“Oh crap!” These were the words that spun through my head as I flipped over my skis, landing upside down, smacking my head. It hurt.

We had 1.5 meters (5 feet) of snow in a week. This is highly unusual, and in 20 years of skiing in the Australian Alps, I have not seen the like!

I also had more falls this week than I have had in the last five years. It was a combination of heavy snowfall, poor visibility, and funky, sticky snow.

I hadn’t skied this kind of snow before and I felt like a learner all over again.

New conditions need new ability.