It's the back half of August, I've thrown the snow gear in the washing hamper, my back & knees are still aching, and I'm starting to shift my attention to spring activities instead – I'm mentally putting the 2026 snow season to bed.

In the last few seasons I managed to get 10+ days on the snow (in 2025 I was fortunate to get 5 days in Japan, and another 11 days in Australia) but this year I felt that I needed to take things a bit easier, and I only planned for two trips into the alps. One trip was with our group of close friends who go to Mount Hotham every year, and another was a trip I organise at my workplace which was at Falls Creek. Both trips were three nights, so I got three days of snowboarding on each trip.