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Mountain Journal

Environment, news, culture from the Australian Alps

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Cam Walker

I work with Friends of the Earth, and live in Castlemaine in Central Victoria, Australia. Activist, mountain enthusiast, telemark skier, volunteer firefighter.

Campaign to drain and restore Lake Pedder gains momentum

The following comes from the ABC (journalist is Rosemary Bolger). It chronicles the latest stage in the decades long campaign to have the dam waters above Lake Pedder in south west Tasmania drained so that the original lake and ecosystem can be restored.

Check here for details on the campaign to have the lake restored.

A long-running campaign to drain Lake Pedder and return the natural jewel of Tasmania’s south-west to its former glory is ramping up again.

Despite opposition from a small group of environmentalists, the lake’s still waters were swallowed up in 1972 by a massive inland sea created to supply the Gordon Power Station.

Harnessing the power of the green movement that emerged from the failed campaign, protesters went on to wage one of the biggest environmental fights in Australia to block the damming of the Franklin River.

Continue reading “Campaign to drain and restore Lake Pedder gains momentum” →

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Bike Buller MTB Festival

The following comes from Mt Buller resort management:

Mountain bikers are getting set for the biggest event on Mt Buller’s busy calendar, the Bike Buller MTB Festival Presented by Orbea on March 7-9. Taking place over the Victorian Labour Day long weekend on Mt Buller’s world-class trails, the Bike Buller MTB Festival will see riders enjoy a jam-packed three days of mountain biking and festival fun at the popular Picnic in the Park food, wine and music festival at Mirimbah Park.

The festival is an ‘all mountain’ event, held across Mt Buller’s world-class cross-country, endurance and downhill trails, and suitable for riders of all abilities and disciplines. Run by event management company Rapid Ascent, the team behind the Giant Odyssey, Salomon Trail Running Series, Surf Coast Century and a number of other iconic adventure events, the 2015 Bike Buller MTB Festival presented by Orbea has a massive 14-event schedule with a diverse range of mountain bike races, kids’ events and even a trail running component.

Full details here.

And if you’re up on Mt Stirling, make sure you drop in to the Epicenter for a coffee or some food and support this great mountain business.

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How much will the Stockman mine cost Victorian tax payers?

Mountain Journal has previously highlighted the potential environmental impacts of the Stockman project, which would see a major mine re-opened in the headwaters of the Tambo River.

In the following story, Scott Campbell-Smith outlines the economic cost of the previous mining operation and the risks associated with a major expansion of the mining operation.

The new minister for Energy and Resources will need to make a final decision on this project shortly.

Continue reading “How much will the Stockman mine cost Victorian tax payers?” →

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Australian Alps Walking Track Projects – volunteer places available

Conservation Volunteers have two Australian Alps Walking Track (AAWT) projects remaining for the 2014/15 season, with some spaces left on the respective teams.

They are both base camping projects in the Victorian high country:

Bogong High Plains March 1 to 7 2015

Work involves Track definition and surfacing using rubber tiles, and creating drains.

Omeo region March 22 to 28 2015

This will involve a mix of track clearing, brushcutting, drainage installation, and track marking.

If you are interested it will be fantastic to hear from you.

To express interest, please contact Adam via email, on 03 54440777 or on 0427 507 004.

asmolak@conservationvolunteers.com.au

 

 

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Tours of Mount Buffalo Chalet

The following comes from Parks Victoria:

It’s your last chance to tour the Mount Buffalo Chalet prior to the commencement of refurbishment works. Free one hour tours will be held on Saturday 21 February. Tours will run on the hour from 10am to 3pm and bookings are essential as tickets are limited. Book online here.

Accessibility: there are numerous steps up into and throughout the chalet as part of the tour.

 

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Thank a Resort

This is an interesting initiative from the Climate Reality Project.

It profiles eleven ski resorts in North America who are undertaking meaningful initiatives to reduce their environmental impact as a practical way of reducing their contribution to climate change.

It asks people to send a message to the resorts to acknowledge their efforts and encourage them to do more.

The project says:

The resorts listed below have all taken meaningful action to offset their carbon emissions in some way. We encourage you to send a virtual high-five to as many of them as you can for going above and beyond in the fight against climate change and helping to keep snow on our mountains.

Of course, no Australian resorts would make such a list given their lacklustre efforts. But its always good to get inspiration from elsewhere about what might be possible …

 

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Taking some time off

Dear friends

Just to let you know that I’m taking a month off, so things will be fairly quiet on the website until mid February.

I’ll be out having some adventures in some (distant) mountains, so if anything interesting and relevant pops up I’ll be sure to write about it.

Otherwise, see you in mid Feb. All the best for a great 2015. Regards, Cam

 

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Tasmania plans to open wilderness world heritage area to logging and tourism

In a worrying development, decades worth of environmental campaigning could be lost under plans unveiled by the Tasmanian government to open up the world heritage area to logging and tourism.

Under the rhetoric of supporting Indigenous people, the government has released the draft Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Management Plan Project, while opening up the prospect of major new developments withing the region.

The National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 requires that the draft plan be made publically available to allow for representations to be made.

Your chance to have a say ends on Sunday 22 March 2015.

Continue reading “Tasmania plans to open wilderness world heritage area to logging and tourism” →

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Adventure Kids Festival, Mt Hotham

24th – 26th January 2015 Australia Day Long Weekend

From Mt Hotham resort management:

We are encouraging children between 4 and 12 years of age to spend more time being active in the outdoors with the Adventure Kids Festival this January here at Hotham.

The Adventure Kids offers children, and their parents, the opportunity to experience outdoor adventure activities in a controlled environment, close to traditional community services (such as transport, amenities, etc), in a very easy family-friendly way. The experience will be memorable and hopefully ignite a desire in them to further explore what our many outdoor and wilderness areas have to offer.

Over the Australia Day Long Weekend, Saturday 24th to Monday 26th January, Mt Hotham will play host to this exciting festival for Adventure Kids!

Camping, Trail Running, Mountain Biking, Orienteering, Fly Fishing, Obstacle Courses, Bush Walking, Abseiling, Bush Art, Damper Cooking, Rock Climbing are some of the activities on offer at the event for kids to get involved in!

Full details and tickets available here.

 

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World Telemark Day/ Splitboard Festival

Telemark Skier magazine, based in the US, is starting WORLD TELEMARK DAY.

They say:

“this inaugural event is a day for telemark skiers to get together and go telemark skiing. Wherever you might be around the world let’s gather at our local hills and drop a knee together!”

The Southern Hemisphere event will be on Saturday SEPTEMBER 5, 2015. Anyone interested in organising an event is welcome to do so: just post the details on the facebook page so other people can join you.

There will be a gathering at Mt Loch that day. We will meet in Mt Hotham resort in the morning, and ski to Mt Loch and Machinery Spur. Tele and AT skiers and splitboarders all welcome.

Some people will also be camping at JB Plain (between Mt Hotham and Dinner Plain) that weekend. You’d be welcome to join the camp. Just come fully prepared with food and gear for snow camping. There is a pub just a 2 km ski away if the need arises.

Splitfest DownUnder

And just a ‘date claimer’ for the 2015 Splitfest DownUnder festival.

It will be over the weekend of 21-23 August, in the Main Range of the Snowies.

Check the Splitfest website closer to the event for full details and to register.

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Lightning sparks three High Country fires

So far, the fire season has not seen any large fires in the high country. Let’s hope it stays that way! There has been one small one on the Bogong High Plains and the Mt Selwyn area. Dry lightening strikes have been problematic on a number of occasions.

The following report (Jan 8) comes from The Gippsland Times.

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning fire crews are responding to two fires about three to five kilometres north-east of Licola and a small fire the Alpine National Park about 28km north-west of Dargo.

As of Thursday morning, the fires were each about 0.5 hectares in size.

DELWP fire crews also responding to There was no threat to communities.

Smoke may be visible from nearby communities and roads.

You can find details on current fires via the CFA website.

 

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The Epicenter

The Epicenter is a great new cafe, opened in December 2014, that’s operating out of the ski school building at Telephone Box Junction on Mt Stirling.

Epicenter 2The Epicenter has a strong focus on mountain biking, and will be open throughout summer and autumn, then for the snow season as well. Along with Mountain Kitchen at Dinner Plain, this new operation is a stand out amongst alpine cafes: it’s small scale and friendly, with an authentic feel and commitment to adventure and mountain living.

Co-owner Hjalmar Arnold (Yully/Dingo) describes it as “the Riders Lifestyle in a shop, year round” and “the Gateway to the Alpine Backcountry”. There is no doubt that the MTB trails developed in recent years on Mt Buller and Stirling are some of the finest in the country. Yully helped build them, and is a great source of knowledge for first time riders.

They have great food, much of it made on the premises, and excellent coffee. Please drop by and support this great initiative.

There are additional renovations going on to extend the facilities at TBJ, which will be ready for winter 2015.

You can find their facebook page here.

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