We caught up with Mimi, a Falls Creek seasoner, who actually got STUCK up on the mountain this past season as Covid 19 raged through Victoria and that whole state was in lock down.
This is what she and her friends got up to...
So Mimi, tell us a bit about yourself, we hear you’re a bit of a Falls Creek local and legend hey?
Haha I don’t know about that! I do love Falls Creek though, I did my first season In 2013 and have been coming back ever since! I started as a Ski Instructor and for the past few years I’ve worked in Race and Events, organising all the ski races and freestyle events.
Did you ever in your life think you’d get stuck in a snow globe?
Not at all, I consider myself very lucky to have been stuck up there, we had such a good crew and made the most of every moment knowing that it was probably a once in a life time season.
Photos by Jarryd Sinclair
Were there many chicks up riding at Falls? Or for that matter, many people at all?
There was a little girl gang which was fun we defiantly had a solid Crew that stuck around! For the first month we would all build and ride the same little park set up, everyone would get super creative and the vibes were always high! It got hard when we went into stage three restrictions though and were only supposed to ride and hangout with the people we lived with, old mate Karl from Lift Ops would come and give us hell if he saw us in large groups. So the last couple of months were spent only really riding with the people we lived with, I was lucky to be living with five so we still had a few hands to help build features and keep the stoke alive.
How did you guys fill your time considering the lack of powder days and low snow fall?
We set up a jib park where ever we could find enough snow, we started in the tube park with a couple of PVC pipes and then moved up to home trail once we got rained out there. The home trail park had the most features and was friendly enough for everyone to come and give it a crack which was super fun! When we got a little more snow Jacques managed to get a few metal rails from off the hill and we put them in on Wombats, but once again we kept getting in trouble and had to move them. We then moved the rails up to Drovers and brought Tommy’s waterfall rail (that he built in iso) up to play on. It was a big day getting them all up there and setting them up, and sure enough as soon as we were ready to ride old mate Karl came along and told us to take them all out. After hours of setting up and months of being told off we were all over it and continued to ride until the sun went down and it was well worth it! It really was a constant battle of finding enough snow and dodging Karl all season.
Photo by Riley Matthews
But when there was snow...
Ooo the week it snowed, god it was good! We rode from sunrise to sunset for five days straight making the absolute most of it! Hands down the best skiing I have done in Australia and the hiking up made it all that little bit sweeter! We would still be riding fresh lines on Summit at 4pm which is unheard of on a normal powder day at Falls Creek. I finally got to ski Eagle Rock and the pipe line down from McKay, which I have been looking at for years but never had the opportunity to do. Everyone went hard that week, we were all exhausted and ready for it to rain again haha.
Any tips for anyone who finds themselves in a state lock down? How did you guys stay sane?
Start something new and just try to make the most of the situation your in. For me, as soon as I got home from Canada in March and it didn’t look like we were going to have a season, I started studying to become a Pilates Instructor. The study kept me busy in our down times over winter whilst also keeping me fit, healthy and motivated during a time that could have quite easily become the biggest drinking season of all time. We were also lucky to have five of us living together, which was always entertaining. Every couple of weeks we would have a themed dinner party, where we would get all dressed up and each cook a meal to the theme. Some of the themes included Mediterranean, Mexican, Caribbean and Asian, we would eat like kings and queens and it would give us something to look forward too every couple of weeks.
What’s the 2021 snow season looking like for you?
At this stage I am planning on bringing my little Pilates business (Wildflower Pilates) that I have been building over the summer up to Falls, whilst also managing a lodge, and hopefully skiing as much as I can!!
Photos by Riley Matthews