This past July I went on my first ski trip in many years to Falls Creek, Victoria (and yes, it does snow here in Australia!). The last time I went skiing was when I was still in high school, most likely in Beaver Creek Colorado (been there about 3 times, and have visited Vale too), but this year we decided to go back to old stomping grounds. Falls Creek is where I learned to ski, and where I’d visit with my family almost every year during the Australian winter. It’s always interesting to see how much has changed, but even more interesting to see how much has stayed the same.
To give a little background on my skiing history, I can’t recall how many years I’ve skied exactly, but I learned as a child (I’m going to say at around 8 years old, give or take). It wasn’t until age 11 or 12 that I also picked up snowboarding – which, due to time restraints and weather, I wasn’t able to get back into this year (planning on it for next time!). Last time I skied I was intermediate, mostly blue runs with the occasional black run, and during high school I skied competitively (just one year, and never again since 1. I don’t like skiing in Thredbo and 2. moguls were compulsory, which I can’t stand!). So that about brings us up to date, with me not having skied in so many years that I was honestly worried I might struggle on a bunny slope. It turns out that all the blog posts and reddit forums I had read about how skiing is like riding a bike were correct – all it took was a few green runs and I could easily get down a hill. One private lesson later and I was back to skiing parallel on blues. So let’s get into my photo diary of some of the highlights of my trip!
The day after our refresher ski lesson, we were back to skiing confidently on our own.
One of my favourite things that I ate on this trip were these loaded fries with sriracha mayo (which happened to be vegan by default). Super tasty and exactly what I felt like after a long day on the slopes (#carbs).
Outfit details: Knit top and shorts (both old) with faux fur hat (similar here), crop turtleneck by Brandy Melville, cotton rich tights (similar here). Phone case is from eBay.
When the weather wasn’t great, we’d explore other activities in Falls Creek. Sometimes we’d walk or take the chairlift up to a cafe for lunch – one of my favourites was Be Foodstore, which had a ton of tasty vegan options. Another day we checked out the very quaint local museum.
Taking the Gully chairlift up the mountain. It’s the smallest chairlift with the shortest ride – but also the oldest and slowest!
Outfit details: Laundry by Shelli Segal navy blue puffer coat with faux fur trim (about 5 years old), faux fur hat (similar here), Gucci sunglasses, cotton rich tights (similar here), Topshop belt bag (similar here), snow boots with faux fur trim (also old, don’t remember the brand).
The photos above would have been insta-worthy if I didn’t accidentally have my camera on a crazy-high ISO setting! Such a shame. It’s tricky using a small digital camera with thick winter gloves on, Lol.
Exploring the village.
As soon as the weather was decent, you bet we were out on the slopes! Overall we didn’t have great weather with this trip, mainly due to low visibility. Lesson learned for next time – it’s definitely better to go closer to Spring (mid to late August). On the positive, there was no shortage of snow!
“Wait, not ready yet!”
Gear details: Jacket by Picture Organic Clothing, pants by SOS, goggles by Anon, neck warmer by xtm. Helmet, boots and skis are rental. Definitely getting my own boots and helmet for the next trip!
See that bulge in my jacket? You bet I took advantage of the pockets in my new jacket to pack in all the snacks I could. With vegan options slim up on the mountain (aside from hot chips or potato wedges), I always liked to have both sweet and salty snacks with me at all times. I also loved this jacket because it comes from a super sustainable brand, is extremely well designed (and warm) plus has a really pretty white/blue/neon pink colour scheme. I love pops of neon pink on a neutral colour scheme, and it’s ideal to have some bright colours on your ski jacket so you’re easier to spot.
One of our ski trip traditions is to build a snow lantern out of snowballs. Be sure to place it somewhere that is difficult for naughty kids to reach, but also visible for all to admire. We perched this one up on a steep slop of snow near the hotel and it lasted all through the night.
What’s a winter holiday without s’mores? I make mine with Nabisco Original graham crackers, some dark chocolate from Aldi and Dandies marshmallows.
On our clearest day of the trip, I had my second private lesson. Shoutout to my awesome instructor, Deni! He even offered to film clips for my vlog without me asking(!) The dream. This lesson drastically improved my parallel technique, even though I still need to work on getting into better habit with my stance and pole position.
Look at those gorgeous blue skies – and they really were that vibrant. Skiing in Australia is a unique experience as the landscape and flora is nothing like that you’ll find in the US, Europe and other major skiing locations. Also, shoutout to my Anastasia DipBrow Pomade, which has been abandoned in my makeup storage for a couple of years until now. It’s truly a must-have for active holidays as my eyebrows did not budge the whole day.
Views down Wombat’s Ramble, the longest green run in all of Australia.
Snow bunny life.
Our last full day on the slopes was unfortunately the worst weather of all. However, we only skied on fresh powder that day, which is always a plus. When you can’t hear your skis against the snow, that’s how you know it’s the good stuff. I had one more private lesson that day, this time going down far more challenging trails, including some fast and narrow runs through the trees.
With so much fresh, untouched snow in the morning, we spent our last couple of hours at Falls Creek building our snowy friend. The nose is a sweet potato because the grocery store didn’t sell single carrots (such a missed opportunity there, I’m sure they could make great money selling individual carrots for a couple of bucks each!). The eyebrows were an unexpectedly important touch as they add so much expression.
“I like warm hugs.”
That’s a wrap on my 2018 ski trip! I’m so inspired to get back into skiing regularly, improving my technique and getting back into snowboarding. Even though the weather wasn’t ideal, we had such a great time. Perhaps next ski trip I’ll be lucky enough to return to the US, as we were truly spoiled there. Or maybe Canada? If you’re into winter sports, let me know your favourite below, and your favourite ski resort to visit.
Be sure to check out my vlog of this trip as below. Otherwise, thanks for reading and talk to you soon! xo
