Nutcracker Ski Club

This is Part Two in a series for first time visitors to the snow on what to wear up on the mountain. See part One here.

In the last post I gave an introduction as to how the clothes you take with you to the snow can determine whether your experience at the snow is good or bad. This article is the beginning of things to consider when deciding on the type of clothing to take with you on your Snow Holiday.

When first timers think of a snow holiday at Mt Buller they will most likely first think of the white stuff. Snow!

While Snow is the predominant feature, the conditions in the Alpine region are very diverse and change constantly. Apart from snow, the conditions you can expect to experience are:

• Cold Temperatures
• Wind Gusts and Wind chill
• Sleet
• Rain
• Fog
• Snow Storms

Right now the temperature at Mt Buller is 1.7 degrees Celsius. Taking wind chill into consideration it’s probably closer to feeling like -4.5. And we are still 3 weeks away from the start of Ski Season. These temperatures are also during the day so expect the temperature to drop well below zero at night time.

In terms of what to wear in these conditions, we are looking for maximum warmth, and protection, without looking like the Michelin Man!

Snow is a very beautiful sight to see, but have a go at walking on it in sneakers and track pants and that ‘beautiful sight’ may be short lived! Snow is slippery to walk on. And when it melts it turns into slush. Combine this with rain, sleet or snow, and it can compound the conditions further. So when you begin deciding on what to take with you up to the Mountain, remember that you’ll need footwear that doesn’t make you go ‘a over t’ all the time and clothing that can keep you dry!

Another factor to consider is the wind. On days where a cold front is moving in, the wind can pick up quite considerably and adding wind chill to the temperature. In this case we would want clothing that shields us from this and keeps us warm.

As a guide, before you put something into your suitcase, ask yourself “Would this keep me warm and dry here at home?”. If the answer is “No” then it is a definite “No” for the snow.

On the flip side when the snow seasons heads into Spring, the weather will consist of many sunny days. Being closer to the sun at higher altitudes, it can get quite hot under your ski clothes when out on the slopes, on top of that the snow melts quicker and can become more slippery and slushy in areas.

Your line of thinking should cover all conditions. You need to find a balance.

Later in the series I’ll list what I think are the essentials to bring with you and how to work them to suit all conditions while you are up on the Mountain.

One thing you can do now is start monitoring the snow conditions and become familiar with what to expect.

7 Day weather forecasts are a great idea for planning ahead so you get an idea of what to expect when you get there. On the left hand side of this blog is an RSS feed for Mt Buller’s weather which gives you the current conditions and the forecast over the next three days. Another way to track the conditions is to check out the live cameras via the internet, click here for Victoria’s slopes. You can also read the snow reports that I update on the Nutcracker Web site daily here.

Having some good background knowledge of what weather you will be travelling into is a great start for choosing the right clothing to wear.

The next post in this series will be about mountain resorts and the types of activities you will or may do that can determine what clothing you take.

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