Preparing for the hardest part

Thanks to THE loveliest Jess, I got to take a sneak peak at the place where the madness takes place. By this I mean theKangaroo Hoppet at Falls Creek on the 25^th August when me and several other ski fanatics try and kill ourselves. I’m prone to exaggeration, but this time I’m afraid I mean it. I thought I was in a pretty good shape, but what applies to running or walking for days on end does not apply to skiing. For classic cross country skiing will always be in its own category of sports. Every season it hurts to begin. It hurts, because you feel like your heart is about to push through your chest. It’s hard, because you jammed mouse-hand starts hurting about five minutes after you’ve put the skis on and started to push yourself towards glorious goals. It’s hard, because you feel that you’ve never before had skis on. And yet, every year, I put the gear on and head for those tracks. 

Although, I was mad at myself for not having trained enough (almost cried at times and swore in Finnish by myself), I did enjoy the location immensely. Probably one of the most magnificent places I’ve ever had the opportunity to ski in. Jess’s lovely family spent their days on the down hill slopes, I tried to take advantage of my time in the snowy scenery and ski as much as possible.  On the first day, I think I skied (and stopped, caught my breath, had a sip of water, took photos, skied and stopped… ) for about  5 hours, which in Finland would be a lot, but not something to brag about. Whereas here, it means I conquered Mt McKay (1840 m) on skis and the last windy bit on foot, skied the cross country ski area from one end to the other and dragged by arse up the longest uphills I’ve ever encountered. I’m very pleased I did all these things, and by the end of it, I was so tired and worn out. 

Me almost blown away at 1840 m at Mt McKay. 

Besides the scenery, the best bit of skiing at Falls Creek (and possibly this applies to other Aussie ski destinations too) is the people. In 10 minutes into my first day I met a lovely couple who offered me a pair of race skis for the Kangaroo Loppet. The second day, being Sunday, I didn’t have to ski on my own, because as I was testing the skis the lady took me to the best bits of Falls Creek. I never thought I’d say or write this, but I went off-piste on freestyle skis. :D The snow is hard like hankikanto at spring time in Finland and that meant we could visit a hut, get the best down hill rides and enjoy the views from a different perspective than when on tracks. I learned about the animals and nature on the mountains and about the ski culture in Victoria. Just wonderful. And even on the first day, I always had someone to talk to on my stops and when asking the way (which I was keen to do just so I wouldn’t end up too far off). One of those conversations ended up in an offer to come and try skikes in Melbourne the following Wednesday. For those who are not familiar what skikes are I suggest you take a look at this link. And skiking I went. I hope next week will be good weather, so I can go again and take some pictures of the skiking in Westerfold Parks. I’ll post about it more then. 

 The magical forest. The gray trees are victims of bush fires. It takes hundreds of years for them to grow back, but there are small saplings pushing through the ground already.  

 

I'm pretty sure corrugated iron wouldn't be considered as suitable material by Finnish building officials. But the hut protects and that's the most important thing.

 
Compared to the European Alps the ski culture here seems to be more sports-oriented. I had one after drink while waiting for the others to come down from the slopes (which also seemed in good condition and nice). Again a note to self moment: gluhwine in Australia is just that steaming, heated red wine. Note to self: one time was enough. Highly recommend something else from the bar. I think I was in the after ski around the time when lifts started closing (half five I think), the bar was quite quiet and people were mostly just having a snack or getting swallowed by the soft sofas. A ski holiday wouldn’t really be a ski holiday with a little bit of relaxed after ski spirit, which luckily was on menu in the evening at a local tavern. Food good, wine even better and company that made you laugh out loud every second minute.  

 Edmodson's hut's after ski. Bottle emptied.

 
Even though the Falls Creek weekend was physically rough, it was also an important part of mental training. My goal is more realistic now. It’s to survive the race in the time I don’t get disqualified. ;)  

Exotic activity. Pulkkamaki. :D

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If you end up in Australia during the winter months, go up to snowy mountains (which are mostly located in Victoria) and try cross country skiing or if you want an easier option then snowshoe tours are available and they aren't expensive either. The landscape is amazing and definitely worth travelling for 5-6 hours from Melbourne. The bus is ridiculously expensive (170 dollars return), so try and find a group of people to share the costs of hiring a car. I was lucky to have a ride from Shepparton onwards, so I just took the train and hopped in the car that took me up the mountain to Bogong Village, where we had accommodation in nice lodges.