SNOWBOARDING HOBART? Mt Wellington – Tasmania

July 28th, 2011


Looking out over Hobart

Words | Nathan Chilcott
Images | Josh McDonald – Four Hills Photography

In early July freak snowstorms brought rarely seen amounts of snow to Hobart’s Mt Wellington. Part of a cold snap that also swept NSW and Victoria, the rare snow event covered much of the south east with a respectable 20cm or more of snow. Local Nathan Chilcott was on hand with friends to make the most of the unexpected winter blessing.

I have been boarding for around 10 years but due to the lack of snow in Tasmania only get to ride around 15-20 days a year by traveling as much as I can afford.

For the past nine years I have made an annual two week pilgrimage to New Zealand. Apart from New Zealand, I have traveled to Canada and twice to Japan (north & south island). I also manage a few days here and there at Buller and have done a couple weeks at Hotham when I first started.

The recent amount of snow that Mt Wellington receieved is unprecedented. There is rarely enough snow to setup a jib, let alone hit the cliffs that we were able to session on Saturday 9 of July. After the road to the summit was finally opened after an 11 day closure, we headed up to make the most of it. The pics were taken over a 4-5 hour session on the peak, only a five minute walk from the summit car park. With blue skies and a session like this pretty much in our backyard, who could ask for a better day!

Mt Wellington (1271 m in elevation) overlooks Hobart with only a 20 minute drive to reach the summit from the city centre, it is quite frustrating that we don’t get large amounts of snow very often at all. So we made the most of it while we could!


Nathan Chilcott enjoying Mt Wellington’s cliff drops


Not often you see the sea from the snow!


Face shot?


Nathan Chilcott