hoot, Fast Hoot) that she last enjoyed with back in 2004. Sadly, on run #1, she fell twice on her @rse on some sketchy stuff and really hurt herself.
Young, J L. Retired Hurt.
That left me on my own for the rest of the day to sample the resort’s runs. Not what we had in mind, but with JY happy to take her gear back to the car and wander around the village with the camera I was free to carve up the steeper stuff at my own pace, which was OK. I rode most of the south side (Quartz Ridge, Powderkeg, Dark Side, Shadow Ridge, Racecourse, Big Dipper, Father Fosters) before spending an hour or so watching the maniacs tackle the Ruined Castle terrain park, then heading over to the bowl via The Y’s. I had one run down Exhibition and another down Cabbage Patch before lunch at Cafe Max, then another hour or so at Scotty’s and Ruined Castle before calling it a day. Map here (PDF).
Riding the Lakeside poma
Choices, choices
The famous terrain park bus. Yep, it’s a railslide kinda thing
Lunch in Cafe Max (which is where we first laid eyes upon each other back in 1999, so it’s dear to our hearts even though it creates holes in our wallets)
Me (well, my feet) readying myself for a crack at Exhibition. That’s the Village Bowl down below
Cat Track somewhere in the village
Snow shape at unknown lodge (might be Nelse)
Wobbly video I shot of me riding Father Fosters near the Ruined Castle Chair
(to come via YouTube) Quality is terrible, so it’s not worth showing here.
Bogong Village was great: VERY cheap compared to staying on mountain yet only 10 minutes drive down the hill.We went for a small walk on Sunday morning before heading home down the dreaded Hume and the TOTAL NIGHTMARE Ring Road. That has got to be the worst road in Australia. We hate it, completely. If only there was an alternative route.
Anyway. Enough about that. Bogong Village was comfortable, quiet, and the food at the pub was good. We’ll stay there again.
Bogong Village scene
A good weekend even though Jayne hurt herself, and now we can put the snowboards away until next season.
There are a few more photos on our Picasa page.
I enjoyed writing that. I’ll try to make a bigger effort with this blog from now on.
