NSW Nordic Ski Club
From the Ball to the Bald
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This year as the legendary Cabramurra Tour and Snow Ball approached, the Snow God duly provided plenty of the white stuff, so no "Perisher Shuffle" this year (phew!) (last year the race had to be held at Perisher Valley because of a lack of snow at Cabramurra -eds) Driving into Cabramurra it looked picturesque with its blanket of snow and being a big kid, my skiing companion John Patterson was amazed no-one had even put as much as a footprint on the soccer field. After sampling their finest from the dining room and the bar we settled in for the night with only the odd thump and cursing from the late arriving "possums".
The next day dawned bright and clear, picture perfect! We wandered up to check out the track. John said the track looked as though it had been groomed by dragging a mallee stump behind a tractor, with dips that big it would have scared any Sydney to Hobart contestant!
Then the race was on and after it seemed four seconds the leaders disappeared with Warren and Yakov in tow. Even though it was a classic race, I did however see some skating tracks-any clue Yakov? (Yakov was warned for using skating technique in the race, a naughty-naughty -eds) . John and Anne McKenzie had a good battle with Anne having better grip and John having better glide. John got the upper hand with Anne crashing near the finish (John said he had nothing to do with it). A good day was had by all with Gabby, Anne and Warren picking up age group medals, well done!
After a sumptuous luncheon prepared by Warren, everyone wandered off to practise their teles on the downhill slope at Cabramurra or play on the trails, leaving John and I to pack for our tour to Far Bald Mountain.
Just as Warren was assuring us we did not to be at the Cabramurra Ball until 7 pm, the phone rang at 6.30 and they asked where were we, dinner was on! After a fine repast, it was time to hit the dance floor and as usual the ski club did it in style (there should be some interesting photos). One of the locals, a 7 year old boy, liked us so much he joined us down in the "mosh pit" at every opportunity and was able to do the Bus Stop, the Nutbush and AC/DC air guitar solos while the rest of us were flagging. All of a sudden it was 2am and with everyone walking or looking funny, it was time for bed.
John and I were hoping for an early start (I was hoping to make it to Brooks Hut) but the combination of the previous days events took their toll and we left Mt Selwyn at the crack of 11.30 am ! (still unlike some others there we did put our skis on that day). Fortunately, the weather and the snow were perfect and soon we were at 4 mile Hut and admiring the good work of the club carers. John provided the entertainment of the day as he found his limbo skills of the night before wanting, he ducked under a branch and the rest is history.
By Tabletop Mountain we'd had enough and set up camp in a pretty little gully facing north. After a sumptuous feast of chicken laksa we crashed, not waking up till 8 am the following morning. After porridge, brown sugar and cream with bacon and eggs (more lard please!) we were away past Brooks Hut by lunch and finding just enough snow on Happy Jacks Plain to ski all the way to Boobee Hut. Oh yeah did I mention the snow and weather were perfect? Of course they were. The next day was our rest day and even though we ended up doing about 15km touring and playing about, at least we didn't have those bloody packs on! I was hoping for another rest day to practise our teles on Far Bald Mountain but with John's wife just about due to deliver their baby, we decided to head home (boo!)
After a cold night the day dawned yep-perfect. I was amazed as we skied up Temperance Creek to still find patches of light fluffy snow and not a track in sight (someone has to do it ). We set up camp in one of the tributaries and skied across to the next ridge to see the sun setting on Mount Jagungal (ooh..) A tip would be Temperance Creek as it has some really nice campsites and slopes to play on, maybe a good spot for a snow camping trip. Another cold night and we packed up in glorious sunshine and soon we were zooming along, skirting Mount Tabletop where I performed my 2 and a half twist reverse pike (difficulty 5.0) after tangling with a dead bush. John skied past singing the "the day just keeps getting better all the time" The ski from Tabletop to the head of 4 mile creek was a hoot with lots of nice sliding through the trees. Seeing we had missed some of our daily fat intake, I cooked up bacon and eggs for lunch with a brew as we soaked up the sun, fantastic!
In no time we were back at Selwyn and with a couple of final teles we were at the bar sipping a beer overlooking where we had been. We had been blessed by good weather, great snow, the Snow Ball and a great Cabramurra Tour. You cannot ask for much more . Thanks everyone and we will be back. However these are Bruce and Johnnies Tips for the week.
- Hire racing skis for the Tour, after the umpteenth clover leaf during the race, touring skis really dragged.
- Don't stay up till 2 am drinking red wine before putting on a 24kg pack and trying to ski 15kms!
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