Any Port in a Storm - Hitting the slopes down under

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May 24, 2013, 4:26am

Any Port in a Storm :: Compass Points :: Oceania :: Hitting the slopes down under

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Topic: Hitting the slopes down under (Read 924 times)

ilbonito
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Hitting the slopes down under
« Thread Started on Sept 12, 2010, 5:30am »

Although Australia is the flattest and driest continent, it does have mountains. In fact, Australia has a greater area of ski fields than Switzerland. The problem is that by international standards, they are not very good for skiing. Our modest mountain ranges and poor snow quality don't really compare with Europe, North America or neighbouring New Zealand. Despite this, there are avid skiiers. I'm just not one of them. My recent school trip (as a teacher, not student!) to the slopes was my first trip to the "Australian Alps".

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Given the exorbitant costs and distances involved in skiing, it is very much an upper middle class activity. Recently, wealthy skiiers have taken to inundating towns in Canada and Japan during the Australian Summer break. In a surreal reversal of the 1980s, where there was a widespread fear that the Japanese would buy up all our best beaches, so many Australian skiiers have descended on the otherwise obscure Japanese mountain town of Niseko that it is now a virtual Oz colony. People fly to japan directly to Sapporo - skipping Tokyo and Kyoto entirely (unimaginable to me!) to ski - and then fly straight back to Sydney.

We, however, didn't have that kind of budget. We went to Falls Creek, a town usually about three and a half hours out of Melbourne. At the moment however it is a five hours drive due to recent flooding. We had to detour around it.

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What I found really amazing was the forest on the lower slopes of the mountains - it has all been burnt out in the disastrous fires two years ago, leaving a forest of stark, blackened, leafless trees. Fire and then ice, quite an environment!

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This is where the mountain ash grows, one of the tallest trees in the world. Individuals have been known to grow up to 112 metres tall and it is claimed that a tree felled in 1872 measured 130 metres, which would make it the tallest tree ever known. As soon as it was discovered and measured, it was cut down!

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The mountains are also home to a special kind of moth - rich in protein and fat - that were an important food source for the area's Aboriginal people, as well as the currawong, a sinister native raven with Satanic yellow eyes and a steely intelligence - they have learned how to unzip backpacks to extract packed lunches.

But perhaps the most amazing wildlife we saw (and probably heard) was the lyrebird, seen scurrying through undergrowth near our lodge. The bird is named for its sweeping, harp-shaped tail and also its uncanncy musical abilities. In this video, the lyrebird is shown mimicking the sounds of other animals and even manmade appliances like chainsaws and car alarms:

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bixaorellana
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Re: Hitting the slopes down under
« Reply #1 on Sept 12, 2010, 6:41am »

If ever something had to be heard to be believed, it's that lyrebird! I don't know why, but the camera with the motor drive noise was the one I found most impressive. Really, really amazing.

Whereas skiing is something that mystifies me -- doing something where you can hurt yourself in a cold, wet substance

-- the pictures are great. I never realized Australia had snow. The pictures of it frosting the peaks are beautiful, as is the exquisite fire&ice photo.

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ilbonito
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Re: Hitting the slopes down under
« Reply #2 on Sept 12, 2010, 6:59am »

I discovered I am a terrible skier. Not very surprising though, I have no balance.
The lyrebird is one of Australia's iconic animals. It is on our 10 cent coin.

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ilbonito
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Re: Hitting the slopes down under
« Reply #3 on Sept 12, 2010, 7:12am »

I was just curious about the history of skiing after my trip so I flicked through wikipedia. Listen to this (nothing to do with Australia but interesting):

In late 1939, the USSR invades its small north-western neighbor Finland... On long narrow wooden skis, precursors to modern cross-country skis, the Finns surround unwieldy columns of ill-trained Soviet conscripts bogged down in the snow, overrun and butcher them piecemeal. The invasion is thwarted; the Finns kill an estimated quarter-million Red Army troops and wound at least that many more. Finnish casualties total fewer than 10 percent of the Soviets'. The episode marks the largest-scale and most effective use of ski troops in history. It reinforces the arguments of US military skiing advocates just before America enters the war.

Ski troops killed a quarter of a million people?????? "Military skiing advocates"????

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kerouac2
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Re: Hitting the slopes down under
« Reply #4 on Sept 12, 2010, 7:59am »

A quarter million is amazing, but there are plenty of video documents about the Soviet attacks on Finland. France has an Alpine batallion (or whatever), but I'm not sure if the Swiss, Italians or Spanish are every going to try to invade over the mountain passes in the dead of winter. They are regular little snow bunnies with funny berets.

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I have seen snow on the well named Snowy Mountains of Australia, but your photos show a more than decent amount of snow for skiing. Has it been a good year for snow or just standard?

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ilbonito
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Re: Hitting the slopes down under
« Reply #5 on Sept 12, 2010, 9:17am »

Hahahahah! That photo is priceless. We actually had record snow falls this winter (its been a cold, wet one) but they were all washed away in a torrential week-long downpour just before we arrived. I was personally surprised the ski season goes so late. We are entering Spring after all. Apparently you can ski until October!

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lola
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Re: Hitting the slopes down under
« Reply #6 on Sept 19, 2010, 7:30pm »

I forwarded the lyrebird link for the amazement of my husband, of the good birding ears. Lyrebirds make mockingbirds look inept, and that's even before you see them.

It's a treat to see these sides of Australia. Thanks, ilbonito.

I wouldn't want those fellows skiing towards me in a military manner, berets or no. If the skiing Finns killed a quarter million and injured that many more, the Soviets must have had quite the large invading army.

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hwinpp
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Re: Hitting the slopes down under
« Reply #7 on Sept 20, 2010, 4:39am »

Yes, the Finns were good during the Winter War, under General Mannerheim and lots of German advisors. But they lost in the end anyway.

I think nearly all European armies have mountain troops, they're usually considered to be better than the standard troops. I learned to ski overland and we even learned how to build igloos though I can't think of any use I could put that training to now... ::)

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