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UPDATE: Wednesday 11pm
If you needed more convincing that Chamois will open: http://lorrainelock.blogspot.com/2010/07/chamois_21.html
UPDATE: Wednesday 3pm
Here’s a couple of pics just sent by mx_boarder of the ski.com.au forums:
UPDATE: Wednesday 1:30pm
Cold nights have made for lots of snowmaking, and rumours are flitting around concerning a few new lifts on the weekend, specifically in the Horse Hill / Spurs area, and also the top of Chamois.
HH will be welcomed by many due to the reported long queues for the Village Shuttle Bus, and also the new (but temporary) Burnt Hut Carpets will aid in taking the load off the Bourke St beginner areas. Also the Spurs T-Bar is slated to open to aid skiers getting across to Bourke St and Shakey Knees. Federation is also rumoured as potentially opening – but only to relieve traffic on the Wombat chair, which will certainly be welcomed as the lines have been pretty long the last couple of weekends.
Here’s an update from snow-blind.
Jane’s Weather has an update on what we can expect over the weekend and beyond. The Weather Nerds are in agreeance that ‘something’ will happen next week, but the forecasting models are offering contrasting opinions.
Meanwhile things are looking up in NZ. Craigieburn reported 12cm overnight with more forecast for the next few days, very excited to get across there on the weekend.
UPDATE: Tuesday 11am
Just received this SMS from a reliable source:
Notice the guns going nuts on Burnt Hut Spur in this mornings video report. Horse Hill Chair is fixed so it looks like they are keen to open this area soonish.
The latest cold front has been a disappointment. 6cm recorded as of yesterday (Monday) morning and a dusting overnight.
Jane’s Weather gives a good account of what happened to the current system, and what to expect in the days ahead:
Tomorrow through Friday:
The centre of a high pressure system will slowly creep across the Bight through to the end of the week. That will keep the showers coming, but they are just isolated, on and south of the Divide, with the snow line staying near the bottom of the alpine area. It should dry up well north of the Divide, with partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies.
This weekend:
There are indications of a weak weather system. It is wishy-washy at best. I wouldn’t expect much from it at this stage, unless you’re near the coast.
Next week:
Still no big systems coming our way, but it stays cold. Latest weather models have a front falling over us by the middle of next week.
snow-blind is reporting that Chamois is a chance to open at Buller for the weekend – which I can corroborate as I heard the snow guns blasting in the wee hours of Saturday morning while leaving an un-named venue in the vicinity (coincidentally chatting to miss snow-blind at the time). She has also posted a couple of nice pictures from this morning.
So clear skies & cold temperatures ahead are good for snowmaking but not much natural snow on the way. Next blip on the radar for the Weather Nerds is July 25-28 but it’s still too far out to really be confident at all, but keep an eye on that thread as the window approaches.
You will have to excuse my enthusiasm being redirected to the Canterbury region of New Zealand for the next couple of weeks. I leave on Friday for a week skiing the Club Fields, and weather permitting, a day or two in a helicopter. I’m really looking forward to this trip and will of course keep you all updated with the conditions and our experiences at the various places we encounter.
