Snow season

[paidal_chalne_vala]

The 2024 VIC. ski season is over or is it ?
https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/baw-b ... st-5754891

[Camminata]

The 2024 VIC. ski season is over or is it ?
https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/baw-b ... st-5754891

Amazing just last week Baw Baw was all green not a spec of white

Pic taken from a glider two days ago, found it it on another source

[Avatar]

Don't pack up those microspikes yet. Could be like 2009. A little more snow on the way this weekend. Enough for a snowcamp, but regular or snowpegs? Baw Baw plateau seems to have had a mini snowmaggedon - enough to use snowshoes on. Anyone skied St Gwinear on the weekend?

[Baeng72]

What do we reckon is best for a walk, with a bit of overnight camping on weekend?
I've got no chains, so that probably rules out Fainters, Buller and Baw Baw. (Buller doesn't have camping anyway).
Stirling, maybe park at TBJ? It's close and unless chains are required to get to TBJ, it's possible.
The Big Fella looks inviting, can park down low, as does Feathertop. Might be a tad windy Saturday night, but forecast could improve.

[Camminata]

What do we reckon is best for a walk, with a bit of overnight camping on weekend?
I've got no chains, so that probably rules out Fainters, Buller and Baw Baw. (Buller doesn't have camping anyway).
Stirling, maybe park at TBJ? It's close and unless chains are required to get to TBJ, it's possible.
The Big Fella looks inviting, can park down low, as does Feathertop. Might be a tad windy Saturday night, but forecast could improve.

Seems Baw Baw got the best snow for camping I would go there & if its dumping even better! little effort to walk and find a spot to camp and close to Melb can be a pre warm up for the big fella the following weekend before it starts to melt again, Or you could drive up free entry into one of the resorts and walk out to Nelse area or out to Mt Loch etc.... but chains just incase. looks to be just sightseeing snow up in the high plains which is very photogenic

Forescast BOM says snow in next few days and late next week but who knows....its never certain......?

[Camminata]

Don't pack up those microspikes yet. Could be like 2009. A little more snow on the way this weekend. Enough for a snowcamp, but regular or snowpegs? Baw Baw plateau seems to have had a mini snowmaggedon - enough to use snowshoes on. Anyone skied St Gwinear on the weekend?

I assume you didn't head up last week as you said? I would take both reg/snowpg at the moment IMO

[Baeng72]

Forecasts show cloudy and windy. No blue-bird sunrise on cards.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I am watching the forecast and the snow cameras for Sunday 22-9-24 and Friday 27-9-24 at Buller/ Stirling and Baw Baw. I have put more wax on my skis . I have
sufficient funds to buy petrol and drive up there and chase these snow falls.
If you hit Mt . Stirling at dawn on the upper mtn./ summit area on Monday next week then you might get sun and snow.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

https://www.weatherzone.com.au/snow

[Avatar]

Don't pack up those microspikes yet. Could be like 2009. A little more snow on the way this weekend.
Enough for a snowcamp, but regular or snowpegs? Baw Baw plateau seems to have had a mini snowmaggedon - enough to use snowshoes on. Anyone skied St Gwinear on the weekend?

I assume you didn't head up last week as you said? I would take both reg/snowpg at the moment IMO

No. My bad. It looks like it would have been a great snow camp on the Baw Baw plateau though according to PCV's report.
Maybe this weekend. Checking weather on Friday.


This is a shot going up Upper Stirling Trail taken after 4pm 21 July 2024 solo ski camp on Mt Stirling.
I'm old enough to get free entry so why not.
Trail ungroomed and rough going, one huge tree down on Fork Creek trail and needed to crawl under it with pack.
Drizzle going up, so damp and slow going.
Arrived at an empty dark hut 5:30pm just on dark and it got real dark and real cold real quick.
Too dark to see to fit batteries in headlamp so pitched tent in the 90% dark.
Kept dropping batteries in snow but they could be seen against the white.
Trouble finding the fly in the pack. Light drizzle coming and going.
Hands could not feel much and doing stuff was hard and getting harder.
That was a minor 30 minute epic but finally got tent pitched one step at a time and even got mattress blown up.
Made my way to hut, pitch black inside, and luckily, it was warm, which made a huge difference.
Felt my way around.
Warmed frozen hands, but no light from the coals.
I put my hand on the table and there was a box of matches under it.
After getting batteries in lamp I saw I had put my vest and rain jacket on inside out when pitching.

Upper Stirling Trail 21 July 2024

Went back on 4 August for more punishment, this time the track up was icy but got there with 20 minutes light to set up and pitched near the same spot.
This time the hut was cold, but still warmer than outside.
No firewood or kindling but I restocked those and had a great camp with company from the 2 hut mice.
Next day I left a box of matches, a candle stub and a couple of firelighters.

Snow Camp 4 August 2024

Bruised toe in a fall coming down icy trail the next day, but all good.

[Camminata]

Don't pack up those microspikes yet. Could be like 2009. A little more snow on the way this weekend. Enough for a snowcamp, but regular or snowpegs? Baw Baw plateau seems to have had a mini snowmaggedon - enough to use snowshoes on. Anyone skied St Gwinear on the weekend?

I assume you didn't head up last week as you said? I would take both reg/snowpg at the moment IMO

No. My bad. It looks like it would have been a great snow camp on the Baw Baw plateau though according to PCV's report. Maybe this weekend. Checking weather on Friday.


This is a shot going up Upper Stirling Trail taken after 4pm 21 July 2024 solo ski camp on Mt Stirling.
Trail ungroomed and rough going, one huge tree down on Fork Creek trail and needed to crawl under it with pack.
Drizzle going up, so damp and slow going.
Arrived at an empty dark hut 5:30pm just on dark and it got real dark and real cold real quick.
Too dark to see to fit batteries in headlamp so pitched tent in the 90% dark.
Kept dropping batteries in snow but they could be seen against the white.
Trouble finding the fly in the pack. Light drizzle coming and going.


Hands could not feel much and doing stuff was hard and getting harder.
That was a minor 30 minute epic but finally got tent pitched one step at a time and even got mattress blown up.
Made my way to hut, pitch black inside, and luckily, it was warm, which made a huge difference.
Felt my way around.
Warmed frozen hands, but no light from the coals.
I put my hand on the table and there was a box of matches under it.
After getting batteries in lamp I saw I had put my vest and rain jacket on inside out when pitching.

Upper Stirling Trail.jpg

Went back on 4 August for more punishment, this time the track up was icy but got there with 20 minutes light to set up and pitched near the same spot. This time the hut was cold,
but still warmer than outside. No firewood or kindling but I restocked those and had a great camp with company from the 2 hut mice. Next day I left a box of matches, a candle stub and a couple of firelighters.

Snow Camp Tent Pitched.jpg

Bruised toe in a fall coming down icy trail the next day, but all good.

Looks and sounds fun, I had trouble pitching too at Gwinear with the wind and snow and a unstable layer of crusty snow I kept on tripping over my snow shoes and falling thru so I ditched them and same problem fell over 2 or 3 times on my back rolling like a pig in mud , am sure the party of 5 100 meters away were having a laugh at me.

[Camminata]

I am watching the forecast and the snow cameras for Sunday 22-9-24 and Friday 27-9-24 at Buller/ Stirling and Baw Baw. I have put more wax on my skis . I have
sufficient funds to buy petrol and drive up there and chase these snow falls.
If you hit Mt . Stirling at dawn on the upper mtn./ summit area on Monday next week then you might get sun and snow.

Wetherzone and Mountain Forecast don't align to Bom what's more accurate or reliable , I find Bom is but sometimes MountainF is, what's everyone else reckon

[Avatar]

Wetherzone and Mountain Forecast don't align to Bom what's more accurate or reliable , I find Bom is but sometimes MountainF is, what's everyone else reckon

I use snow-forecast.com and the snow cams.
Predicted snowfalls in the forecasts tend to reduce as time advances.
It could be just their algorithm is set a bit too favourably for snowfall early on in observing a cold front or
is it that the predictions are consistent with long term past events conditional on the observations but cold fronts
are now attenuating and moderating more?
This is not a seasonal observation but appears to be in general.

I pay attention to BOM wind predictions.

What happens with the other sites mentioned?
They were predicting 20cm of fresh snow by next Sunday for Baw Baw 2 days ago.
Now it might be 12cm or it could rise back to near 20cm like last week's surprise (which didn't show up in predictions the day before).
It may end up with 1 or 2cm or just drizzle.

The 2009 Buller snow fall chart shows they had, going from a 0cm base, a 50cm dump in mid September that lasted for 2 weeks.

The Snow Forecast for Baw Baw for the next 6 days.

Baw Baw snow forecast for the next 6 days

The Mountain Forecast for Baw Baw for the same period. It's similar in appearance but numbers vary.
Not sure what the wave height map is doing in a mountain forecast.

Baw Baw mountain forecast for the next 6 days

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I will go by the snow cameras.It must be enough to safely ski on and justify the long drive.

[Avatar]

Looks and sounds fun, I had trouble pitching too at Gwinear with the wind and snow and a unstable layer of crusty snow I kept on tripping over my snow shoes and falling thru so I ditched them and same problem fell over 2 or 3 times on my back rolling like a pig in mud , am sure the party of 5 100 meters away were having a laugh at me.

Where's the trip report and photos for the St Gwinear snowmageddon? Nice pinned photo on your blog. Is that from the camp at St Gwinear?

[Camminata]

Looks and sounds fun, I had trouble pitching too at Gwinear with the wind and snow and a unstable layer of crusty snow I kept on tripping over my snow shoes and falling thru so I ditched them and same problem fell over 2 or 3 times on my back rolling like a pig in mud , am sure the party of 5 100 meters away were having a laugh at me.

Where's the trip report and photos for the St Gwinear snowmageddon? Nice pinned photo on your blog. Is that from the camp at St Gwinear?

Thanks Avatar, I didn't do a report but here's some photos , yeah pinned photo was at Gwinear Flats.

[Avatar]

Great photos Camminata. Some driven snow happening there and fun testing the tent. The snowgums up on Baw Baw plateau are something else.

[Baeng72]

Looking at Baw Baw cam, not a lot of snow, so snow shoes probably not required, which is good.
Falls Creek and Hotham don't seem overly snowed either, so I'm assuming similar for Feathertop and the Big Fella.
20mm (roughly rest of today and tomorrow) of rain/snow isn't going to make it much different in my uneducated opinion.
Wind in 30-40km range at Baw Baw and Falls, higher at Hotham.
I haven't checked out Buller/Stirling for conditions.
Of course, Prelim. Finals are on this weekend, so I could just be lazy...

[Avatar]

Looking at Baw Baw cam, not a lot of snow, so snow shoes probably not required, which is good.
Falls Creek and Hotham don't seem overly snowed either, so I'm assuming similar for Feathertop and the Big Fella.
20mm (roughly rest of today and tomorrow) of rain/snow isn't going to make it much different in my uneducated opinion.
Wind in 30-40km range at Baw Baw and Falls, higher at Hotham.
I haven't checked out Buller/Stirling for conditions.
Of course, Prelim. Finals are on this weekend, so I could just be lazy...

It's interesting cold and wet weather coming and some snow is forecast.
Buller cam today shows a light dusting with 4 days snow predicted by BOM, temps from -3 to 3 in those days.
The BOM National Radar loop animation shows a lot of speckled cloud over the Bight and moving NE.
BOM forecasts snow over 1400m for the next 4 days over Baw Baw falling down to 1100m on Saturday.
4 days rain in Melbourne with night time temps below 10.
snow-forecast.com has reduced its snowfall predictions down to 3cm from 20cm 3 days ago.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

The low pressure weather system/s this weekend and next Thursday both seem to have been reduced in their predicted potential for skiable snow.
Last Sunday was great at Baw Baw. If it is n't skiable then I will go surfing . Some solid swell /surf (with good winds )
is/are coming over the next 5-6 days.
I will go surfing anyway !

[Camminata]

Great photos Camminata. Some driven snow happening there and fun testing the tent. The snowgums up on Baw Baw plateau are something else.

Thanks

[Baeng72]

They are indeed top photos.
Looks like you got the sweet spot there, snowwise.

Was the weather overcast that time?

My best snow pic. this year....note the perfect pitch of the tent, a true maestro...

Lil' Tamboritha

[Camminata]

They are indeed top photos.
Looks like you got the sweet spot there, snowwise.

Was the weather overcast that time?

My best snow pic. this year....note the perfect pitch of the tent, a true maestro...

IMG_8229.jpg

Nice pic, what tent is this?

[paidal_chalne_vala]

A possible snow fall of up to 10-15 cms at Baw Baw is in the forecast for Thursday morning this week. Meanwhile the ski season in NZ keeps getting better with system after system dumping snow on the south Island.

[Camminata]

A possible snow fall of up to 10-15 cms at Baw Baw is in the forecast for Thursday morning this week. Meanwhile the ski season in NZ keeps getting better with system after system dumping snow on the south Island.

Forecast is clutching at straws... go surfing!

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Monday was pumping at Westernport. I was sore the next day after that big session.
Friday will be sunny and perhaps a 18 kms day walk at the Rubicon Aqueduct hike might be a better option.
There are new trestle bridges installed up there.

Alas there is not enough snow to keep your drink cold so walking it will be.

[puredingo]

Well I don’t know much about snow but the surf was definitely firing this weekend that was. Now I don’t know weather to do my jugungal walk planned for this long weekend or hope the surf repeats…. Wait! Anyone know if the gate from Adaminity to round mountain is open this weekend?

[paidal_chalne_vala]

Someone on the ski forum will know about the KNP and which section is open and which section is not.