NSW Nordic Ski Club
Grey Mare Hut - Trip Report
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How many times have I plodded up the Disappointment Spur road, longing for the snow to appear so I could just strap the skis on to make it so much easier and quicker? The time had come! It had been snowing for several days and for our four-day trip to Grey Mare hut we donned skis at the very corner of the Munyang switchyard. The weather was glorious, the snow deep. But there's no such thing as a free lunch. The snow had not been accompanied by the customary blizzard so it was soft as well as deep as we made the first tracks up the road.
It was hard going in the warm sunshine, not helped by frequent balling up. We were glad to be joined at Disappointment Spur hut by some NPWS employees out for a day trip. There, a cat and mouse game finally had them leave the hut first to break trail and we followed, thankful to have a half-firm track to ski on. The trying conditions took their toll though and it was 2 o'clock before we arrived at Schlink Pass. It was apparent then that we would not make it to Valentines hut that night as originally intended.
Instead we skied on to spend the night at Orange hut, but not before hearing some good news and some bad news. The good news was that a party had skied out from Valentine's hut that day, so there was a groomed trail. The bad news was that the snow was so deep and soft they had taken over five hours to ski the seven or so kilometres to Schlink Hilton hut.
After a cosy night at Orange hut (it is surprising what can be considered a comfortable bed if one is tired enough) we quickly found the other party's tracks of the previous day from Valentines hut. They had come up the eastern branch of Duck Creek, trying to follow the route of the fire trail, rather than the more customary western branch. This presented an opportunity to ski some new ground as the prospect of making new tracks in the still-soft snow did not appeal at all. The different route was well worthwhile as the top of the eastern branch is quite attractive, particularly as we had another glorious sunny day. Even following the established tracks though it took us three hours to ski to Valentines hut.
We did encounter a lone skier in shorts and t-shirt coming the other way who announced he had skied that morning from Grey Mare hut. "Great!", we thought, "There will be a groomed track all the way to Grey Mare hut." "Sorry." we were told, "I took the shortcut through the trees and it is definitely not recommended." So after an early lunch we left our gear at Valentines hut and set out along the fire trail route to groom a trail at least part of the way, to make a possible a day trip to Grey Mare hut on the third day. It was still slow going and I scored 0/10 for finding fire trail routes through the thickly treed areas. We skied as far as the Geehi River crossing though before deciding we should leave something for the next day. Spectacular views of Alice Rawson Peak, Mt Townsend and Watsons Crags with their heavy snow cover made the afternoon's skiing well worthwhile.
The next day started out just as agreeable as the previous two and we made good time on the previous day's tracks. A dry foot crossing of the Geehi was a welcome bonus and we soon reached the saddle overlooking Straight Creek, Back Flat Creek and the hillside on which Grey Mare hut is located. After a short sidle through trees we gained a big clear drift of heavy powder which we were able to ski all the way down to Back Flat Creek with no dramas. From there it is just a few kilometres of level going until the long slope up to the hut.
Lunch lolling about in the sun outside the hut was a delight, with great views of Jagungal and the Back Flat Creek valley. We were pleased to have reached our objective despite the heavy snow. On the way back to Valentines hut, on arriving at the foot of the powder slope we had skied down that morning, the shortcut now looked most inviting. We were at the junction of Back flat Creek and Straight Creek. Our location was only about 1 km from Valentine's as the crow flies, but about 4 km by our outward route. While we weren't crows, the slope up to the saddle opposite Valentine's hut looked relatively straightforward, with not many trees and several open spaces. We decided to give it a go, despite the warnings from the t-shirted skier the previous day.
The shortcut turned out to be quite straightforward. A ski along open slopes down Back Flat Creek to a saddle just before the junction with the Geehi and a gentle descending traverse upstream through trees brought us to the bank of the Geehi. Another dry foot crossing and a steep but open climb soon had us at the top of the ridge across the Valentines from the hut.
The time saved by our shortcut was spent gathering firewood, as there was little in the hut or woodshed. It would have been better not to have bothered. Just on dark we were joined by seven soldiers on an eight-day training trip. One of them had badly gashed his chin in what was described as a monumental faceplant descending Jagungal that afternoon. With ten people and five cooking fires there was plenty of heat and light being generated without the pot-bellied stove roaring as well, but roaring it was.
Light snow overnight at last made for relatively easy skiing for our return to Munyang. It was great to glide for the first time in four days. On dropping in to Schlink Hilton we encountered all the party that had originally intended to make the trip but had been discouraged by the leader changing the dates a few times. The weather was deteriorating so it was a matter of pointing the skis downhill and hanging on as the hard work we had done establishing the tracks four days previously paid off. There was still snow all the way down Disappointment Spur to the switchyard. at Munyang. The only complaint was of aching legs from a straight 3km downhill and a scary ride with no way out of the deep tracks.
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