On Lake Mountain, in our own snow
July 10th 2007 11:29
Until I went to Oslo, I'd never fully appreciated snow - its layers of different white (I once counted twenty three on a sliced away bank on the side of a road) - its textures (wet and slushy, melting on the pavement, fine and powdery in the untouched corners of the parks, hard and icy in the shadow of the castle wall) - its lights and its reflections (sparkling and glittering in the sunshine, softly glowing in the dark) - its exhilarating, inviting cold. I'd never ski-ed, tobogganed, made a snowman or messed about in the snow. I wasn't a snow person. I wasn't even a winter person. But after Oslo, all that changed. i was ready for the mountains, the snow, the cold. I was ready to try all those winter things. So, on Sunday, with the car loaded with winter woolies we headed out of Melbourne to the mountains. starting at the bottom, so to speak, on the gentle toboggan slope at Lake Mountain. We were five; three adults and two kids. Dan and six-year-old Otis had already conquered Mt Hotham's toboggan slopes several weeks previously, but Gerard and I were novices and little Matthew, almost five, had never seen snow before. The excitement and anticipation grew with every bend as we wound up through the trees from Marysville. All eyes were on the sides of the road, scanning for the first glimpse of white.
There was impatient and exasperated grappling with clips and zips and velcro as we booted and suited up the car-park. Then at last, we were on the mountain, in the snow. Dan and Otis disappeared through the trees and onto a faster, steeper and more thrilling slope.
But even the gentle beginners' run was no place for the cautious. Tiny jump-suited kids in goggles, many standing perilously on their orange plastic trays, whizzed past; tchains of obogganers cannoned down the slope, others upended, tipping peeved, unseated riders into the snow
"I love the snow" yelled Matthew as he zoomed past on his first run. By his second he was solo, so Gerard and I were relegated to launch and retrieval - duties not without their own share of thrills and spills (braving the flying toboggans to get that one stuck out there in centre, with the loudly protesting rider; losing the footing in the launch and sliding on the backside after the speeding craft) But there comes a point in tobogganing and probably with ski-ing and snow-boarding too, when snow sneaks into the boots or down the back of the jump suit, or a glove comes off and the fingers just won't fit back into the right slots, or that last tumble was just one too many. Then it's time to head off to a blazing fire, a hearty meal and a warm bed. We found ours at the Black Spur Inn at Narbethong where the hosts were welcoming and child tolerant, the menu included comforting pea and ham soup and cottage pie and the rooms were made for a sound nights sleep.
By day two we were all toboganning afficianados, striding up the slopes on sure feet and tearing down them with a total disrespect for life and limb, running after the toboggan for the optimum launch and running out into the maelstrom to meet it before it marooned. But still that inevitable king tumble ended in tears and it was off into the fresher snow among the trees to build a snowman and leave the toboggans to the eagerly awaiting adults.
If you're looking for a place to discover the thrills and wonder of snow, Lake Mountain is great. It's chaotic but fun, it's easy but has that hint of peril that kids love, well serviced (shuttle buses from the lower car-parks when the top one's full, toilets, cafes). It's organised and controlled but not at the expense of fun and it's an easy, prettytwo hour drive from Melbourne
Suiting and booting up for the snow
There was impatient and exasperated grappling with clips and zips and velcro as we booted and suited up the car-park. Then at last, we were on the mountain, in the snow. Dan and Otis disappeared through the trees and onto a faster, steeper and more thrilling slope.
Otis takes a tumble
But even the gentle beginners' run was no place for the cautious. Tiny jump-suited kids in goggles, many standing perilously on their orange plastic trays, whizzed past; tchains of obogganers cannoned down the slope, others upended, tipping peeved, unseated riders into the snow
Matthew's first toboggan run
"I love the snow" yelled Matthew as he zoomed past on his first run. By his second he was solo, so Gerard and I were relegated to launch and retrieval - duties not without their own share of thrills and spills (braving the flying toboggans to get that one stuck out there in centre, with the loudly protesting rider; losing the footing in the launch and sliding on the backside after the speeding craft) But there comes a point in tobogganing and probably with ski-ing and snow-boarding too, when snow sneaks into the boots or down the back of the jump suit, or a glove comes off and the fingers just won't fit back into the right slots, or that last tumble was just one too many. Then it's time to head off to a blazing fire, a hearty meal and a warm bed. We found ours at the Black Spur Inn at Narbethong where the hosts were welcoming and child tolerant, the menu included comforting pea and ham soup and cottage pie and the rooms were made for a sound nights sleep.
Time to head off to a warm fire
By day two we were all toboganning afficianados, striding up the slopes on sure feet and tearing down them with a total disrespect for life and limb, running after the toboggan for the optimum launch and running out into the maelstrom to meet it before it marooned. But still that inevitable king tumble ended in tears and it was off into the fresher snow among the trees to build a snowman and leave the toboggans to the eagerly awaiting adults.
Otis and Matthew and the snowman
If you're looking for a place to discover the thrills and wonder of snow, Lake Mountain is great. It's chaotic but fun, it's easy but has that hint of peril that kids love, well serviced (shuttle buses from the lower car-parks when the top one's full, toilets, cafes). It's organised and controlled but not at the expense of fun and it's an easy, prettytwo hour drive from Melbourne
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