AUGUST ISSUE, 2019
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FOCUS ON WOMEN Both resorts encouraging P4 women to push their boundaries on the slopes
BIG MOUNTAINS: Skiers Drew Jolowicz (right) and Toshi Pander living the dream at Mount Hotham. PHOTO: Chris Hocking
KANGAROO P13 HOPPET PREVIEW Australia’s biggest ski race and a Falls Creek tradition since 1991
TACKLING RUBBISH P14 ON ALPINE ROADS Local team clean up
index 40 years at Falls for Barry Jones Britt Cox new run
P3 P10
Serious winter, serial fun AFTER a cautious start to the season, and everyone on-mountain holding out for that ‘big dump’ required to kick start a real winter, a prolonged cold front in mid-July delivered. It started off poorly however, as many big cold fronts do, with rain. But all week the clouds remained, and the snow started to fall. Falls Creek and Mount Hotham were both blessed with more than 60cm of fresh snow across seven days. At Falls, the Summit Chair and Lakeside Poma started to whir and further terrain opened up at Hotham. The Victorian school holidays brought thousands of visitors to the resorts, which elapsed into the South Australian and New South Wales school holidays. By mid-July, almost 40,000 visitors had headed to Falls Creek this season – two per cent higher than the
BY STRUAN JONES sjones@ nemedia.com.au
bumper season of 2018 and eight per cent higher than the 10-year visitation average. At both mountains, a focus on women and girls in snow sports has risen to the surface. While Olympians Alisa Camplin, Britt Cox or Torah Bright may be household names, the reality is female participation in competitive snow sport is below that of male athletes. Both mountains have programs that look to encourage women towards new parts of the mountain, such as the terrain park, to spark their inter-
ests and nurture their talents. At Hotham, Park Chics is a weekly program that opens up the terrain park on Saturday nights to women who want to improve their skills or just check it out for the first time. The grassroots Chix with Stix program in September is a female-only weekend run by a group of like-minded, passionate snow loving women keen to share their excitement about snow sports. In July at Falls Creek, the Nikita Girls Who Ride Day and the Yuki Birds Ride Day were all about getting women together with a supportive group to go snowboarding. The annual Mim Sodergren Women’s Ski Program is also on again at Falls Creek, with two more programs schedules for late August and early September. In other news, a daughter of Falls
Creek has been honoured with a run named after her. Britt Cox’s Cut Through will now be etched into the memories of all mountain-goers who know that every run, every bizarre or mysterious name, represents a whole new world of experience on snow. The names of runs, and chairlifts, can become synonymous with some people’s greatest and lasting memories of their times on snow. August is the peak season for both resorts. At Falls Creek the cross-country scene begins its crescendo towards the Kangaroo Hoppet (Aug 24), the country’s largest ski race and a celebration of Nordic skiing, Falls Creek and Mount Beauty. At the mountain resorts, where a week is a month and a day on snow is a gift, enjoy every moment of every turn.
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