Dreaming of a white winter
With winter upon us, skiers and boarders are packing their gear and heading for the hills. DALIA SABLE reports on the annual pastime.
DALIA SABLE
FOR a people who wandered the desert for 40 years, skiing doesn’t seem like an obvious pastime. But as this year’s annual season gets into full swing, countless Jewish snow enthusiasts are bound for the mountains, swapping their swimsuits for skis, their beach houses for chalets.
But where did this love of the snow begin?
For Michael Rogers, the joint managing director of retailer Roger David, the love affair began on Mount Buller in Victoria at the age of four. From there it developed over a number of years, with Rogers spending many seasons living on the mountain where he trained as a ski racer and coached the Buller race squad.
“The mountain lifestyle is an awesome experience that continues to feed a desire and passion for life in the mountains. The skiing aspect is never fulfilled; you are continually searching for the next turn,” he told The AJN.
Rogers has also taken up opportunities to ski around the world in some of the remotest locations and the most dangerous conditions.
“These days my interest is in big mountain skiing. Through the use of helicopters a new playground has opened up for me,” Rogers said. “Helicopters allow you to access previously untouched mountain peaks.”
Since the early days at Buller, Rogers has skied the world from New Zealand to Canada, and Europe to Alaska.
“In Canada you are able to ski and submerge yourself in deep powder snow, known as cold smoke. However, the ultimate skiing destination is Alaska. The helicopter drops you on the top of 5000 foot peaks where you can rip down massive 50-degree mountain faces at [massive] speeds.”
Retired architect Jeffrey Kelson has been a skier for more than 50 years. First skiing at Mount Buller as a 17-year-old, Kelson spent a number of years in Sydney making the six-hour drive down to Thredbo and what he calls “the hidden gem”, Perisher Blue, almost every weekend.
Like Rogers, Kelson’s love for ¬≠skiing has taken him around the world from Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany and Austria, to Aspen in Colorado where he spent a ¬≠number of seasons.
“It’s an experience, a bit like any extreme sport. When you have conquered it, you feel free and very relaxed,” Kelson told The AJN.
Despite some close calls over the years, tearing ligaments and enduring a concussion, Kelson’s love for skiing has remained strong. After five decades, the only modification to his style is a helmet, which he will don for the first time this season.
“I am getting a bit fearful in my older age. Those black diamond runs that I used to ski in Aspen and in Europe in the glaciers, I don’t think I would be able to go down them now,” Kelson said.
What is clear is that for both Kelson and Rogers, skiing is more than just a hobby. Both talk of the social aspect, which Kelson refers to as “a social hoot”, developed over a common love for the snow.
“To share these experiences with like-minded people creates a community and bond, which stretches across the globe,” Rogers said.
This bond combined with the adrenalin rush of skiing makes for an addictive hobby.
“Once the snow gets into your blood, you can’t get it out,” Kelson said.
Australia’s favourite ski spots
Thredbo
SET in the Kosciuszko National Park, about six hours from Sydney, Thredbo Alpine Resort was established in 1956. Set within 690,000 hectares, it is one of Australia’s highest towns, visited by close to a million people every year.
Between 1987 and 1988, more than $30 million was invested in Thredbo to install the largest snowmaking facility in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as improving access to the mountain.
Thredo made news headlines in 1997 when a landslide claimed the lives of 18 people. More than 1300 emergency personnel worked around the clock to excavate survivors. One of them, Stuart Diver, was found alive in the snow three days after the landslide.
Mount Buller
THREE hours from Melbourne, Mount Buller has three terrain parks designed for all skill levels, with more than 741 acres of terrain.
Buller’s runs range from the wide beginner’s slopes of Bourke Street to the more challenging black runs, such as Chamois and the back of Summit. The mountain also includes a half-pipe, ultra-cross course, toboggan and snowtubing parks.
Perisher Blue
THE largest snow operation in the Southern Hemisphere, Perisher Blue is north of Thredbo, about six hours from Sydney via Canberra and seven hours from Melbourne. Like Thredbo, Perisher was originally used by graziers. Perisher encompasses the facilities of Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Mount Blue Cow, Guthega, the Station and the Skitube Alpine Railway, seven mountain peaks and 48 ski lifts.
The longest run on Perisher is three kilometres, with 60 per cent of runs aimed at an intermediate-ability level. Perisher’s skiing area is 12.45 square kilometres.
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