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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.

A half century of change in the Central Alps

Anyone who has hiked and skied the mountains between Buller and Stirling, and from The Bluff to Howitt and Cobbler and is over 30 probably knows the wonderful maps of Stuart Brookes.

Stuart has produced maps of the Alps and other popular walking areas since the late 1940s. As a teenager on my first walking, snow shoeing and skiing adventures in the area around the Howqua River, I fell in love with Stuart’s black and white map ‘Watersheds of the King, Howqua & Jamieson Rivers’. It had basic landform details shown through shading and all the features that a walker needed: good campsites, places where you could get water on the high ridges, routes and cairned trails rather than just the marked roads. I would get a new version every couple of years, and later versions were in multi colour and had contours. But they still had a sense of richness that are rare in modern maps. This was country that Stuart knew intimately and the maps evoked a rich sense of place.

Continue reading “A half century of change in the Central Alps” →

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The perfect back country camp

I love this story. As a climber I have spent weeks at a time living in the camp at Arapiles in western VIC (The Pines is always an entertaining place). Lifer climbers (as opposed to weekenders) are great at dossing out and living cheap. From the stone hut in the car park above Buffalo Gorge, to roadside camps in the Grampians, there are dozens of established, and well known, camping spots in the climbing world where you’ll often find other climbers.

I know of fewer such spots in the back country skiing world. Known campsites accessible by road where you can park yourself for a while without too much hassle.

Continue reading “The perfect back country camp” →

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Mt Carruthers and The Sentinel

A trip report from John Blankenstein . This is his third report from the western faces of the Main Range, featuring runs on the Mt Carruthers North Chutes and the South West Sentinel.

“Wind and rain had crept back into the mountains with a series of less than adequate “not so cold fronts” which threatened to unhinge my winter. Optimistic, I was certain that cooler air would be drawn up into the cycle of precipitation by Thursday evening. I got a call from Mike at First tracks Snowboard store Jindabyne on Thursday night with reports of wind gusts in excess of 190km from a cat driver on top of Guthega, by 9pm that night snow finally entered the equation and by Saturday morning we had received a healthy recharge of up to 20cm of dry pow”.

Read the full report here.

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Backcountry Awareness Presentation at Falls Creek

Falls Creek Ski Patrol is holding a Backcountry Awareness Presentation to be held this Saturday night the 9th of August at the Frying Pan Inn between 7 and 9pm.

Seats are limited so call Falls Creek Ski Patrol on 03 5758 1288 for bookings.

Mt Bogong from near Spion Kopje
Mt Bogong from near Spion Kopje

The night will consist of
·  a general presentation on backcountry awareness from both members of the Falls Creek & Squaw Valley Ski Patrol, including: How avalanches form, resort vs backcountry, personal equipment, weather / avalanche information sources when abroad, formal education resources for professionals and recreationists, avalanche transceiver use, probe line and search techniques, safe travel in avalanche terrain and snowpack analysis.

· the second part of evening will be a brief general summary of the recent Bogong Avalanche from Falls Creek Patrollers who assisted in search and recovery efforts – this will include a forensic review of the avalanche from a snow science and search and rescue perspective.

· After this there will be a couple of Backcountry short films – OFF GRID and Valhalla.

Also if anyone is interested in Field Workshops they should contact the Falls Creek Ski Patrol Base on for more information on 03 5758 1288.

· Donations for the night are going towards the set up of two Avalanche Rescue Hasty packs.

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Back Country culture. Changing of the guard?

As a teenager, my summer hiking and climbing quickly broadened into winter XC skiing. Wonderful years of skinny skis, dodgey boots, japara jackets and woollen pants.

A decade or so later, on a trip to the Main Range, I skied with some guys of similar skill level who were shredding slopes that I could barely get down. This was my introduction to the wonders of plastic boots and heavy gear. Like quite a few of my friends of similar age, I made the transition to fatter skis and started chasing steeps as well as enjoying my backcountry pottering. My equivalent of a mid-life sports car was a pair of Liberty skis with Axel bindings. I even bought a pair of skins. I never looked back, happily skinning up mountains after years of bagging my mates that had crossed over from the One True Religion of pattern based skis.

In the same way we have those subtle changes in our individual lives, these also play out on the larger level of the backcountry community. The last few years I have seen some interesting changes in back country (BC) culture. I suppose a lot my reflection is influenced by where I ski (mostly the Hotham/ Feathertop area, and Mt Stirling, with a couple of longer BC trips each year). So maybe its an observation that doesn’t ring true elsewhere. I haven’t skied out of Falls or Thredbo in about 3 years. And I certainly haven’t tried to cross reference it with any data.

Continue reading “Back Country culture. Changing of the guard?” →

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Organ Pipes ‘under threat’

The following is an update on the threat to Mt Wellington/kunanyi posed by a proposed cable car. It is a press release from Residents Opposed to the Cable Car (ROCC) Media Release, originally posted on Tasmanian Times.

The Wellington Park Management Trust has today announced an increase in the size of the proposed development at the top of the mountain, at the Pinnacles.

Continue reading “Organ Pipes ‘under threat’” →

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Snowy Mountains Stomp

It’s possibly not going to be in the Olympics or Commonwealth Games for a while yet. But there is a snowshoe running event coming up soon in the Snowy Mountains.

Saturday August 23, Perisher Valley, Kosciusko National Park

The organisers say:

It will be a day of snowshoe running in the Kosciusko National Park. Two events are planned:

The Stomp: 6km (approx.)
The Longer Stomp: 15km (approx.)

Both events will be on marked courses and mostly on marked trail. Not flat but not over-the-top steep, courses will be designed to be runnable by the fit and walkable by those wanting a challenge up in the hills.

Snow shoe hire will be available.

For more info, and to register, check here.

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Winter. Bring It (Again).

After a mild spell of weather over the past week and a bit, winter is due back today with stormy weather and snow down to 500m in Victoria tomorrow.

The snow base has been affected by the recent warmer weather, drizzle and rain, but without too much loss at higher elevations. We are certainly due for a top up. The recent weather will help consolidate the base, and with good falls expected in the next few days, hopefully we will be set up for a long end to the season, well out into the ‘official’ months of spring.

But, as always, we can never take anything for granted – especially snow. Mountain Watch’s snow forecaster Grasshopper warns ‘It may be some time before we’re talking another big dump’ after this one, so get out there if you can.

Check the BOM site for alpine forecasts or the Mountain Watch website.

[Main image: Pinnacle, on the summit of kunanyi / Mount Wellington, this morning 31/7/14]

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caution still needed in the backcountry

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS)has issued a message to backcountry users in the Snowy Mountains. See below for full text.

Another perspective comes from Wilderness Sports who provide a daily conditions report for the Snowy Mountains on their website and facebook page.

Continue reading “caution still needed in the backcountry” →

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The death of backpacking?

For anyone who spends time out in nature walking, skiing, climbing, riding, or paddling, it’s always interesting to see who else is out there (separate story coming on this soon). But another aspect of this is how many people are out there. The following excerts come from a longer article on the High Country News (HCN) website by Christopher Ketcham. HCN is based in Colorado.

Mt Field National Park, TAS
Mt Field National Park, TAS

The premise of the story is that fewer younger people are taking up multi day walking. Various reasons are put forward, including the fact that as a (potentially) low consumption activity there is less reason for the outdoor industry to promote it compared with more gear dependent activities like skiing.

Continue reading “The death of backpacking?” →

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Public gets first look at Alps plan

The following comes from the Victorian National Parks Association’s Phil Ingamells.

It’s been six years in preparation, but the Greater Alpine National Parks Draft Management Plan has at last been released for public comment.

Covering five national parks (Alpine, Baw Baw, Errinundra, Mount Buffalo and Snowy River), as well as the Avon Wilderness Park and six smaller parks and historic reserves, this single management plan deals with nearly one-third of Victoria’s park estate.

Not surprisingly, there is little detail in such a broadscale document – but there are some quite specific proposals, such as the current alpine grazing trial. Roofed ‘retreat style accommodation’ is flagged for Mount Buffalo National Park.

Unfortunately the integrity of the draft plan has been marred by the oddly configured Alpine Advisory Committee, required by law to advise on the plan. The committee was appointed without its full quota of environmental advisors, yet has a majority of mountain cattlemen members and supporters.

The 40 maps available online may be difficult to download, but hard copies can be bought from Parks Victoria for $10, phone 13 1963.

Alternatively, you can view the plan and maps at the VNPA office, just call ahead on 03 9347 5188.

We will outline our response to the plan within a few weeks to help anyone making a submission. Comments on the draft are due by Monday 25 August.

Check the VNPA website for additional information.

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Lamont mountain blog

I just discovered a new website, La Mont, from Mandy Lamont, which promises to be a ‘Mountain blog, for mountain folk by mountain folk’.

I call Jindabyne home.  And after spending my first summer here in 2010/2011, my love of the mountains has extended to summer and an ever growing love of mountain biking.  This blog is isn’t about me, it’s  about the mountains that I love, the people and places in them and the adventures within them.

The mountains are now my life.  They’re in my blood, they’re in my name.

You can find the blog here and the facebook page here.

 

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