When travelling everyone wants the weather to be perfect. This is no truer than visiting snow fields. Perfect weather at the snow is full of contradictions.
Firstly everyone wants the snow to be fresh and deep. For this to occur the temperature has to be cold. Snow is a form of precipitation. The conditions have to be just right for snow to form otherwise the precipitation falls in the form of rain or hail.
Snow beautiful – rain, not.
Despite the need for cold wintery conditions to create the much desired snow, visitors to alpine areas still want it to be a day of brilliant sunshine. Not sure where people expect the snow to come from if there are not clouds in the sky.
Of course the perfect conditions at the snow is bright sunshine during the day and snow blizzards over night when we are inside eating, drinking, partying, recovering...
From a recent trip to Mt Buller I have also learned that perfect snow conditions occur outside of school holidays and weekends. In fact Monday’s are the best day – everyone has returned to work following a “weekend away”.
No queues for hiring equipment. No queues for getting on the lifts. No queues at the restaurants, cafes and bars.
Importantly there is room on the slopes. There is room to ski/board at speeds that are just so slightly faster than one can stay in control. There is room to change direction both intentionally and involuntarily. There is room just to stop and take in the views (if the weather is perfect)
The perfect alpine experience however relies on my than the weather conditions. It is the food. At Mt Buller the perfect end to a day on the slopes is a bag of fresh hot cinnamon donuts. Sold at the exit from the Village they are the perfect (if not healthy) accompaniment for the bus ride back to your car/chalet. A good glass of wine (mulled wine is perfect for the conditions) sipped between mouthfuls of freshly prepared cuisine with some good company.
The perfect end to a day on the slopes is the removal of the ski gear and changing back into street clothes. Bulky jackets and pants, beanies and gloves all serve an essential service but they are not comfortable or in the most part flattering. There is no more perfect feeling though, than removing the ski boots. I maintain that only better feeling is the relaxation of the sphincter after a really good poo.
After all are we all after a really good snow dump?
