A day in the Snow

“The Snowy Mountains (known for short as the Snowies) are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2228 metres AHD. They are located in southern New South Wales and are part of the larger Australian Alps and the Great Dividing Range” - Wikipedia

I had the opportunity to visit the Snowies recently, with family and some friends.

People head to the Snowies during the winter months - June to Aug in Australia - to ski on the snowfields of Perisher Blue, Thredbo, Blue Cow and other resorts in the area.

We decided to head to Perisher Blue because it has tobogganing. A toboggan is a simple sled used on snow, to carry one or more people down a hill or other slope, for recreation. It has also a snow tube section for families who do not want to ski. The snow tubes are like large inflated tyres on which people can slide down the snow slopes. One has to pay for the snow tubes mainly because you get a ride to the top of the slope. The poor chaps - like us - carrying toboggans - have to trudge up the snow slopes to the top and then slide down.

The trip by road from Sydney took us around 6-7 hours. We booked an accomodation in Jindabyne - one of the small towns in and around the snow fields. The snow fields are just 30 minutes drive away from Jindabyne, making it very popular among tourists. Accomodation is expensive during the peak season and we were lucky to get a house with 3 bedrooms for around 750$ for 2 nights.

The world of snow is seen to be believed. The sensation of white all around makes it a unique experience. It is as if one has stepped into an alien planet.

We did not choose to ski as there is a bit of learning curve and we did not have the time nor the money to go for classes. The toboggan was our choice of entertainment for our snowy sojourn and it served us well. Once we reached the slopes, we dragged our toboggans to the top of the slopes and then literally “tobogganed” down the slopes. Our experience was enriched by the fact that snow was actually falling on that day in a fine dusty way. It looked like a light drizzle but was actually snow dust.

My fitness and stamina were put to a gruelling test as I had to drag my kid - all of 15 kg - up the slope on her toboggan for each exhilarating slide down the slopes. After 5-6 such treks in the snow, I was exhausted !
We then had some fun throwing snow at each other and having snow fights. My kid was happy seeing “SnowMan” as many people had actually made wonderful “SnowMen” almost 6 feet tall , all around the place !

After few hours of such fun, my kid was so tired she fell asleep sitting on the toboggan……That pretty much told us it was time to go home.