Mt Skene Snow Trip 2017
My name is Craig Brumby from Lightforce and I am an outsider to the Werribee 4WD club but have been honoured to have been invited to attend a few events in the past . I was once again invited to come on a weekday drive with a few cars up to Mount Skene to experience some of our High Country snow driving after the recent 4X4 show at the showgrounds .
I joined the convoy of cars on UHF channel 27 after a quick stop at McDonalds Wallan . The banter between cars was fun and didn ’ t stop until Mansfield where we all fuelled up and got underway .
Mount Skene is closed during the winter months due to a number of vehicles becoming stuck in the snow as a result of going unprepared and in vehicles not suited to the conditions . Permits are now required to travel here between June and November to ensure everyone stays safe . I was unaware of this and didn ’ t know anything about the permit process or requirements until being told about it on the way up the hill .
We didn ’ t find snow until quite close to the top of the summit , but when we found it , it got deep very quick . We were clearly the first up there for a couple of days as there were no fresh tracks ploughed through the soft white snow . Joel was in the lead and cut a nice track through for us to follow – not after getting a little hung up – but it was relatively easy going for him .
There was only one car in the group that chose to employ snow chains on their vehicle – the rest of us opted to see what our tyres were capable of . Putting the chains on was said to have improved the grip and made the car feel a lot more stable on the ground .
We all inevitably got stuck – some a lot more that others – and a number of techniques were used to get us out . Some were able to recover themselves with some smart driving – others needed a combination of snatching and recovery tracks .
It was great to see the level of knowledge and help provided by ALL participants on the day . Both drivers and passengers were only too happy to help anyone that needed it – no egos and everyone pitched in .
We all finally made it to the summit after multiple recoveries where we had a play in the snow before deciding to head back down the way we came .