Mt. Stirling July 23rd, 24th 2016

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Mt. Stirling July 23rd, 24th 2016

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Mon 25 Jul, 2016 11:40 am

Hi, I just got back from Mt Stirling. I was leading a VNPA snow camping/ snow shoe trip. The forecast on Thursday and Friday looked like real doom and gloom. The snow cams showed the summit of Mt Stirling was green in July !! :-0 . Most of the snow cover on Buller and Stirling was decimated and obliterated by warm torrential rain and high winds.
We camped at Carter's Mill on Friday night. It rained so much I wished I had brought my scuba gear and a canoe not my snow gear. :shock: :roll:
Still we persisted and the man at Mirimbah on Sat. July 23rd 2016 said that 26 cms of fresh snow had fallen overnight.
We went up the Mt Stirling road yesterday and by chain bay two it was snowing and by chain bay 3 we had to put the chains on the vehicle.There were trees that had been recently chain sawed to clear the road because of the gale force winds on Friday.
The Snow plough machine was at work too, clearing the road. We were suddenly hopeful whereas before we thought we had picked the worst weekend for the [ lack of ]snow at Mt Stirling.
When we arrived at TBJ it was completely white. We were chuffed. :D
To quote the ski patroller who I overheard on the phone say :
"Yesterday was doom and gloom, no other way to put it but we are BACK ON today". :D
It was white all the way up the Bluff spur trail. It was snowing a lot , dry , fluffy, thick powder snow once we hit the half way mark up the trail where the sign says you can kiss your backside goodbye now if the Alpine weather changes for the worse. We had to invent a XC route to get around a fallen tree. The snow off the track was knee deep.
Up at the Bluff spur hut it was powder city and we were elated. :D
Digging the tent sites showed that there was a lot of dry ,fresh snow.
It kept snowing on and off.
Up at the summit it was extremely windy and cold. I couldn't feel my face or see very far at all .The next pole along the pole line was the furthest I could see. I couldn't hear my companions talk!. It was wild up there. The lone snow gum tree was far from a buried mound but it was still there.
It was very cold last night and it snowed more too. The condensation inside my tent froze and turned to dry ice.
I was wearing 2 fleece tops, thermals and a down vest and my duck down 4 seasons sleeping bag was zipped up , up uppity up!:zzz:
Spin drifts were hard to keep out of the 4 seasons tent despite digging the tent site etc.
Today it began throwing it down, big flakes of powder snow as we descended via the King Spur hut, The Cricket pitch and the shelter at Machinery hut. :)
Back at TBJ it was hammering down with dry fresh snow. Our cars were covered in about 40 Cm of dry snow.
It kept snowing down to at least chain bay 2.
Do not lose hope about this snow season because after this weekend at Mt Stirling I am a believer!.
It may not have a strong base but they have started grooming the trails today. There are still some exposed sections and some hazards but give it another 2 days of these kind of dry heavy snow falls and it will be back to rated Very good to Excellent along most of the trails.
Next weekend will possibly be sunny with full, deep, dry , groomed cover. Yep , more corduroy than a folk festival . :lol:
Mt. Stirling has delivered the goods just when we thought all was lost and that we'd picked the wrong weekend to make the trip . Mt .Stirling is Most excellent.
paidal_chalne_vala
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Re: Mt. Stirling July 23rd, 24th 2016

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Sun 31 Jul, 2016 11:18 pm

http://www.meetup.com/BWAG-Bushwalking- ... /27160106/
Photos of the trip via this webpage/ interwebby linky thingy.
paidal_chalne_vala
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Re: Mt. Stirling July 23rd, 24th 2016

Postby neilmny » Mon 01 Aug, 2016 5:31 am

Nice photos and looks like you had some good snow too..
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Re: Mt. Stirling July 23rd, 24th 2016

Postby paidal_chalne_vala » Fri 12 Aug, 2016 12:03 am

I have added some more pic.s to that link.
http://www.meetup.com/BWAG-Bushwalking- ... /27160106/
paidal_chalne_vala
Lagarostrobos franklinii
Lagarostrobos franklinii
 
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