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International (Europe/Japan/Southern Hemisphere) Relocating to Australia

Mattadvproject

Love that powder!
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And a little far for you in NSW, but my old stomping grounds at Mt. Hotham in Vic (I did 9 seasons teaching at Hotham), have awesome skiing when the snow is good (August is normally peak conditions), then they have possibly the best inbounds terrain and a ton of sidecountry. Hotham is unique in that the village is close to the top of the mountain and you ski down to get to most of the runs (apart from Summit/Drift areas). On a powder day, it can be really fun skiing -


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I think Australia might surprise you. When the conditions are good (which is not always admittedly), then there's a lot of good resort skiing and backcountry skiing to be had. NZ is great too, but can be unreliable at times also. To me, it seemed like Aus and NZ never had good conditions at the same time, the storm tracks are different. Either Aus was having a good season or NZ was, I can't remember a time when both were firing. I could be wrong on that, that's just from my memories dating back from 2001 to 2009.....


 
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Decreed_It

Decreed_It

I'd rather be skiing
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Northern Beaches, Sydney, Australia
Thread Starter
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Decreed_It

Decreed_It

I'd rather be skiing
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Location
Northern Beaches, Sydney, Australia
And a little far for you in NSW, but my old stomping grounds at Mt. Hotham in Vic (I did 9 seasons teaching at Hotham), have awesome skiing when the snow is good (August is normally peak conditions), then they have possibly the best inbounds terrain and a ton of sidecountry. Hotham is unique in that the village is close to the top of the mountain and you ski down to get to most of the runs (apart from Summit/Drift areas). On a powder day, it can be really fun skiing -


.


I think Australia might surprise you. When the conditions are good (which is not always admittedly), then there's a lot of good resort skiing and backcountry skiing to be had. NZ is great too, but can be unreliable at times also. To me, it seemed like Aus and NZ never had good conditions at the same time, the storm tracks are different. Either Aus was having a good season or NZ was, I can't remember a time when both were firing. I could be wrong on that, that's just from my memories dating back from 2001 to 2009.....


Yup. That'll do.

I just so happen to have a road trip Syndey - Melbourne round trip to pick up the dogs when they ship in, early September. Will make the trip down a mini ski tour.
 

geepers

Skiing the powder
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Yup. That'll do.

I just so happen to have a road trip Syndey - Melbourne round trip to pick up the dogs when they ship in, early September. Will make the trip down a mini ski tour.

As @Mattadvproject wrote August is usually the best month. And earlier Aug generally better quality snow than later Although there may be more depth later. September is starting to warm significantly.

As a guide I rarely go skiing until the creek (circled in red below) on today's Mt Perisher snow cam is completely covered. Which is mostly not until the second half of July.

1653778696803.png


Matt's also correct - when Australia is good it's entertaining skiing. And, yep, also noticed that when we get good storms NZ doesn't. When the storm fronts pass south of Australia, NZ gets the freshies.
 
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Decreed_It

Decreed_It

I'd rather be skiing
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R do
As @Mattadvproject wrote August is usually the best month. And earlier Aug generally better quality snow than later Although there may be more depth later. September is starting to warm significantly.

As a guide I rarely go skiing until the creek (circled in red below) on today's Mt Perisher snow cam is completely covered. Which is mostly not until the second half of July.

View attachment 170186


Matt's also correct - when Australia is good it's entertaining skiing. And, yep, also noticed that when we get good storms NZ doesn't. When the storm fronts pass south of Australia, NZ gets the freshies.
hmmm may try to move my dogs up a bit the challenge is August is the worst month for heat and humidity here in the SE US, tough on dogs flying. It’s nasty. In my research Sydney area is way more temperate, doesn’t get nearly as hot or cold as it does in North Carolina. Flip side is y’all have had one hell of a La Niña year with insane rainfall I know everyone is sick of! Record shattering if I’m not mistaken? Hope we bring some weather luck with us on the move in the form of an epic outlier snow winter!
 
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geepers

Skiing the powder
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R do

hmmm may try to move my dogs up a bit the challenge is August is the worst month for heat and humidity here in the SE US, tough on dogs flying. It’s nasty. In my research Sydney area is way more temperate, doesn’t get nearly as hot or cold as it does in North Carolina. Flip side is y’all have had one hell of a La Niña year with insane rainfall I know everyone is sick of! Record shattering if I’m not mistaken? Hope we bring some weather luck with us on the move in the form of an epic outlier snow winter!

Hmmm... gets plenty hot in Sydney and humid as well. Partly depends where living as the seaside suburbs typically get summer seas breeze. Can be brutal only a little further inland - Penrith holds the record with 48.9 deg C during the last bush fire summer. Doesn't get very cold in winter - these days rare to have a frost anywhere in Sydney.

In terms of the NSW season (and Victoria for Hotham / Falls Creek / Mt Buller similar):
1. Official opening is early June. Not uncommon to have zero snow that weekend although there's a good chance of playing on some man-made.
2. Typically snow begins to stick around either naturally or man-made late June and into July. Depends on luck with storms and one cold front can bring either an awesome dump or devastating rain. Rock skis are the best bet.
3. School holidays are 2-3 weeks in July. This year NSW school holidays are 1-18 July. Generally not a great time to ski.
4. That Mt Perisher creek generally fills in about the time the kids go back to school and with a bit of luck skiing gets better from there until warmer weather arrives, typically in the 2nd half of August.
5. There will be snow around until late September, early October but it will get progressively slushy and heavy. But it happens that a late storm will top it up nicely. But usually the biggest problem is keeping cool.

Of course a storm or so can change the situation for better or worse at any point in the season. Same as most places - we're just closer to 0 deg C than most.

For forecasts The Grasshopper is probably as good as anybody:

 
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Decreed_It

Decreed_It

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Looks like Australian border security is getting warmed up for your arrival Corbin...... be careful Down Unda!


I saw that LOL - I subscribed to several local news stations in Sydney and "Brissie" if I got that right - it's as amusing and sometimes disturbing as our local news here. I've concluded that QLD and Brissie especially are Australia's equivalent of our own Florida as in "Florida Man . . . " stories. Don't get me wrong NSW has their fair share. Magpie attacks. Flooding. Gangbangers and meth heads and low level criminals abound.
 

James

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Is this early for that snow? Still a couple weeks till the Solstice.
 

BMC

Out on the slopes
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Is this early for that snow? Still a couple weeks till the Solstice.
It happens from time to time, but not commonly. You’d get notable skiing on the “opening” weekend maybe 50% of the time? Less probably.

So yeah it’s fair to say it’s early. I’ll be doing my first opening weekend tgos coming weekend in many a year…maybe a decade.
 

geepers

Skiing the powder
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Is this early for that snow? Still a couple weeks till the Solstice.

This is early snow. Even with this snow there's very few of the 50 lifts open. The planned opening was this coming weekend so staffing will be limited. Should begin to ramp up from this weekend.

It happens from time to time, but not commonly. You’d get notable skiing on the “opening” weekend maybe 50% of the time? Less probably.

So yeah it’s fair to say it’s early. I’ll be doing my first opening weekend tgos coming weekend in many a year…maybe a decade.

Booked a few days midweek next weekend. 1st time in June I will have skiing for many decades - last time was probably in the 60's.

Here's hoping they open some terrain. :crossfingers: Drills are well and good but... :daffy:
 

James

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So do you have to book when you’re going if you have a pass, or is that just day tickets?
 

Tom K.

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@Decreed_It, I know nothing of Australia, except that once you get there, you should be able to watch Rosehaven easily.

Do not miss it. Celia Pacquola is gut-bustingly funny.

and there's a project 1972 Ranchero with a Cleveland 351C Cobra Jet in the driveway currently.

Seriously jealous.

Feel free to post a thread on that project in the car forum.

PLEASE!
 

SpikeDog

You want Big Air, kid?
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@Decreed_It,

Seriously jealous.

Feel free to post a thread on that project in the car forum.

PLEASE!
At the small risk of thread drift......it doesn't pass the 30 ft test, so don't look too close. The 1972 Q code 351C 4V motor is finished, new A/C installed, bodywork is ongoing (mostly the front end and grille left), and the interior is very rough. I have a huge pile of extra parts in the back yard from parting out 2 beaters, but most of the straight stuff is already on the rig.

IMG_0248.jpg
 
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