BLOG Taking the Piste – Apres Ski

July 29th, 2010

Taking the Piste – Rachael Oakes-Ash

Apres ski in Thredbo, Image:: Thredb

Blog | Rachael Oakes-Ash

In a season like this one après ski takes on a whole new light. With blue sky days and no sign of snow for weeks there’s no rush to get first powder tracks. Translated? Drink up.

Yes, snowmaking has saved the season in Australia, especially at Thredbo where if you were a groomed run skier you wouldn’t know the difference. The Supertrail is skiing as well as any peak season and all the lifts are open bar one, with all linked trails allowing skiers and boarders to access all sides of the mountain.

But back to the après ski. The bright sparks at Moet Hennessy put the French bubbles of Veuve Clicquot centre stage at Thredbo this last weekend, trucking in case after case of the yellow labelled bottles and transporting a plane load of Sydney’s social set to the Snowy Mountains.

Something happens to people when they booze up at the snow. Perhaps it’s the invincible feeling of having made it down a ski hill alive, maybe it’s the thrill of a new environment or the gated community feel of a ski village. Let’s just call it a licence to go wild. I’ve witnessed people, and not so secretly done myself, do outrageous après stunts they would never dream of doing in their home town. From ‘borrowing’ uninhabited hotel rooms to wearing chicken suits while dancing on bars.

I blame the poolside bubbles at the Thredbo Alpine Hotel on the first night of the Veuve weekend – when Moet Hennessy laid it on for an invite only crowd before moving us onto the Denman Hotel to really get on it. The bubbles did not stop flowing for a good seven hours as Thredbo’s locals mixed it up with the likes of The Great Outdoor’s Tom Williams, singer and model Erika Haynatz and Cooma supermodel Annaliese Seubert.

The Veuve Cliquot Classic race was set for 11.00am on Friday and we were all partnered up with a Thredbo identity or Sydney celebrity to take on the gates. My partner was the husband of model Erika, Andrew Kingsley. If I can’t compete with Erika, and trust me I can’t, then surely I could impress him on the race course. My crash tackling him on the village stairs at 1.00am was done under the guise of race training. My theory? He must learn what it is like to fall. Impression factor? Zero.

The rest of the weekend is a blur of bubbles with Veuve Cliquot picnics at Dead Horse Gap and daily DJ tunes from the poolside sound deck. It got people talking and that’s the beauty of the snow, it bonds people. Thredbo can be a hard clique to crack but it has at its centre a core community of passionate snow lovers who are uber proud of their mountain.

Walk into Bernti’s Mountain Inn on any night and witness Thredbo identity, Donna Gregorski, entertaining the bar crowds with her hilarious tails of a dancer’s life. Put simply she knows how to host a party. When you meet her ask to see the ‘red room’. The den of iniquity is a private bar that is pure Noel Coward meets Dita Von Teese. Every home should have one.

You’ll find the founder of Wild Brumby Schnapps, Brad Spalding, behind the bar at his new restaurant, the Knickerbocker. If you’re lucky he’ll be in lederhosen and playing his accordion as he brings a slice of Euro après to Thredbo.

Then there’s film producer Rebel Penfold Russell and husband, Ian Low, who are on first lifts every morning. Ski with this generous couple and you’ll meet at least twenty people on every run, including Thredbo’s original ski patroller, Tommy Tomasi, who turned 84 on the weekend and was still skiing like a demon.

Add Peter Clarke from Jindabyne Sports and his crew of merry boot fitting mountain men Ray and Marcus who can heal a bunion foot at twenty paces; instructor Tim Robertson aka ‘Robbo’, a quiet achiever whose passion is racing and whose son Sam is set for national glory; Leena and Tony who keep the locals kitted out in SOS and terrain park god Charlie Beckinsale.

The list goes on, and no we haven’t forgotten you Reggae, but every mountain has them – an inner sanctum of characters who keep the mountain alive each winter, a group of dedicated people bonded by their love of snow.
Get them talking after a few bottles of the good stuff and you’ll get a whole new perspective on your resort of choice.

Emily Hill and Hayley Rynehart poolside at the Thredbo Alpine Hotel. Image:: Courtesy Rebeccah Nazar

Ian Low, Rebel Penfold Russell and Brad Spalding – and his infamous Accordion. Image:: Courtesy Rebeccah Nazar

Anneliese Seubert and Robert O’Farrell powering up for the Vueve Clicquot Cup with some Vueve. Image:: Courtesy Rebeccah Nazar

Erika Haynatz and Tom Williams take to the slopes for the Vueve Clicquot Cup. Image:: Courtesy Rebeccah Nazar

Tom Williams enjoying some Vueve. Image:: Courtesy Rebeccah Nazar