Info needed about the snowy mountains

Ok ladies (and gents) We are planning our next holiday (2011) and we are planning on a snowy mountains trip

Things we need to know

What time of the year is the best time to go and see fresh snow?

Do we need need tyre chains for the car?

Planning on staying at the Lake Jindabyne Caravan park. Has anyone stayed there? What is it like?

What are the must see's and don't bothers?

We are travelling from QLd so we have no winter gear to speak of.. so what would be recommended.

That's all the questions we can think of right now. So if you have any other tips let us know..

ps we are travelling with 4 kids and 3 adults in a camper trailer. Yes we are mad but can't wait :D:D

so fire away with ideas and tips :)

Cheers Nic

yep you will need snow chains, but you can hire from places down here, most of them you can pick up from one place and drop off at a different one, so you may not necessarily have to take them back to where you got them from which is good. Once you get to certain spots you are required to have them on, there are signs to tell you they must be fitted now, and can be fined if you don't have them. You might also need them on the camper trailer so check that out.

For snow, I would wait until at least a month or two into the snow season, I think it officially starts the queen's birthday weekend, but there isn't too much snow around then. You can also hire all your ski gear down there, heaps of places to get it from.

We stayed at a hotel in Jindabyne last year, overlooking the lake and it was just beautiful. I'm sure the caravan park will be just as nice :)

Do you have any idea where you are going? I would probably steer clear of Thredbo, it gets a bit crazy there especially mid-season!

thanks for the info.. Especially on the chains. i didn't even think of them for the trailer :duh:

As for ski gear. We won't be skiing but will def be taking the kids toboganning..

At this stage there is no definate plan in place as to where we are going. But Lake Jindabyne is one of our stops.. Will have to look into that a bit more as we plan more..

Not interested in going to ski resorts ect so are there place we can take the kids (and us) to go play in the snow and make snowman and have a snowball fight.

i have never seen snow so I am super excited. Every year we planned a snow trip I ended up pregnant. No chance of that now so its a go ahead :lol:

For fresh snow late July or August is your best bet.
Legally you only need snow chains for Koskiousco Park if you don't have a 4wd but practically if you're not used to driving in snowy conditions 4wd won't stop you from sliding out so you may as well take them. You won't need chains for the trailer because it hardly ever snows in Jindy.
You have to pay to drive into the park - no idea how much it is for a day because we buy 2 year passes.
Selwyn is cheaper than Perisher or Thredbo if you're not into skiing but really skiing is awesome so you should give it a go.
The only resort in NSW that allows tobogganing is Selwyn but if you drive past Thredbo to Dead Horse Gap you can toboggan.
Perisher has tubing which is fast and doesn't reqiure any skill other than sitting down.

For snow I just wear 3 layers - base layer is thermal, second layer is fleece third layer is waterproof. How thick those layers are depends on the weather on the day. Layers are better than huge bulky coats because it can get hotter than you expect on a bluebird day.
You need sunglasses and sunscreen because snow is reflective and there is a lot of UV up high.
You need warm, waterproof shoes (gumboot are not warm).

Are you not allowed to ski or toboggan outside of a paid park? For example if you find a hill in a park somewhere..

So does it not snow at Jindabyne? On the website for the van park it has pictures of people camping in the snow? Is that false

Where can we go to have snow all around us?

Gosh there is more to all of this then I thought.. Well more the tobogganing side of things. We knew about the warmer clothes ect..

It very seldom snows enough in Jindabyne for the snow to settle. Even at Thredbo the village doesn't get a lot of snow.
Maybe try googling Sawpit Creek. It's between Jindy and Perisher, most of the time it's below the snowline but it is more likely to have snow.

If you find a hill with snow on it you can toboggan but most of the hills with snow are difficult to park by. Dead Horse Gap has a car park and is just past Thredbo.
I think you can toboggan for free at Selwyn if you hire a toboggan from their shop (don't quote me on that). If you just want snow play and maybe give skiing a try I would think that Selwyn/Tumut would be a better destination for you than Jindabyne and Thredbo/Perisher.