Mountain Journal

JAN 2024

What even happened last year? Another mild summer, no big fires, then truly dazzling amounts of autumn snow, a great start to winter, then, nothing. Rain and warm temps and misery and the snow pack was gone, not to return. Early end to the season in many places, especially the lower resorts. The usual denial and grumpy guys ranting on line if you dared to mention the ‘climate’ word. Muddy spring and now, another mild summer – a bit different to the El Niño scorcher we had been expecting (so far at least).

Yes, this is the new reality. Climate systems turned on their heads. Wild floods up north, while more than 14 million hectares burnt across the Northern Territory alone during our spring. Erratic winters and wild swings of weather. Buckle in, because it’s not going back to ‘normal’ any time soon.

Then there are the wars raging across many parts of the planet.

And yet, the world can still feel right. Those long autumn days with a slow wander across snow plains, the light rich, the air cool, the distant peaks calling. We are blessed to live in a safe corner of the planet with beautiful hills and forests, rivers and high plains. The freedom and safety to explore. Let us be grateful, as we work for a better world for all.

Normally I write the annual reflection around March, but this year I’m hunkered down after a glorious new years on the old haunt of Mt Stirling. The snow gums are still in flower, and the wildflowers are a mad blaze of colour. The springs are running and the mountains seem full of people riding, walking and camping. I need a bit of time to reflect and regroup before I face up to whatever 2024 may have in store for us.

The big news on the environmental front is the end of native forest logging in the east of Victoria, including all the Alps from January 1, 2024. So many places at risk of logging are now safe (leaving aside the existential threat of climate change for a minute). And the Falls Creek to Hotham Alpine Crossing – a plan by Parks Victoria to facilitate private development within the Alpine national park – is looking shakier by the minute. Keep pushing and demand the government drop this one. And finally, NSW is moving forward with removing feral horses from the Kosciusko national park in the Snowy Mountains.

And now that logging has ended in the Victorian high country we enter an incredible time where traditional owners will get to be decision makers, not just stakeholders when it comes to the conversation about ‘what next’ for these forests.

The world has just experienced it’s warmest year on record, so it’s hard to get too excited about what this winter might be like. This year will be the hottest on record — by a significant margin. Between January and November 2023, the world’s average temperature reached 15.1°C, a record 1.46°C increase from pre-industrial levels. Any Australian skier or rider knows that our winter snow is already pretty marginal, and even a 1°C increase in temps is often the difference between the glory of snow and the misery of rain.

But you do have to keep your hopes up – fingers crossed for a good one!

You can find a copy of the 2023 print magazine here for more of a summary of some of the issues that came up during the year. Stay tuned for the 2024 edition in mountain huts and valley towns in April 2024.

Wishing you a wonderful 2024.

[IMAGES: Buffalo Plateau, August 2023. Top image is from the Wellington Plains, January 2023].