Undeterred by the forecast of rain, an enthusiastic team of more than 20 volunteers turned out at Mt Mawson Ski Field on Sunday 23rd February to help out at the STSA Working Bee. The rain held off, and soon teams were scattered all over the slopes undertaking various tasks.
Volunteers at Mt Mawson Ski Field 23rd February 2025
A number of volunteers worked on filling in a gap in the University snow fence which will help to fill in the snow depth at the lower end of the run towards the loading station. This was not an easy task due to the topography, but by the end of the day a non-standard panel had been constructed and slatted. A great team effort!
The panel framing commences
Katherine Davis takes a turn at slatting the new panel
Peter Merhulik tackling the slatting job
The completed panel! Lto R Rod Stolorz, Nick Truchanas, Katherine Davis, Peter Davis, Michael Potter, Peter Merhulik, Caroline Sutton
Elsewhere on the Uni slope Kim Burges-Watson and Stefan Vogel worked to replace the fixed pulley brackets with new U-clamp ones which will improve rope alignment and safety for operation of the tow.
Stefan and Kim fitting improved Uni tow pulley brackets
Paul Vince and Rudy Kloser installed new radio aerial wiring as part of upgrading the base station for ski patrol operations, as well as a phone booster which will improve the signal strength for telstra phones on the mountain during ski operation days. This is an important safety upgrade and will improve the communications experience for visitors to the Mt Mawson Ski Field.
Karen Davis and Maureen Eadie put in a dedicated effort to remove any remaining rope fibres from the replaced Mawson rope, as well as vacuuming out the motor huts.
Karen Davis looking for plastic fibres on the Mawson slope
Other tasks completed at the working bee included:
- fitting a new snow seal to the STSA workshop roller door,
- increasing the slat spacings at the top of the Mawson tow to try to improve the shape of the snow drift that forms at the top of the run,
- Materials moved up Mawson to pole 8 to mend a hole in the snow fences
- new ropes delivered to mountain to be available as spares in the event of a tow rope breakage
- First Aid room prepared for action,
- Safety gates brought to Hobart for modification / standardisation.
A lot was achieved, but again it was the great community engagement which made this a fun day out for all attendees. At lunch time the Mt Mawson Day shelter was full of people having excellent conversations and sharing quality plums supplied by Michael Potter!
The next working bee is scheduled for Sunday 23rd March, but stay tuned in case we need to move the date due to unavailability of a couple of key people.
