This year’s LP Ski Trip saw 14 people head up to Mt Hotham for two nights. Leaving the LP car park in Footscray around 4.30pm, we car pooled with our boards and skis on the roof and the boots filled with ski gear (and beer). Heading up the Hume Hwy we started the 4.5hr drive to Hotham. Stopping for a fancy dinner at Glenrowan McDonalds marked the half way point and by 9pm we were at Ray's Ski Shop in Myrtleford hiring some gear and compulsory chains.Arriving at Mt Hotham, we unpacked the car which was then driven to the carpark, 3km down the road. Lucky the free shuttle bus runs up and down the resort road until 3am each day. Finding our way to B’rush Ski Lodge in the dark, we had the 40 person lodge pretty much to ourselves (there were only two other people, plus the managers). Settling in by the open fire, midnight came around quickly and we all had to get our rest before the big day ahead.
Waking up on Saturday to the amazing view from our window and we took full advantage of the free breakfast to fill us up before hitting the slopes. By the time caught the free bus from our lodge to Hotham Central at the Summit, we were ready to roll when the lifts opened at 8.30am. Catching the lift up the Summit run, I was dreading the first time exit off the lift on my snowboard. Managing to not fall, I turned around to see Chris having his first taste of the snow. Soon enough though, the board was strapped on my feet and I too was spending some time 'sitting' on the soft snow.I spen
t most of my day playing on the green Summit run whilst the others sped down the blue runs. After managing to do one run without falling down (I was very excited at this fact), Chris convinced me to try one of the blue runs, which of course I was not ready for. It was however an interesting 20 minutes spent on my bum!
Purchasing a $4.50 can of soft drink at Snake Gully Hut, I went back to the Summit and over to the green runs at the Big D. I liked this area as it was a bit more challenging. Finally calling it quits at 4pm, I walked back to our lodge to start the relaxing part of the weekend. Lazing in sauna and outdoor spa, reading a book, watching snowboarding videos in the cinema room, ordering in gourmet pizzas from The General and taking part in Steve & John’s amazing trivia night!
Sunday came around and so did the sore heads. We packed up and left the lodge by 10am, taking our gear in the luggage sled back to the car. Driving down to Dinner Plain, we walked around the architecturally designed village and imagined how eerie this would be in the middle of summer.A lazy day followed watching a few guys perform some crazy stunts at the back of Hotham Central before leaving the mountain at 3pm.
How to climb into this adventure:
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- hire gear from Ray's ski shop in Myrtleford, before you get to Hotham. It's a bit cheaper and saves you time in the morning. That way you can wake up and hit the slopes right away without mucking around with queues at the hire shop
- if you are a beginner, you can get a lesson and green run lift pass. It saves you paying for the lifts on the runs you wouldn't be using (blue and black)
