For the third year, we have produced a print version of the Mountain Journal magazine, with content from the Mountain Journal website and many new stories.
You can read the magazine as a PDF here: MJ3.
Look for print mags in your local resort, valley town or favourite mountain hut soon.
Last month Friends of the Earth hosted a mountain roadtrip to visit some special places in the Alps. This included a walk to Mt Wills and the areas threatened by logging.
The forests that will be cut were very impressive, older alpine ash forests.
Mt Wills itself is a magical ‘island in the sky’ of isolated snow gum woodland, largely dominated by older trees.
We had a lot of requests to host another walk, so here it is.
Public walk to Mt Wills and the proposed coupes
Saturday May 20
The Australian Alps Walking Track (AAWT) is the country’s premier long distance walking trail. The 700 km long track crosses the Australian high country from Walhalla to the outskirts of Canberra. More and more people walk the track each year and it is becoming increasingly well known around the world, attracting walkers from Australia and overseas. It is a great example of the sort of nature based tourism that the alps are famous for. Walking, camping, skiing, trail running, mountain biking and paddling all continue to grow in popularity across the alps. People do not visit in order to see logging coupes (and a growing number of logged higher elevation areas are failing to regenerate, slowly transforming much of the landscape into a wasteland).
However, as we pointed out recently, logging now threatens the area between Victoria’s highest mountain, Warkwoolowler / Mt Bogong and the refuge of old growth snow gum woodlands on the summit of Mt Wills. Four planned logging areas will cut across a section of the AAWT as it leaves Big River Saddle and climbs onto Mt Wills, creating a large clear cut across the track (details here).
However, this is not the only section of the AAWT which is scheduled to be subjected to logging. From Mt Wills, the AAWT heads south, drops into the Glen Valley, and climbs onto the next range to the east. As it curves back south, a series of three coupes, with an area of about 130 hectares, will cut right up against the track.
The VIC BC Fest will be happening in and around Mt Hotham resort over three days in early September (1, 2 and 3).
It will look a lot like last year – a great tours program, workshops and skillshares (including more telemark and cross country), the ski in outdoor bar, speakers program, repair cafe, and demo village outside The General in Hotham village. There will also be an on snow camp site attached to the festival this year.
With a new and expanded organising committee, we are getting down to planning another great festival. Stay tuned for details, call out for the program and volunteer guides.
As we get into autumn, its time for the annual Backcountry Film Festival (details here).
The films will cover stories of outdoor stewardship, grassroots advocacy, backcountry adventure, and snow cinema by human-powered advocates, athletes, brands, activists, adventurers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
These films are shown all over the world. This year, Friends of the Earth is once again delighted to be the local host for Backcountry film festival in Melbourne. The festival will screen at RMIT in the city in early May.
We would love to include a locally made backcountry film. Skiing, riding, anything backcountry related is probably suitable. Maximum of 15 minutes in length. If you might have something to include, please get in touch: cam.walker@foe.org.au
Victoria’s highest mountain, Bogong (Warkwoolowler in the Waywurru and Dhudhuroa languages, meaning the mountain where Aboriginal people collected the Bogong Moths) is protected in the Alpine National Park.
Most people approach the mountain from the Kiewa Valley or across the Bogong High Plains. There is another route on the eastern side, following the appropriately named Long Spur to Mt Wills. This is all high elevation woodland and forests, and is the route by which the famous Australian Alps Walking Track (AAWT) leaves Bogong as it heads towards the Snowy Mountains. The 700 km long AAWT crosses the Alps from Walhalla to the outskirts of Canberra, and follows Long Spur from Bogong to Mt Wills before turning south and dropping into the valley of the Mitta Mitta River.
Mt Wills itself is a magical ‘island in the sky’ of isolated snow gum woodland, largely dominated by older trees. While it is connected by the long and high ridge back to Bogong, mostly the land around the mountain falls away to deep river valleys and forests that are initially dominated by Alpine Ash.
Now logging threatens the area between Bogong and Mt Wills.
Continue reading “A wander up Mt Wills & logging along the AAWT”
The Winter Wildlands Alliance presents their annual Backcountry Film Festival. This year’s screenings will showcase human-powered adventure in the backcountry.
The films will cover stories of outdoor stewardship, grassroots advocacy, backcountry adventure, and snow cinema by human-powered advocates, athletes, brands, activists, adventurers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
These films are shown all over the world. This year, Friends of the Earth is once again delighted to be the local host for Backcountry film festival in Melbourne. The festival will screen at RMIT in the city on Thursday May 4.
It appears that logging operations are about to start in the upper Jamieson River in the Victorian high country, to the south east of Mt Buller. The operations, covering a coupe which is 40 hectares in size (coupe 380-503-0003) will occur right up against the edge of the Alpine National Park, just south of Mt Lovick. This is one of a cluster of coupes which are scheduled for logging. It also includes a significant roading operation to upgrade the existing track.
Please scroll down for updates.
Continue reading “Logging to start soon in the Upper Jamieson Valley?”
Nature based tourism is an enormous part of the economy of many regional centres. Skiing, mountain bike riding, bushwalking, bird watching, camping, paddling, trail running all provide a growing part of the local economies of towns across the country where there are public lands with opportunity for adventure.
Sadly, logging and destructive land activities impact on many areas. The fact is that people don’t want to walk or ride through a logging coupe or open cut. But logging currently threatens a number of important nature and outdoor tourism activity.
The Climate Council says that Australia faces ‘unprecedented grassfires next summer ‘supercharged’ by global heating’. Fuel loads that increased after heavy rain are now drying out and creating ‘powder keg’ conditions for future fires. While the mountains of the south east have had a number of mild summers with very limited fire activity, we know that next summer could be different if El Nino conditions return. In lutruwita/ Tasmania, dry conditions in the west have led to a number of significant fires this summer.
We know that climate change is making fire seasons longer and more intense, and that there are many things we must do to respond to these threats, around fire fighting capacity, community resilience, and ensuring our homes and cities are ready for the climatic changes that are already underway. People living in mountain communities and valley towns know the impacts of these changes very well – the fires of 2019/20 shut down many areas for months, with massive environmental and economic damage.
Continue reading “Fighting fires in the mountains – could city people be part of the answer?”
As we inch closer to winter, I have finally started working on the 2023 edition of the magazine. The theme the first year was First Nations aspirations for the high country. In 2022, it was ‘giving back to the mountains‘. In 2023, the plan had been to honour and acknowledge the people who did the hard work of getting the Alps protected. I am now feeling that I probably lack the time to really do justice to this topic, although we will certainly make a start and already have some fantastic content.
I am looking for content for this edition:
Continue reading “Final call for content – Mountain Journal magazine #3”
Would you like to hear about great environmental and sustainability initiatives happening in the Upper Ovens valley? Then please join us for a free event on the evening of tuesday March 14 at Bright Brewery.
This forum will feature local speakers showcasing some great conservation initiatives, and be a good chance to catch up with like minded people.
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