The Mt Mawson Ski Field and the new Mt Mawson Day Shelter was a buzz of activity on Saturday as the STSA volunteers tackled a number of important jobs to get the ski field ready for the approaching winter season. It was a superb weekend weatherwise, and lots of visitors were heading out to the Tarn Shelf to look at the fagus changing colour, but our team remained focussed on getting the long work list knocked over.
A key task was the replacement of the Mawson tow rope, which had become degraded by UV and wear, and broke towards the end of last season. Replacing the rope is always a large task, involving longitudinally splicing together three coils of rope to make a continuous loop through the pulleys. It was great to see experienced STSA volunteers Julian Oakes, Ambrose Canning, George Brettingham Moore, Craig Larsson and Karen Davis leading the splicing effort, supported by the full team of STSA volunteers whenever the rope needed to be tensioned through the pulleys, or the old rope coiled up for transport.
one end of a splice, while Liz Koolhof and Ambrose Canning work on the other end.
Meanwhile an energetic team lead by Rod Stolorz, Rudy Kloser and Peter Davis worked hard on removing loose and dangerous pieces of rock from the bottom section of the Mawson Ski slope. It was pretty impressive seeing the two young men in the team, Matthew Davis and Joe Kloser demonstrating their rock carrying abilities!
Ian Stewart and Tim Metcalfe put in a big day running cables to the new Ticket Office for the cameras, remote safety button and telecommunications, whilst Liz Koolhof and Liv Deconinck systematically worked through the transfer of ski belts from the old Belt Issue Hut to the new ticket office in preparation of installation.
We even enlisted the help of a large group of bushwalkers heading out to the Tarn Shelf to carry timber out to Rodway ready for repairs to the Rodway loading ramp!
It was late in the day by the time the rope splice was finished, and the old rope (and the old safe) were loaded onto Craig’s trailer to be taken off the mountain.
At the end of a productive and enjoyable day on the mountain it was great for the volunteers to sit at the new picnic tables and enjoy the setting sun, and reflect on a job well done.
On Sunday Ian Stewart continued his work on establishing communications into the new building, whilst Ambrose Canning worked on circuitry for the University Tow control system.
Andrew Koch, Peter and Karen Davis re-constructed a panel of a snow fence which had fallen down in the centre of the Mawson slope. It was quite an efficient process thanks to the efforts of other volunteers who had already carried the necessary timber to site on previous working bees.
The Mt Mawson Ski Field is looking great thanks to the efforts of our dedicated STSA volunteers. With the new Mawson rope in place we are all looking forward to the arrival of snow!
