Suzuki 4WD Club of Victoria

mika wrote:Will do.

2. Jonno L

sierrajim wrote:

2. Jonno L

This is Jonno with the blue Sierra? if not does this version of Jonno visit the forum? If not does someone have his number so I can confirm the saturday morning departure point and time?

After wheat seemed like an endless run of fair to middling snow trips... this year we had an absolute corker. A couple of very cold, windy days before the weekend saw the whole mountain blanketed in impossibly soft, fluffy snow. The weather was almost perfect with very little breeze, warmish daytime temperatures (T-shirts on Saturday) and clear skies in between occasional snow showers. Friday night the temperature was pretty low, about -4˚, but it was almost perfectly still so it was fine around the fire.

For those that aren't aware, access to this road is by permit organised between the Association of 4WD clubs, the local council and the local Police. A history of inexperienced drivers heading up onto the mountain alone and requiring rescue has led to the closure of this road unless you get a permit. As a result, access is restricted to 4WD association affiliated clubs only. There are heavy fines for vehicles on the mountain without a permit.

You'll note that there are some *ahem* non-suzuki's *ahem* along on the trip. There's quite a lot of road km's between the snow and Melbourne, - most people would cover around 500km on the weekend, so some members bring their more road-capable cars.

Road level peaks at 1558m, but there's quite a long run above 1400m so there's plenty of road to drive. This year was my 21st year of 4WD snow camping - I started with my folks back in the Landcruiser club in the early 90's. Every year conditions are different and the snow can be radically different drive on even from morning to afternoon, which keeps it exciting, even if the venue is the same each year.

Here's some pics.



Airing down at the snowline



There was a fair amount of snow much further down the hill than normal this year.



Road level here is about 1400m.



Pushing fresh snow. I ended up with so much snow in the engine bay I had ignition breakdown - it was totally packed around the distributor. I guess that's what happens when you don't have a radiator up the front. Overheating is quite common - the load on the car is similar to sand but with more altitude so the car has to work hard, and snow often blocks radiators.



The summit - ironically, this is as bad as the weather got all weekend - it cleared shortly after this.



There's scope for a limited amount of track driving on the mountain, but it's pretty treacherous. Tiny obstacles can become big problems when they are under snow.



Breaking fresh snow to get to a sheltered camp spot in the trees



Setting up camp. The fire pit is being dug.



And in use. The smoke was terrible but it was way warm in there.



The weather was so good on Saturday we left it as late as possible until we came off the mountain.

Definitely the best snow trip for the last eight years I reckon.