Snow Forecast / Weather Update 16th Aug 2012

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Camping Gear
Camping Gear

After last weekend’s bluebird bonanza at Buller it was refreshing to see some forecasts rolling in. It seems that the resorts have received a bit of a mixed bag of weather, Buller announced 13cm of rain affected snow on Monday morning and a further 5cm this morning. I’m sure it’s all adding up, and the big daddy is yet to come.

I selectedd a winner for our Viddy competition held over the last week – it was a pretty easy choice in the end – the theme was ‘grom action’ but in this case it seems like the coach filming bore the brunt of it. Thanks to Volkl Australia for a cool prize pack and keep your eye out for more comps before the season ends.

Word all weekend was that the end of this week was going to bring snow, and the forecasts are yet to disappoint. Jane’s Weather is calling for the following:

20 to 35 cm today to Saturday morning (5 to 10 cm today/overnight, 15 to 25 cm Friday into Saturday morning).

Notes: This system brings persistent snow from now through to Saturday afternoon. We have light snow today, increasing overnight with the risk of thunderstorms, as the cold front moves through. Then we have the wrap around from the low, tomorrow into Saturday.

Weatherzone is in-line with this, as is The Frog though Mountainwatch’s Grasshopper has highlighted a small low forming that could disrupt the progress of the front. It is apparently slightly at risk of passing too far north. His full discussion is here. Even further into the future there is the chance of another system for next weekend.

(c) Mountainwatch / The Grasshopper
(c) Mountainwatch / The Grasshopper

The evergreen aussieskier.com post ‘How to track a Snow Storm‘ gives all the tools to monitor its progress through tomorrow.

As for me, it will be business as usual at Buller for the weekend – keep an eye out for the Volkl Demo tent tomorrow and Saturday.

But on Sunday night some mates and I head in the Harrietville direction for a ski touring trip to Feathertop. The plan is to spend 2-3 days camping and skiing at Feathertop, followed by a couple of days of slackcountry touring around Hotham and then our AST 1 Avalanche course at Hotham for the weekend.

Very excited as this will be my first real taste of the Australian BC. I’m also stoked to have Ford Australia on board, who are providing one of their new Ranger Wildtraks for the week – hoping to put it through its paces in the mud & snow, and keep an eye out for a review once I’m back.

Ford Ranger Wildtrak
Ford Ranger Wildtrak

A massive thanks to the ski.com.au forum members that have helped me out with the camping equipment:

Camping Gear
Camping Gear

This is the destination: (Pic copyright ‘Boodwah’, ski.com.au forums)

Feathertop (c) 'Boodwah' - ski.com.au forums
Feathertop (c) ‘Boodwah’ – ski.com.au forums

So, a massive ten days ahead, currently packing and charging and getting all the gear together – naturally I’ll be posting all the details once I’m back to civilisation!

Be sure to ‘Like’ us on Facebook as I will be uploading some pics & other details as mobile reception permits through the week.