Trip Report: DRC13 spends 7 nights at Perisher!
Prologue
So it was the night before my 7 night trip to Perisher. I’m not a good sleeper at the best of times and even worse before a big trip. I planned to take a more relaxed approach to it this time. I’d had a surf during the day which traditionally wears me out, decided to not set my usual 2am alarm and just leave whenever I happened to wake so I would be nice and fresh for the first day on snow. This would have been a great plan if I had actually gotten to sleep. I lay awake watching Le Tour de France and knew things weren’t going well when I was still wide awake when it finished at 1.30am. I tossed and turned before eventually giving up and hit the road at 2.30am with zero sleep. I immediately knew this was going to be a long drive, I had a pounding headache and felt crook in the stomach. I powered on to Cooma Maccas dodging numerous suicidal foxes along the way. By this point I was shattered. I reclined my seat, pulled my beanie over my eyes and lay there in the car park for about an hour probably catching a crucial 10minutes sleep. I grabbed some brekkie and while not exactly refreshed I decided to continue my journey, next stop the ski tube.
Day 1: July 4 - 3042 Vertical Metres
I was riding solo the first few days before the gang arrived on Friday night. I arrived at front valley to be greeted by surprisingly fresh snow with flurries in the air. I’ve only been boarding since late last season so there was a lot of lifts/terrain I had never seen. My mission for the day was to explore which was made easy by the fact that nearly the entire mountain was open which is pretty impressive for this early in the season.
I did a few gentle runs on the way to Blue Cow. It was my first time to Blue Cow and I loved it. I did each run a couple of times. I enjoyed Excelerator as it is a bit of a longer run and nice and quick at the bottom. I also had a great time on Zalis bombing from as high as I dared.
I couldn’t work out the way to Guthega so made my way over to Mt Perisher. Upon arrival I grabbed a chicken schnitzel burger for lunch then continued to do a few laps up and down the creaky old double chair. Towers proved to be another fun run.
Eventually it was time to call it a day and catch the tube back to my car at Bullocks Flat. I drive back to the station and get my keys to a big 6 person room. After a shower I head up to the Bistro to grab a feed. I didn’t know you could go back multiple times so piled a bunch of different food onto my plate which formed a weird but surprisingly tasty meal. I had every intention on heading out to town to catch the State of Origin but I soon found myself falling asleep at the table.
I head back to my room, see the kick off and fall asleep not long after.
Blue Cow
Day 2: July 5 - 1801 Vertical Metres
After a good night’s sleep I’m up early and ready for day 2 of riding. Conditions once again are pretty decent and my mission for the day after working out where the traverse was, was to explore Guthega. Thetraverse from Blue Cow to Guthega was was fun enough in itself. I was then greeted by the Poma Lift. I’d never ridden one of these beasts and by the end of the trip my front leg urged me to never ride one again. A quick traverse over to the T-bar admiring lots of untouched snow off piste and I was up the top with a nice selection of runs to choose from. My first run at Guthega was down Bloody Mary and I was instantly sold. I tried to cover as many runs as I could all the way down to the car park and finishing off with Schnaxl which was great fun. It was about this stage I got a message from a teacher I work with. She was keen to catch up so we organised a meet up at blue cow terminal. She arrived with a family friend who was learning but doing quite well. We decided to ride to Smiggins as they liked it over there and I’d never been there before. I was a little nervous as we strapped in as this teacher’s brother happens to be one of the better park snowboarders in Australia and I feared I would lag behind. Fortunately she’s predominantly a skier who can also snowboard.
We do a couple of laps of Piper Park. I hate parks and soon got a reminder why. There are three boxes in a row and considering I never do them I was pretty happy with how I handled the first couple. I slide over the third one only to discover there’s no landing just a drop off. In an attempt to pop off my board slides out and I fall flat on my ass onto ice. It hurts but I get straight up with no fuss but soon find my eyes watering over as a deep pain shoots through my leg. I decide ignoring it is the best action to take ride a few more runs with them.
We decide to call it a day and I say my goodbyes.
Shower and dinner at the bistro again. I’m starting to find it increasingly harder to move/sit. By the time I make it back to the room I’m in pretty bad pain. I hop into bed and have a terrible night’s sleep waking up every time I move or bump my ass.
WARNING if bare bums offend you hit page down now!!! The damage, it actually looks worse now than this photo from a week ago.
Day 3: July 6 – 932 Vertical Metres
After what feels like the longest night, morning finally comes around and I struggle to get out of bed. I debate whether it’s worth hitting the slopes today and in typical stubborn style decide I’m not going to let an injury slow me down. I swing by the chemists at nuggets and stock up on ibuprofen. After a painful drive/tube ride I’m back on the mountain. Immediately it looks a little icier than the previous two days but that’s not going to slow me down. I strap in and join the line at the village 8 lift. Just as I’m sitting down I hear a whack and feel my leg jolt….. the bloody lifty has just hit my board with his ice pick!!!! He lets out a laugh and says “how’s your board mate??” but before I can respond the lift whisks us away. Me and the skier next to me look down to inspect the damage and are rewarded with the lift bar being slammed into the back of our heads. I’m pretty annoyed but don’t think much about it until the skier and his wife suggest Perisher are liable for it and they were happy to be witnesses. We unload from the lift I get his details and at their advice ride straight down to the offices. After explaining the situation the sales manager comes out to meet me and we take the board down for repairs. The board will be out of action until the next day so I’m given a hire board. I ride a 153 standard width but I’m given a 155 wide with blunt edges and bindings that don’t tighten up on my boots. I risk another lift ride up front valley and do one of my sketchiest runs I’ve ever had. I’ve now got the shits at what I can quickly see turning into a waste of a day. I ride the quad up to mid grab a $9 hot chocolate have a sook and decide to try again. After two more sketchy runs I call it a day before 11am.
I spend the remainder of the day passing time in Jindy mainly building a gear wish list. By this stage I need to do something active so decide to hit the lap pool. I don’t last long as I feel like I’m being cooked in the hot chlorinated water but soon discover walking around Jindy in Short/T-shirt and thongs isn’t exactly comfortable either.
I head back to my room and not long after my sister and RPS88a arrive. We head down to catch up with the others at Lake Jindy and cook our own steak for dinner. Not long after we arrive back at the room 4ce_full and his wife arrive. We’ve quickly gone from just me to a party of 12 people! I head to bed in pain and hope to put a pretty crappy day behind me.
View from Mid Station
Day 4: July 7 – 3163 Vertical Metres
Now that the Subaru driving crew have arrived there’s no more tube which is a bit of a relief as we drive straight up to the mountain. I pick up my repaired board which still has a slight hole in the side and now white glue where it used to be black but I just want to strap back in and ride.
Despite being in a bit of pain it’s a good fun day of boarding. I showed everyone around the best runs I’d found in the previous days. Snow conditions were a little more hard packed/slightly icier but it is absolute bluebird with goggle tans all round.
Ozgirl and I exchange a few messages but unfortunately don’t manage to meet up (always seemed to be at opposite ends of the mountain. I got in contact with DylanV but pretty sure we ended up cruising Guthega while he was over at Blue Cow??
I’d been keeping an eye out for Ozgirl all day in her trainee uniform. On the trip back a long Copperhead Road we were suddenly diverted off the main track. As we slowly creep by we notice a person flat out on the track surrounded by a few busy looking Ski Patrollers including our very own Ozgirl looking very important. I was tempted but decided against calling out thinking it probably wasn’t the most appropriate time. Hopefully the person recovered!
We all made a last minute decision to head out into Jindy for dinner. Unfortunately we learnt the hard way that you’re not going to get in anywhere on a Saturday night without a booking. We tried Banjos, Beach Burrito, Brumbies and Eboshi. After numerous knockback it was back to the station for another trusty bistro meal!
The Girls!
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RPS’s Car proudly sponsored by Boardworld
Day 5: July 8 - 2977 Vertical Metres
Today was nearly a carbon copy of the day before, just having a blast riding with a good bunch of boarders.
I had a proud big brother moment today when my little sis took off the training wheels and followed us to Blue Cow. Before I knew it she was doing laps of Zalis and Excelerator.
We also decided it was time to pull out the GPS trackers and have a bit of a speed run challenge. RPS88a and I did a few laps of Zalis and when traffic permitted bombed as much as we dared. If the perisher app is to be believed I topped out at 80.7km/h, I believe RPS may have had a slightly better result. One of our other mates (best boarder amongst us) was trying the same thing over on Bloody Mary at Guthega but came up short. It was a good adrenaline rush to end the day on.
Today was 4ce_full’s wife’s birthday. Figured we‘d take her somewhere fancy for dinner at…. You guessed it the bistro!
Little Sis no longer a beginner!
Terminal Chair
Day 6: July 9 – 2906 Vertical Metres
Today was the last day for a couple of our mates so we wanted to make it a good one. We started out by making our way to the furthest runs on Mt Perisher and then working our way back to Blue Cow. After lunch we headed back to Guthega and did a whole bunch of runs (we all loved Bloody Mary) We rode down Wombats to the car park when two skiers put on a show for us by falling straight through the chair and getting dragged for a few metres as they hadn’t realised the seat hadn’t been lowered.
At the end of the lift 4ce_fulls dramatic dismount added to the entertainment deciding he didn’t need to use the ramp as the netting down the side suited him better!
We ended the day with a great run down Shnaxls. I was instructed to lead the group as I’d been down it once before a few days ago. Off I go and we have 4 of us hurtling down the run all within a few metres of each other. We all get a little air of a roller when I suddenly realise I’m about to miss the turn off and put in a 90 degree turn toe side turn missing the trees by a couple of metres before ending up sprawled across the snow. Before I knew it I had 2 others performing the same turn/fall just avoiding me and the tree follow by laughter.
The wind was starting to pick up and snow was falling but we had to call it a day.
We’d learnt from the previous nights and made a booking for Eboshi for dinner. We all enjoyed a nice meal sampling a little of each other’s dishes. The little Japanese lady in the kitchen sure seems to earn her money!
The Boys!
Back of Mt Perisher
Day 7: July 10 – 1696 Vertical Metres
I wake up feeling sore but also head cold/fluey. With supreme confidence in my sisters new found riding skills I decide today is the day she learns to ride a T-bar. RPS and I do a few laps of Interceptor and had a blast on that little green run through the trees to the side of it. I spot the North P T-bar is completely empty so figure that would be a good place for her to learn. After an interesting/slow ride down to the T-bar it’s her time to shine.
She gets on first and I follow on the next one. We are ¾ of the way up and I think she has it nailed when all of a sudden she’s sprawled out on the track. As it’s only me and RPS following I tell her to get up and skate alongside me and I’d try to get her on my T-bar. The plan seemed solid until she slipped over 1m before I arrived. It made for an impressive collision and we both got to do the ride of shame back to the bottom. We had a few more goes with similar success before RPS doubled her up as we were ready to hit some runs.
When we eventually all got to the top we realised why the T had been so empty. All the runs around it were closed. Having never been to this area of the mountain I decide I should lead the trek! To cut a long story short after over an hour of trekking in thigh deep snow, a fall in a creek and multiple tree incidents we eventually emerge from the wild bear grills style at Roller Coaster after walking through the north face and devils playground. This trek had done wonders for my sickness and I was now ready to crawl up in a ball and go to sleep. We had lunch and I decided to push on despite feeling pretty bad. This turned into a poor decision as I ended the day with a pretty decent head slam which left me dizzy.
Taken during a much needed rest
Can’t be much further to walk!
Poser
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Day 8: July 11 - 296 Vertical Metres
I wake up feeling horrible, I’m sore and sick but being the last day I figure I’ll give it whatever I have left. The conditions are terrible really windy and a whiteout. Cars are being blown sideways on the drive up. We get to the mountain and decide to give it a go as there had been 10cms overnight. Not many chairlifts were running so RPS and I hung around the T’s between front valley and Leichardt. It was good to ride in some fresh snow but it was quickly chopped up with only the odd good tree run left and visibility was very low. After a few runs we call it a day which brings my week long Perisher trip to an end.
I experiment with a bunch of different sitting styles as I drive home none of them at all comfortable.
All in all it was a great week. I really enjoyed discovering new areas I hadn’t been to before. I was a little held back on progressing my riding due to the injury but riding with a bunch of decent riders is always fun.
Now that my big school holiday trip is done and dusted I’m back to watching the weather reports and hope to fit in a bunch of weekend trips in before “The Shred 2012!”
A wind blown tree
Panorama
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An edit of the weeks festivities. Best watched in 720p HD. I’m not sure if it’s just my computer but it seems very jerky via the embedded video but is smooth when played directly off youtube so consider that if you have issues!
Bare bums… then nothing 
Bare bums… then nothing
LOL 
I’ll put it up when I’ve uploaded the whole report, unless I come to my senses and decide it’s a bad idea!
Ah man this is killing me really is and on top of everything sweating my balls off.
How are your boots going Dave
Ah man this is killing me really is and on top of everything sweating my balls off.
How are your boots going Dave
You must have been really turned on by that bare bum shot! 
Ah man this is killing me really is and on top of everything sweating my balls off.
How are your boots going Dave
You must have been really turned on by that bare bum shot!
Hey common now when I posted my comment that photo was not there.
Gee K2 u like picking on me . Lol j/k
Ah man this is killing me really is and on top of everything sweating my balls off.
How are your boots going Dave
You must have been really turned on by that bare bum shot!
Hey common now when I posted my comment that photo was not there.
Haha well now that it is how are your balls? I may need to keep this in mind for Shred sleeping arrangements!
Boot’s are OK. Left boot which was destroying my ankle is pretty good now don’t get too much pain anymore and the fit is good. Still getting heel lift in the right boot which hurts my heel and shin. The movement is definitely within the liner. Still haven’t worked out how to attach the J-bars!
Enjoy your holidays mate there’s plenty of time to hit the snow!
Nice report DRC ... great you had a good time and it could have been a lot worse! You’ve reminded me again of why I wear my bum protector “nappie” !!!
WHy did you put your sister on alone??
And why was the runs at Nth P closed?
The only thing that was closed was the playground area. But then again there really is no runs at Nth P
Nice report DRC ... great you had a good time and it could have been a lot worse! You’ve reminded me again of why I wear my bum protector “nappie” !!!
Thanks mate, yeah if that impact was on my tail bone I’d be in all sorts of trouble. The pain has spread into my tailbone and all the way down the back of my left leg. Would a protector help the soft tissue areas? I’ve never had such a deep pain/bruise before it was pretty much completely corked for 2 weeks, it felt like the whole spanish soccer team kicked me in the ass each day!
WHy did you put your sister on alone??
And why was the runs at Nth P closed?
The only thing that was closed was the playground area. But then again there really is no runs at Nth P
We’ve doubled her a bunch of times and if she wants to be able to safely navigate the whole mountain by herself she needed to learn how to ride one by herself in case someone isn’t around. She sent me a message last weekend when her and RPS went down again. Proudly letting me know she’d just done 8/8 T-Bars by herself successfully so I’d say she’s opened up a bunch more of the mountain now!
No idea as soon as we got off the T-bar and went right it had closed signs up we treked through the trees and over the creek and never saw a sole until we reached roller coaster
The room in the bum shot - surely that’s not at The Station?
Haha Chucky! Prob an at home photo!
Oh good so you didn’t just shove her on a Tbar on her own first time!