This is the first weekend trip for the season in early to mid July. We book off-mountain accommodation in the Mount Beauty/Tawonga South area. A great chance to socialise with other keen skiers, and possibly make up for that lack of pre-season fitness by an easy introduction to the trails! We can't control the weather, but we try to time this event at around the point where natural snow falls put down the first decent skiable snow. Falls Creek offers the largest network of groomed cross country trails in Australia, has a ski lift system with lots of intermediate runs to suit telemark skiers and is an access point for a huge area of backcountry skiing to suit all levels of ability (but at the time of the Early Season Weekend, the quality of off track skiing is often a little questionable).

We don't usually have planned activities at this event. As is often the case for Melbourne Nordic weekends, participants tend to plan their activities in discussion with each other, often over breakfast. However, if we get bookings from lots of beginner skiers, we often try to organise some beginner lessons on the Saturday morning to help the newbies to get started with cross country skiers. Once newbies are ready to venture out, we usually organise a tour of the area, conducted by experienced club members.

Accommodation for this event can be at various locations around Mount Beauty and Tawonga South, so look up the location via the venue information link in the Activities Calendar.

Members often arrive at different times by different modes of transport on the Friday, but organise car sharing up to Falls Creek to cut down on resort entry fees and reduce pressure on the crowded car park at Windy Corner. If taking your car up to Falls Creek, you must carry snow chains.

Access to cross country skiing at Falls Creek is via the trail head at Windy Corner car park. This is the car park at the very far end of the main road to Falls Creek. Beyond this point, the road is closed in winter and serves as part of the cross country trail system. At Windy Corner car park, there is a public shelter with toilets, a small café and a ski hire shop.

As we use various accommodation venues for this event, requirements vary. Watch for an email in the week leading up to the event with any important details.

There is a cross country gear hire shop right at the trail head at Windy Corner.  Hiring off-mountain is also possible at various locations along the road (Myrtleford, Ovens, Tawonga South) or you can even hire gear in Melbourne. The advantage of hiring at Falls Creek is that if you have any issues with the gear, you can take it back and change it quickly. For this reason, we recommend that beginners hire on mountain.