The summer season at Mt Mawson has kicked off in fine style with working bees and meetings held on the mountain to prepare the ski field for the 2021 season.
On the 13th of November Peter Davis and Peter Burnett headed up the mountain to undertake a review of the STSA’s remote solar power system. We had been experiencing some occasions last winter where the batteries were getting low, and wanted to confirm that there were no issues with the system or whether further upgrades were required. It turns out that the culprit was background loads from the inverter itself plus the camera system, which over a week of low or zero solar input (such as when the solar panels are covered with snow) could deplete the batteries. A simple energy management system will be put in place to avoid this problem (with the easiest fix being remembering to turn the inverter off when leaving!)
Last weekend on 21st November the STSA held the first of its Summer working bees , with a focus being on completing the removal of old equipment and spares from the old belt issue hut. Craig Larsson, Karen Davis, Rob McLaren and other volunteers from the Alpine Club of Southern Tasmania soon had Craig’s trailer full of surplus timber, with other equipment being transferred to the STSA’s workshop and storage area under the new Mawson Day Shelter building. The exit from the Belt Issue Hut marks the end of an era for STSA, and frees that hut up for removal or whatever plans are determined by Parks.
Paul Vince and Peter Davis spent the day working on clearing protruding rocks on the bottom of the Mawson run where slope grooming was undertaken a few years ago, ably supported by Annette Levis, Karen Davis, Liz Koolhof and Craig Larsson.
Following the working bee the STSA held its Annual General Meeting and Committee Meeting. After a year of Zoom meetings it was great to meet face to face on the mountain. The office bearers elected for 2020-21 are:
President: Peter Davis
Vice President: Ambrose Canning
Secretary: Annette Levis
Treasurer: Antal Hanke
Tow Convenors: Craig Larsson, Ambrose Canning and Matt Levis
A first task for the new STSA Committee was to set the working bee dates for this Summer. Initially two working bees have been planned:
20-21 February 2021
20-21 March 2021
Those working bees will focus on minor snow fence repairs and generally readying the tows for the coming season. Hopefully 2021 will have a lot less pandemic, and a lot more snow!
Hi Peter, we are grateful to the whole team of volunteers maintaining the wonderful place for skiing at Mt Mawson.
We wish to experience our first skiing adventure trip on 20th-21th July, we have not been skiing and really thankful for your guidance on how to get a coach to teach and where to rent those ski suits, boots, equipment, ski pass etc… is there any ski resort that we could stay overnight ?
Is there any public transport that we could travel from Hobart 156 Colins street ?
We treasure your help to make our first visit to Mt Mawson the most memorable for my daughter’s 21 birthday present.
Hi Janet,
Mt Mawson Ski Field is a club field run by volunteers, and as such does not have the usual rental facilities found at bigger ski resorts. Generally visitors to Mt Mawson bring their own gear, or borrow from other friends or ski club members. There are always people around to help with basic instruction and how to use the rope tows, but the days of having a professional ski instructor on site are long gone (but in the days of Sitzmark Lodge Mt Mawson did have its own resident Austrian ski instructor!)
Some of the ski clubs have visitors stay, but the closest snow accommodation is the Government Huts at Mt Field operated by Parks. Details are on the PWS website. Otherwise it is only an hour and half drive from Hobart. Unfortunately there is no bus service to the ski field, so a 4WD rental car would be the best bet. Hope you manage to get up the snow to enjoy a memorable experience for your daughter’s 21st.
Hi Peter Thanks for your reply. Sorry we don’t have any friend who has ski gear. May i ask for any ski club members allowing us to rent or borrow ski gear and boots from them? I rang the hotel concierge and they said Hobart does not have any shop to rent out ski gear. I am panic now due to our plan for this trip solely to enjoy skiing. Now there are 2 nephews joining us for this ski trip.
I hope this trip will grant their hearts desire. Appreciate for your great help. Awaiting for your contacts to organize for ski gear, boots etc…
Hi Peter Thanks for your reply. Sorry we don’t have any friend who has ski gear. May i ask for any ski club members allowing us to rent or borrow ski gear and boots from them? I rang the hotel concierge and they said Hobart does not have any shop to rent out ski gear. I am panic now due to our plan for this trip solely to enjoy skiing. Now there are 2 nephews joining us for this ski trip.
I hope this will not be a futile trip.
Hi Janet,
You will need a National Parks Pass to visit Mt Field National Park – see http://www.passes.parks.tas.gov.au/. It might be wise to hire a 4WD or AWD car – a 2WD car is OK too, but if there is snow on the road you will need to fit snow chains which is an extra complication (and an extra hire cost).
Even if your family are not able to hire ski equipment it will still be a fun trip to the snow. The only other option I can think of is putting a post up on gumtree or some other social media to see if there is anyone else with gear available for you. Its certainly disappointing that there is no longer anyone hiring skis and boots in Hobart.