A ROADBOSS story usually starts with an idea, followed by weeks or sometimes months of back and forth, before we finally escape the office in search of adventure. There’s a lot of planning, pitching, sometimes even begging, and we’ve typically got a fair idea of what we want to get out of it.
Sometimes, though, we just have to bite the bullet and show up, hoping for the best. Owing to the incredible people that make up this great industry, it usually works out after hands are shaken, magazines are handed over, and a plan of attack is put forward. There’s almost always the offer of a carton of beer, or a bottle of rum, for people’s efforts, too.
A couple of years back we’d had the outrageous idea to join a snow plough operation, either grooming the slopes in a tracked Snowcat, or the roads in and out of a ski resort in a blade-pushing heavy truck. By ‘we’, I mean Harrison Hunkin, deputy editor of ROADBOSS, who became quite obsessed with the idea.
The trucks that plough the roads in and out of alpine resorts are enormous, beefed-up 4×4, or sometimes even 8×8 rigs with massive articulating ploughs – a cross between a bulldozer and grader. They move quickly too, throwing a tidal wave of snow off the road at an impressive pace.
For one of ROADBOSS’s latest adventures, we’re blizzard-bound to the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales – trading truckspotting for storm chasing. Images: Alastauir Brook
Of course, the idea has always hinged on getting to an alpine town the day of a snowstorm. While countless plough operators have assured us they’ll reach out when they expect snow, the timing has never quite lined up. We’re probably not the first people they think to call when it kicks off, to be fair.
Sitting at my desk on a sunny Thursday afternoon, Brisbane is warming up – evidenced by the air-conditioner set to a cool 18 degrees – but down south it’s a different story. A Facebook post about an incoming snowstorm set to hit the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales piques my interest.
I know Thredbo has a fleet of snow ploughs that work around the clock during a ‘snow event’ like this, so now’s as good a time as any. Fortunately for me, Harrison can’t let his footy team down this weekend, so he’s desk-bound. He’s not happy about it, but I am.
For this adventure, we’re blizzard-bound – trading truckspotting for storm chasing.
Read the full story in the Spring Issue of ROADBOSS Magazine, out soon. Click here to subscribe.
