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UPDATE: Snow Forecast – Queen’s Birthday Weekend 2011

UPDATE: Wed 8th June 1:30pm:

Another quick lunch-break update.

The weather that was forecasted eventuated. We had a strong front hit the mountains mid-afternoon yesterday which was followed up by solid showers from the SW through the evening and today. This was accompanied by cold temperatures and snow to low levels.

You can clearly see this on The Weather Chaser’s satellite/radar composite which has 24 hours history.

As you will see from the BOM’s 4 day weather chart the Low pressure system continues to move East, and forms a ‘cut-off’ low over the Tasman. These kinds of systems historically have favoured Thredbo due to the orientation of the Valley, and are often too far East to bring significant snow to Victoria, especially Buller. Also they are not as cold as a traditional SW Outbreak that we have just experienced so snow levels are expected to rise tomorrow & Friday. Weatherzone’s Snow page highlights this. However on the upside Buller, Baw Baw and Lake Mountain are traditionally favoured by SW systems so they will do better in the near term.

Here’ is Jane’s Weather‘s take on the situation:

SNOW IN THE ALPINE (>1200 metres)

This is the system that will provide a good, solid base, ready for the ski season.

The flow is S/SW today then S/SE on Thursday and Friday which will be warmer.

All alpine areas should get at least 20 to 30 cm from yesterday through to Friday. The S/SE flow will provide a wetter snow, only on the upper slopes, but will produce a lot of it (particularly Thursday). This will see some areas record over 50 cm up high as the total.

Today: 5 to 10 cm, but up to 20 cm for Baw Baw and Buller – throughout alpine elevations.

Tomorrow: up to 5 cm for Baw Baw and Buller, 10 to 20 cm for Falls and Hotham – only highest slopes.

Friday: up to 5 cm for Baw Baw and Buller, 5 to 10 cm for Falls and Hotham – only highest slopes.

Dry from Saturday.

So it still remains to be seen just how much snow will fall once the winds shift towards the East, and for Victoria, especially Buller I would not be too expectant of further snow once this happens. However NSW skiers could be very well rewarded.

If you are on the mountain and have anything to report or add, please drop us a line in the comments at the bottom of this page.

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UPDATE: Tues 7th June 1:30pm:

A quick lunch-break update.

Looking at the Radar the precipitation band is just about to hit the Alpine areas.

Jane’s Weather has updated and is predicting siginificant snow, down to very low levels tomorrow but then rising on Thursday:

This is the system that will provide a good, solid base, ready for the ski season.

By Friday it is likely that some of our alpine areas will have received more than 50 cm of snow.

The flow is SW today, S/SW tomorrow, S/SE on Thursday and Friday.

All alpine areas should get 20 to 30 cm. The S/SE flow will provide a wetter snow, only on the upper slopes, but will produce a lot of it (particularly Thursday). This will see some areas record over 50 cm up high.

Thanks Jane for the update.

Once the front hits the forum Observations thread will be well worth reading.

I will get on the phone later this afternoon to some friends on the mountain and update with some first-hand info. I will also start to get a feel for what lifts may run on the weekend.

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UPDATE: Tues 7th June 7:30am:

It looks like it was a cold but dry night in the Alps. No snow to speak of but temperatures under -5c across the region so snowmaking will be progressing at full power.

It’s a bit too early for the forumites to put in their 2 cents, basically they were watching the various different models that had a couple of very different precipitation scenarios & waiting for some convergence, and Jane’s Weather updates usually around 10am-11am. So we will come back to that later today.

However we do know that it’s cold, and it’s going to snow, we’re just waiting to see how much. Weatherzone and Snowatch are not being shy with their predictions.

The Weather Chaser has a superb animated satellite picture with radar overlay. You can see the cloud and precipitation on its way. My guesstimate from looking at the approach of the front is that it will hit around the middle of the day.

The Weather Chaser is an innovative site that compiles much of the readily viewed weather data into easy to read graphs and animations. Very helpful.

UPDATE: Mon 6th June 5:15pm:

As this post has the most appropriate title I will update it through the week with forecasts that are general to the Alpine areas.

This pic from Weatherzone is most telling:

weatherzone.com Snow Levels
weatherzone.com Snow Levels

Weatherzone is going for very low snow levels on Tues/Wed, with moderate depths to fall.

Jane’s Weather paints two scenarios depending on which forecast model you look at. One is proposing 20-30cm, another up to 50cm.

Snowatch is also proposing ‘up to 50cm’ and The Weather Chaser also has a serious prognosis.

Even if the lower snow estimations eventuate, there is significant snowmaking potential this week due to the low temperatures, so it would be particularly surprising if each of the major resorts does not have lifted skiing for the weekend. Skiing on Queen’s Birthday is excellent (and free) PR so they will be doing their utmost to take advantage of the conditions.

PREVIOUS UPDATE: Sat 5th June 2pm:

Bourke St Webcam
Bourke St Webcam

With a few centimetres of snow at Hotham and a dusting in the Buller webcam, the weather that was predicted for this weekend is beginning to deliver.

There wasn’t much concensus on the weather over the weekend itself, many predicted it to be mild and turning colder on Sunday night, so this was a welcome sight today. I was rugged up to go to the football last night and it remained mild and I was overdressed, but sitting outside at brunch this morning we were quite underdressed!

I wrote a post on Medium/Short Range Weather Forecasting last week, as much as a reference/link page for myself as anything, so I clicked on most of the links today and the overwhelming sense from them was positive.

It looks like we will see another front over Sunday night which will be cold and bring a small amount of snow, with yet another system looming on Tuesday that looks stronger. In addition to this the temperatures are set to remain cold for next week which will allow snowmaking.

Jane’s Weather is particularly bullish, as is the BOM Vic Alpine page. Weatherzone is not quite as excited however. The Weather Nerds are coming around as well, they were a lot more uncertain a few days ago but as the system gets closer naturally things are becoming more apparent.

So what’s the conclusion? I generally don’t like to make grand predictions, and a hell of a lot can happen in a week, but I would be very surprised if there wasn’t limited skiing at all the ‘Big 5’ resorts for Queen’s Birthday Weekend. Perisher is a no-brainer as they have already opened Front Valley, Buller should be able to open Bourke St, Falls with Towers and Drovers, & Merritts at Thredbo. I was at the footy last night with a senior Hotham person, they said that they are hoping for Summit, Big D & Road Runner on the weekend.

Who knows if it will pan out that way, but if the temperatures are cold enough we know that the snowmaking will supplement the natural snow, so it looks like there may be more than just drinking on the weekend.

What are your plans for the weekend? Will you head up for your first slide if there’s snow? Will you head up for the party anyway and snow is just a bonus?

Life as a Ski Instructor

This post continues on from my post last week So You Want To Be a Ski Instructor?

In my last post I covered the process by which you become a Ski Instructor, and some of the basics of the initial certification process.

But what’s it like to actually be a Ski Instructor? Well the honest truth is that it has it’s ups and downs.

But let’s start with the positives. You get to live in a beautiful environment, and for many their daily commute looks something like this:

Morning Commute
Morning Commute

And the view from the office isn’t bad:

The Office
The Office

If you like working with people there’s no shortage:

Meeting Place
Meeting Place

But what about the job itself? Unfortunately if you dream of breezing through the hiring clinig, being handed the Uniform and traipsing off to your favourite black runs saying ‘benz ze neez’ a few times a day, then you’re probably going to need to re-adjust your expectations.

After the hiring process there is usually a period of shadowing, where you follow experienced instructors and observe their lessons, potentially assisting if necessary, for about a week. It’s only then that you will find yourself on your own with a class, and you can bet your bottom dollar they will be beginners. Typically the hiring process allows you to teach Levels 1, 2 & possibly 3 until you become further certified, either by APSI (Australian Professional Snowsport Instructors), CSIA (Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance) or otherwise. Depending on the Ski School’s policies some people elect to teach Adults or Children only, but my personal experience is that this is a poor choice, it is much better for work prospects to remain flexible, and also each provides a nice break from each other. Naturally for the smaller children specialist positions do exist.

Fortunately there’s a surefire way to move your way up the levels – get certified. APSI certifications will unlock the door to spending time out on the mountain and also potential employment overseas. I personally found that once I reached Level 2 (now called Level 3) I was getting higher levels and having lots of fun, and of course Level 3 (now 4) and beyond was the icing on the cake. Training is taken very seriously by all the Ski Schools, and it’s an excellent setup as it has a dual benefit – the Ski Schools are able to offer higher quality lessons from qualified Instructors, and Instructors get access to the best trainers on their mountain to work on their skiing gratis.

My Class Skiing down from Buller's Summit Hut
My Class Skiing down from Buller's Summit Hut

The next topic that can’t be avoided are the conditions. We all love skiing in Australia, but I think few people are under the impression that it’s always perfect. It’s often, wet, or foggy, or windy, or all of the above. But now that you’re an Instructor you need to front up in all conditions with a smile. Remember that as a rookie instructor you’re likely to be teaching beginners, who generally don’t know the joy of a bluebird powder day – they’ve driven up a big mountain, there’s white cold slippery stuff on the ground, so in general they think that this must be what it’s like, and it’s your attitude that can make or break their day. But that smile is often hard to muster when you have wet undies and a river flowing down your inner thigh.

Epic Pow Day
Epic Pow Day

Next is the financial aspect. There’s an old joke amongst the instructing fraternity: “How do you make a million dollars as a Ski Instructor?” “Start with 2 Million!”. It’s not a job you want to do if you want to make a fortune. Entry level wages are generally approx $18/hr and can increase to in excess of $30 for experienced, qualified instructors, and depending on the ski school, in most cases you are only paid for the hours that you work, with no minimum guarantees. So while you can get up to a reasonably healthy hourly rate, the hours can fluctuate, you have 4 months off a year, and you have to buy all your gear, and an airfare overseas, and lots of beer……you can see where this one is going. Hard workers can save plenty of bucks but there are lots of distractions in ski towns.

It’s also a profession that lets you travel the world and meet some fantastic people from all over. Ski towns are usually very vibrant communities full of young fun people with a similar passion, and the kind of place you will make lifelong friends. I very much enjoyed living above the snowline, but many people enjoy life in Mansfield, Mt Beauty, Jindabyne etc. There’s never any shortage of companions for a drink or 10, nor lack of opportunities for romance. I met my now-wife in the ‘Magic Forest’ teaching area behind the Mt Buller Ski School – and no, before you ask, she was a fellow Instructor!

Party Time
Party Time

The hiring clinics start at the resorts in the next week or two – so what’s holding you back?

If you are, or have been an Instructor, please leve a comment below with your experiences, tips and tricks.

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Hotham To Open At Least 3 Lifts For The Weekend

Fat Flakes at Dinner Plain
Fat Flakes at Dinner Plain

This has just arrived from Hotham’s Marketing Department:

NEWS ALERT – 9 June 2011

HOTHAM ALPINE RESORT WELCOMES A SNOWY SEASON OPENING… WITH THREE LIFTS OPEN!

With at least 30cm of snowfall in the last week and further snowfalls forecast, Hotham Alpine Resort and Dinner Plain Village are gearing up for what promises to be a chilly but action-packed Opening Weekend from 10 – 13 June.

Hotham’s snowmaking team has also been hard at work supporting Mother Nature by producing over 40,000 cubic metres of snow with the snowguns still going! The most exciting news is the resort has confirmed at least three lifts will open – Big D, Summit Trainer and Playground (to mid load) – with lift tickets at $49 ($24 for a child or $39 youth).

“We are very excited about this week’s snowfalls at Hotham, providing us with a fantastic start to the season and our visitors with another reason to celebrate this Opening Weekend. As well as three lifts open and heavily discounted lift passes, we’ll also have snowsports lessons running and fun events for the whole family,” says Belinda Trembath, Hotham Skiing Company General Manager.

I spoke to my contact in the Department, they were quite clear that this is the minimum that they will be planning to operate, and if further snowfalls allow they will definitely assess at a later date and open as much as possible for the weekend.

Our Hotham blogger arrives on the hill shortly so you can expect regular condition updates from a local who is on the hill every day.

If you are on the mountain and have anything to report or add, please drop us a line in the comments at the bottom of this page.

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Hotham’s New iPhone App Is Now Live

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I got a sneak preview of Hotham’s new iPhone app on Friday night, and I’ve just been informed that it’s now live on the App Store:

Hotham iPhone App
Hotham iPhone App

As well as the usual features of snow reports & webcams that you would expect, it also uses the iPhone’s GPS capability to place you on a trail map, and track your day’s skiing. You can then compare with your friends on Game Centre

Best of all it’s free!

Here’s the link to download – please grab a copy and tell me what you think!

Snowmaking Has Started at Buller 5/6/11

Just got an MMS from Buller – looks like the guns are blazing:

Snowmaking Bourke St 5/6/11
Snowmaking Bourke St 5/6/11

Buller has also posted a similar pic on Facebook, and said that the guns are also going on the Summit

According to the AWS temps have been sub -2.0 since about 10pm last night, which is the in the optimal range for snowmaking. And with cold temperatures forecast through the week, the hard working snowmaking crew at Buller should be able to supplement nicely what mother nature brings.

Jane’s Weather has just updated, predicting 25-40cm next week out of this series of fronts. If this comes to pass, my earlier prediction of skiing on Queen’s Birthday looks pretty realistic. See you at Koflers!

Hotham Fresh Snow Photos 4/6/11

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Just got these photos sent through from Hotham:

Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11
Hotham Fresh Snow 4/6/11

Very good to see, I wasn’t expecting to see snow until at least tomorrow night.

Bring on Winter!

Ski Instructor Courses – How To Become A Ski Instructor

APSI Ski Instructor
APSI Ski Instructor

I was extremely fortunate to spend my 20’s as a Ski Instructor. I spent a decade travelling back and forth between Buller and the USA, with 200+ days on snow per year, 4 months off work in between seasons. I found myself skiing all over the mountain with some of Buller’s hottest young rippers, and Captains of Wall Street on Deer Valley’s manicured freeways. Time off meant chest-deep Utah powder and access to the best teachers in the land to work on my skiing.

It was an experience that I found particularly rewarding, and learned many priceless life skills along the way.

As we head into June the thought of the Endless Winter is no doubt occupying the minds of disaffected corporate workers, recent graduates & early retirees across the country. The thought of packing it all in and heading up to the snow is too much temptation for some!

So, where to start?

Historically there were 2 paths to entry – either sign up for the Instructor Training Clinic at the Ski School of your choice, or obtain a certification overseas. Until recently the Australian APSI certification was only available to instructors that were already employed at an Australian Ski School, with the only other choice being a program like the now defunct Mike Dempsey, YES, Canadian Ski Quest or SLAP.. These programs would assist you in obtaining the entry level Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA) or Austrian certification without being employed at a Ski School, however the downside was usually the cost as they require an airfare and a lengthy overseas stay. However the positive was fantastic training and skiing at some of the best overseas locations.

The resorts still run their Instructor Training Clinics as per previous:

Mt Buller
Mt Hotham
Falls Creek

However in recent years the APSI structure has changed to allow anyone to participate in a preparation course and obtain their Level 1 Certification. Perisher and Thredbo are 2 such resorts that are hosting programs that allow this, with successful candidates being offered access to potential employment. In addition to the minimum 3 day APSI Level 1 Curriculum and 1 day Exam, these programs include preparatory training to work on your skills and maximise your chances.

I contacted Matt Smith, one of my former colleagues who is a Senior APSI Examiner and in charge of the Elite Ski Instructor program at Thredbo and asked him to give some advice for potential candidates:

    What we are looking for on the SAD:(Skier Assessment Day)

  • Can they ski to a good level?
  • Can they interact with the other candidates and managers
  • Do they take direction well?
  • Are they punctual?
  • Are they well groomed and don’t look like a fishing lure with 18000 piercings?
  • Can they wear a uniform or is it a one man fashion statement?
  • Leave the head phones at home!

Getting Certified:

Certification is the key to a career teaching skiing. It is the only means of getting off the beginner slopes and into the powder, away from the toddlers and with the rippers. Most International certifications are recognised in Australia but the domestic system is the best suited to locals. I recognised from very early in my career that it was something to focus my energies on, and was rewarded with my Level 3 (Now called Level 4) Certification and subsequently became an APSI Trainer & Examiner. It was not a simple process but it allowed me the freedom to enjoy the very best the profession has to offer.

It is also these certifications that allow you to apply for overseas employment so you can pursue your career year round. APSI Certifications are of a particularly high standard and highly recognised world wide.

I spoke to my old Boss, Andrew Rae, who is the National Training Co-Ordinator with APSI and he offered the following advice:

There are some great courses around and one of the options is to do a four day course with the Australian Professional Snow Sport Instructors (APSI). The APSI has been the official training and certifying body for snow sports instructors for over 35 years in Australia and is an internationally recognised and respected organisation.

Two years ago the APSI opened up their courses to the general public to provide a “foot in” to the snow industry. If you can cruise around a blue slope and have a passion for people – then this could be the job for you.

The APSI runs Level One qualification courses in alpine, snowboard and nordic several times throughout the season in both NSW and Victoria. You get to ski or ride with the best trainers in Australia for four days and get assessed on the last day.

Your Level One will be recognised by any snow sport school in Australia or overseas and means that you can start work, enjoy the season and even prepare to move up the ladder with other exams in your first year.

Level One ski courses are now also available in Japan each year. Go to www.apsi.net.au or call (02) 64561255

My own advice is that you don’t need to be the hottest skier on the mountain, what is regarded as most important is a friendly demeanour, patience and good communication skills. In fact when I conducted Instructor Training Clinics over the years it was not at all unusual for the best skiers to be overlooked if their personalities were not up to scratch.

So now all you need to do is pick up the phone, book in to a course or register with a Ski School, turn up with a smile and a positive attitude, and you could find yourself embarking on a great career and a wonderful lifestyle.

The second part of this post – Life as a Ski Instructor – can be found here.

Snowfall Predicted Early Next Week – Snow on Queen’s Birthday?

Following on from my blog post on predicting snowfall it looks like something is looming from late Sunday into the week following. Jane’s Weather likes the look of it, the forumites aren’t so sure, but Weatherzone is more positive.

It has the potential to be a season starter, and perfect timing for Queen’s Birthday festivities, and also if cold temperatures follow in its wake there is snowmaking opportunity as well.

+144hr ACCESS G
+144hr ACCESS G

(The Blue and Green (and Yellow and Red in the tropics) overlaid colours denote precipitation, the black contour lines MSLP, and the bold blue line is the ‘540’ line which distinguishes whether precipitation will be falling as rain or snow above approx 1500m. Typically you would hope to see this line well north of the Alps)

I’m not too excited yet but will keep this post updated as things get closer and become more apparent.

What do you all think? Keen for a ski on QBW? Or will it just interrupt your drinking plans?

Medium/Short Range Weather & Snow Forecasting

Epic May 2000 Dump
Epic May 2000 Dump

In a post earlier in the week I covered what a futile question it is to ask “Is it going to be a good season?”, I feel it’s quite the opposite when it comes to Medium and Short range forecasting, and if you are someone that’s flexible with their time you can use this knowledge to make the most of the conditions on the mountains.

I don’t profess to be an expert as I don’t have that flexibility – I go to the snow every weekend, and don’t generally ski midweek, however I still do like watching the weather charts as systems unfold and observing their effects on the mountains.

Things have come a long way. As a child and into my teens, it was pretty simple. You would watch the weather forecast at the end of the evening news. If Melbourne’s weather was forecast to be 12C (or below) and raining, that generally meant snow. 13C was borderline, and 14C would only mean snow if the wind was from the S or SW. Thursday’s news had a Snow Report and that was it. If you were lucky, you knew someone up in the mountains that you could call, otherwise you read the total fiction that was snow reporting pre-Internet, and arrived at the snow uninformed and unprepared.

So, where to start? Ground Zero for this kind of information is ski.com.au’s Weather Forum. Back in the late 90’s, thanks to the proliferation of the Internet, experimental weather models and charts were published on the net, concepts that were hitherto only available to weather and climate professionals. Forum members began accessing these charts and predicting snowfalls, with a reasonable degree of accuracy. ‘The Frog’ was one such forum member who gained notoriety for his snow forecasting and has branched out with his own successful venture ‘Snowatch‘.

These amateur forecasters do not have the responsibilities of an organisation such as the BOM, and also due to having such a narrow scope, can concentrate their efforts on smaller areas and outcomes.

The Weather Forum remains as a ‘one stop shop’ for these forecasts. It is tightly moderated to allow efficient access to relevant information, and careful to denote the difference between opinions and fact. When a forum member sees a likely feature on a weather chart they will generally start a ‘Predictions’ thread that is tied to a specific time frame. Other members then comment on the prediction, and as each forecast model updates, they will post the latest charts to see if it is intensifying or more likely to become a fizzer. Then as the system approaches an ‘Observations’ thread will start for the likely timeframe and people on the ground will post their comments, plus links to weather station data, radar, satellite and live cams. It’s an effective approach and I am certain plenty of successful ski trips have been planned around it. However the crowd does not suffer fools gladly, so please don’t register and then post ‘What’s the weather going to be like at Thredbo on September 3?’. You’ll wish you hadn’t.

Readers of this blog will also see that I often post links to Jane’s Weather. Jane Bunn is a TV weather forecaster for the WIN network and publishes a daily blog on Victorian weather, and during the winter months adds an Alpine Forecast, which I find is an excellent summary. I asked Jane for the resources she uses to come up with her Alpine forecast and she kindly responded:

EC, ACCESS and US are the three models I utilise the most. I generally go with the scenario that seems the most likely, weighted by how the models are doing with today’s conditions.
EC is usually the most likely, but I wouldn’t ignore something on ACCESS if the others don’t have it. US is great in the short term (up to 3 days), and I would very rarely take the US forecast in the long run over the others. While the US definitely shows too much precipitation overall, that can often be the right ballpark amount for the mountains, in a system that brings a lot.
The main part of forecasting snow is working out when the precipitation will fall and how cold the airmass will be over that time period.

Thanks Jane for your comment, and links to the resources she mentions are available in this thread.

So what resources do I use? I am more focused on the short range than medium range – given that my days in the snow are fixed and I’m not trying to plan anything, I don’t see the need to look too far out. But on a daily basis I would check the following resources: (Note these are mainly for Victoria but NSW equivalents exist)

ski.com.au Weather Forum – https://forums.ski.com.au/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=6
BOM Alpine Forecast – https://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/alpine.shtml
Weatherzone Snow Forecast – https://www.weatherzone.com.au/snow/
Jane’s Weather – https://janesweather.com
ski.com.au / Weatherzone Radar https://ski.com.au/weather/radar/index.html
BOM AWS – https://www.bom.gov.au/vic/observations/vicall.shtml
ski.com.au Village Square Cam – particularly useful for watching snowfall overnight – https://ski.com.au/snowcams/australia/vic/buller/buller8.html
Mountainwatch LBS Live Streaming Cam – https://www.mountainwatch.com/Cameras/Australia/Mount%20Buller?cameraId=20014

Please post in the comments the resources you use to maximise the chances of good conditions on your trip:

One of the first ever posts on this blog was Snow on the Go which was focused on snow information for your smartphone. Naturally a year is a long time in technology so I will post a revised version shortly.

Simon Dumont / Red Bull Cubed Pipe

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Amazing Simon Dumont / Red Bull half-pipe experiment.

They measured his ‘standard’ run & took away the pipe sections he didn’t use:

httpvh://youtu.be/dUqsznQyyz0

Definitely best watched in 1080p and Full Screen