Slalom
Location
Slalom Hut is quite hard to find, but is at Grid Reference 611713 on
the Tidbinbilla 1:25,000 map. To find the hut, walk to the summit of
the hill near this grid reference, and look for a cleared, but now somewhat
overgrown, ski run heading straight down hill. You can confirm this
by locating a 1920's Ford car at the top of the run (used to drive a
rope ski tow). Walk about 300m down the run to its finish and turn hard
right, about 80m into the trees. The hut is here, facing east.
Brief History
Slalom Hut was built by the Canberra Alpine Club (about 1955?) to provide
shelter for skiers on this run. It is also maintained by them, irregularly.
Until recently it received very little maintenance, but has become
more popular as a very quiet getaway spot.
The ski run was serviced by a rope tow, driven by reduced wheels, directly
from the rear wheel of the car parked/blocked at the top of the ski
run. Skiers wore a leather belt with a "nutcracker" clamping
device to clip to the rope, and were thus pulled to the top of the hill.
The speed of the tow could be determined by the gear that the car was
put into - "overdrive" gave a very fast and dangerous trip
to the hill top.
Construction
The hut is corrugated iron over a sawn timber frame, and has an almost
flat roof. The floor is sawn timber.
