Touring Destinations – Guthega
Guthega village is located above the Snowy River and Guthega Dam and provides good access to the Main Range during winter. The slopes in this area are usually steeper than around Perisher, but there is also some gentler terrain along the Snowy River valley.
Guthega Trig
From the Guthega carpark ski down the road and cross over the dam wall, then commence the long climb up the slopes to the right which lead to the Guthega trig point and other destinations beyond, including the Rolling Grounds, Consett Stephen Pass and Mt Tate. The open slopes above the dam usually have snow till late in the season, and the return descent down this slope at the end of the day can be exhilarating if the snow is icy or crusty, which it often is.
Tate West Ridge
Cross the dam wall, climb up the slope to Guthega Trig then head further out to Consett Stephen Pass. From the pass it is a short ski across the upper reaches of Windy Creek out onto Tate West Ridge, which has fantastic views of the western slopes of the Main Range and the Geehi Valley and great snow slopes for practising on. Ski north along the ridge for views of Geehi Dam and Mt Jagungal. Can return to Guthega the same way or complete a loop via the summit of Mt Tate and down Tate East Ridge.
Snowy River Valley
If you don’t want to do too much climbing then ski south from Guthega along the Snowy River valley towards Illawong Lodge. This involves descending to the bridge crossing over Farm Creek, then traversing across a slope through trees for about 1km until the valley opens out, then it is another 1km across open country to Illawong Lodge. The Main Range looms to the west. From the lodge you can either ski further up the valley towards Spencers Creek or cross the swingbridge over the Snowy River and head up towards Mt Tywnam, Blue Lake or Pounds Creek.
The Paralyser / Farm Creek
The Paralyser provides great 360 degree views of the Main Range and Perisher areas. After skiing down to the bridge over Farm Creek it is a long climb along a ridge and up the snowgum covered western slopes of the Paralyser to the trig point at the summit. There are great views of the Snowy River valley and Main Range peaks on the climb. The return to Guthega can be done by skiing from the summit down to the saddle below Mt Perisher, then following the Farm Creek valley back towards the Guthega chairlifts and downhill slopes. A big climb with a great descent at the end of the day.