The backcountry festival is the product of a lot of volunteer effort and good will. Falls Creek Resort Management Board, Falls Creek Cross Country, and a range of businesses and individuals have offered help and support in various forms. Bogong Equipment has provided some funds.

We hope to be able to give back to some worthy causes while we hold the festival.

First, we want to have a low impact event. If you have a reusable cup, please bring it for use in the café at Windy Corner. Think about catching the bus or car pooling.

Our ‘mascot’ (totem animal?) for the festival is the Mountain Pygmy–possum, Burramys parvus, Australia’s only hibernating marsupial. The mountain pygmy possum has been declared by the IUCN Redlist as Critically endangered. In 2000, the population estimates totalled less than 2,000 individuals from the three combined isolated populations that exist across the Australian Alps.

Funds received through the film night will be shared between Mountain Critter Cause and the Friends of the Earth climate campaign.

Mountain Critter Cause supports a breeding program for the possum that is run by the University of NSW. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to the possum.

Check for details on our fund raising efforts for the possum.

Thanks to the generosity of Peter Hull from local brewery Sweetwater, we will also be raising funds for Disabled Wintersport Australia (DWA) through the outdoor bar we will be running on Saturday afternoon. The organisation has assisted thousands of individuals with disabilities to participate in winter sports annually and has a strong presence at Falls Creek. You can find details here.