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Backcountry film festival, Melbourne, May 14

The Melbourne show for 2014 will be held on

Wednesday the 14th May

FBE Theatre 1, 111 Barry St (Melbourne Uni), Carlton. Between Pelham and Gratton streets, short walk from #19 and #59 trams up Elizabeth street.

From 6.30pm, films start at 7pm.

Suggested donation: $8 conc & students/ $12 waged.

NB: please note that this year, because of the venue, we won’t have drinks for sale.

Co-hosted with Melbourne University Ski Club.

MUSki

 

FoEA logo colour

The festival is run by not-for-profit hosts, and in Australia, all funds raised will support the Friends of the Earth (FoE) climate campaign. Funds will go to FoE’s work with regional communities to stop the development of new coal mines and unconventional gas drilling across southern Victoria.

Facebook event page here: please feel free to invite your friends.

Full details here.

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The King of Hotham: My Father

This book is a memoir by Gillian Salmon of the remarkable life and times of her father, Lindsay Salmon, who played a key role in the development of Mt Hotham, including the establishment of the Mount Hotham Ski School and the construction of the iconic Drift Chalet.

It covers his time in the mountains of north eastern Victoria, broken by World War II. On his return, he starts work on the Drift Chalet. It opens in 1952 and ‘offers a tradition of hospitality unmatched at Mount Hotham since.’

Check here for the full review.

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winter on it’s way

With a couple of good dustings across the Alps in early May, everyone is getting impatient for winter. Thoughts turn to the big questions in life: when will we get that first serious dump? What trips am I going to do? Do I need any new gear?

If you’re getting ready for the first serious falls and opening weekend, maybe it’s time to think about:

ethical gear.

The Green and Sustainable gear site brings together information and listings on green and ethical outdoor gear, including what is still produced locally.

There are also a growing number of outdoor equipment producers who are paying attention to ensuring they have good working conditions in their factories. A lower impact snow industry is certainly getting closer every year – but only if we support it.

our carbon footprint.

Here in Australia, a trip to the snow usually means a lot of hours sitting in a car. But most resorts are well serviced by buses. Perhaps think of doing at least one trip a year by bus, as a practical way of reducing your impact. There are various ‘carbon calculators’ that are available so you can measure – and hopefully – reduce the impacts of your lifestyle.

If you’re a backcountry skier/ boarder, one option is to use buses to do longer tours: eg starting at Falls Creek and ending at Hotham.

hassle the resorts.

Most Australian ski resorts have given up on acting in any meaningful ay to reduce their contribution to global arming. In the US and Europe, many resorts are implementing a range of energy efficiency programs, sourcing green power (and even producing their own) and other measures. Resorts here have abandoned meaningful commitment to reducing impact.

If you stay in a resort, why not give them some feedback about the need for them to show leadership in responding to climate change?

sunscreen.

Up high, just that bit closer to the sun, we need our sunblock. But what about the hidden nasties? Check here for a guide to nano free sunscreens.

keep your recycling hat on.

At home, most of us nowdays think about the little things that make a big difference: separating the rubbish from the recycling, turning off the lights when we leave the room, keeping an eye on water and energy use. A big problem with the massive influx of people to resorts in winter is that lots of them seem to leave their conscience at home when they are on holidays. Wasteful behaviour, lower recycling rates, cranking up the heating while leaving the door open. We’ve all seen it.

But if we can look after these things at home, we can certainly do it while on holidays …

protecting the Alps.

Climate change is an ever a greater risk to the mountains that we love and enjoy. Please think about supporting one of the groups that campaign on climate change or protecting the Alps.

A few ideas here:

Friends of the Earth Australia

Protect Our Winters

More ideas and contacts for local groups here.

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the Alpine Walking Track in winter

This trip is from several years ago but remains an impressive effort: a traverse of the Alpine Walking Track (AWT) from near Canberra through to Walhalla in winter.

This short video gives some highlights of a trip done in 2005 by two brothers, Andrew and Mark Oates. The main ranges images are lovely, but it’s the earlier stages of slogging through the wet plains of the northern Snowies and fording flooded rivers that is perhaps the most impressive.

They say of their trip:

Our first seven days involved walking and carrying our skis, with pack weights around 35 kg. We first put on our skis just after Kiandra and apart from one or two days of pure walking we were able to ski most of the way from there to Hotham. A 60 cm dump of light dry snow near Thredbo helped keep us on our skis but it also made the first few days afterwards extremely challenging. Even with the fattest touring skis available we were still sinking at times thigh deep in snow with our skis on.

After crossing the three highest peaks in the ACT, NSW and Victoria we reached Hotham after four weeks. Unfortunately though the snow did not last – our fifth week out, from Hotham to Howitt saw us experiencing a week of solid rain and strong winds. This resulted in much of the existing snow along the remainder of our route melting away before our eyes.

There is a 4min 40 sec short version of their adventure available here.

Check Mark Oates vimeo page for the 2 longer videos. He also has a youtube page.

The AWT remains the quintessential trail through the Australian Alps, and at 680 km in length remains a committing project with complex logistics, because of the need for multiple food drops along the route. You can find some extra info on the track here.

 

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Public Symposium on Fire Management and Alpine Grazing

10001434_807156965961438_7591415225312276971_nWEDNESDAY 21st MAY 2014, 530 to 700 PM

Hoogenraad Auditorium, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences

LA TROBE UNIVERSITY, Bundoora Campus

Hosted by the Research Centre for Applied Alpine Ecology, La Trobe University

This Symposium will showcase how science answers questions about a current, highly topical management issue in the Australian Alps – the effects of livestock grazing on fire regimes of the Australian High Country.  The guest speakers will address globally important topics such as the evolution of Australia as a flammable continent, how weather and fuels determine fire regimes, fire-grazing interactions, and approaches to assessing the effectiveness of various fire management options, including alpine grazing. This is a public forum about an important land management issue, and there will be ample time for questions and discussion at the conclusion of the talks. The Symposium will be followed by drinks and nibbles.

This Symposium is a must for anyone with an interest in the ecology and management of the Australian Alps. Enquiries and reservations: femaa2014@gmail.com

Places are limited. RSVP: 15th May 2014

 

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Homegrown snowboard day

Image: Firstlight Boards
Image: Firstlight Boards

Saturday September 6, Main Range NSW

This is a chance to have a go at making your own snowboard and spending the day in resort, board with others, and see what everyone else has come up with.

The rules are:

No Metal Edges
No P-Tex Bases

Make you board in the garage and bring it on the day!

“Bring your home made creations down for a like minded gnar off!“

Organised by FirstLight Splitboards.

Register here.

This will be held the weekend after the splitfest (Australia’s backcountry boarding festival) which is being held over the weekend of the 29th – 31st of August in the NSW main range.

 

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Snow on the way

So, after the ‘autumn break’ and decent rainfalls across the south east, we are finally steering towards cooler and wetter conditions which are expected to bring the first significant snowfalls of the year.

As reported on MountainWatch, the esteemed forecaster Grasshopper is quoted as saying:

“At this stage it’s looking like some snow worth mentioning – it’s plenty cold enough – but the totals won’t be crazy. Don’t expect this snow to stick around, at best it will ruin a few hiker’s days and help to cool the ground. But any ground-cooling event at this time of year is positive!”

‘So this mightn’t be a season-starter, but it’s worthwhile getting hyped about’. 

And the final analysis?

5 to 20cm across Friday/Saturday (Alert level: Confident).

Read the full report here.

The BOM is not quite so enthusiastic, forecasting ‘snow showers’ across much of the High Country over the next week.

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‘For Our Sherpa Friends’

On April 18, an avalanche on Mount Everest swept through a line of Sherpas preparing the climbing route for their commercial clients. Sixteen men were killed, making it the deadliest day in the mountain’s history.

Many people in the climbing and outdoors community are responding. I like this project from the US, raising funds for the families of those killed and injured, by selling (amazing) photos.

The project is called For Our Sherpa Friends. They say:

We are a group of ten photographers who have worked extensively with the Sherpa people and are devastated by this tragedy. For us, this is a moment to ask how we can help our Sherpa friends—both in this time of crisis and in the years to come. As a first step, we are donating the prints you see here, a selection of our photographs of the Everest region and its people, curated by our editors, National Geographic’s Sadie Quarrier and Outside’s Amy Silverman. One-hundred percent of proceeds from this sale (after the cost of printing) will go to the Sherpa community via the nonprofit Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation, which has been working with Sherpa climbers in the Khumbu since 2003.

By purchasing a print today, you are helping provide relief to Sherpa families in crisis, as well as long-term support that transcends this single incident. Together, we will build a more comprehensive safety net for the high-altitude workers who help so many Westerners realize their dreams of the summit.

You can check the images, and buy them online, here.

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2014 season – Backcountry film festival

BC festival posterNow in its 9th year the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival celebrates the human powered winter experience through film.

The festival is now a pre winter event here in Australia, in its 4th season.

The Melbourne show for 2014 will be held on

Wednesday the 14th May

at Melbourne Uni (exact location soon). From 6.30pm, films start at 7pm.

Suggested donation: $8 conc & students/ $12 waged.

Co-hosted with Melbourne University Ski Club.

The festival is run by not-for-profit hosts, and in Australia, all funds raised will support the Friends of the Earth campaign against new coal and gas.

Full details here, including the trailer and list of films.

Facebook event here: please feel free to invite your friends.

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Mt Wellington cablecar proposal update

The following update comes from the Hobart group Respect the Mountain, who are concerned about plans to build a cable car up Mt Mount Wellington/ Kunanyi (check here for some background).

Dangerous precedent to be discussed at Hobart City Council meeting on 28th April

April 25, 2014

cable carA dangerous precedent is to be discussed at the Hobart City Council meeting in Town Hall on Monday 28th April at 5pm.

Mount Wellington Cableway Co. (MWCC) is hoping that council will grant landowner permission to extend the boundary of the Pinnacle Zone without any indication of what will be built in the area between the lookout and the top of the Organ Pipes.

Currently the area below the lookout platforms are protected from development. If the MWCC gets their way, then panaromic views from the top of the mountain could be marred by cables protruding beneath them.

This has the potential to set very a dangerous precedent for any future development on the mountain. Without any plans or specifications provided to council, the proponent is asking the City of Hobart to blindly provide permission to develop outside of established development zone. If the Hobart City Council agrees to this request, then it sets a precedent for any further proposals to be able to design wherever they want on the mountain!

MWCC are also yet to reveal exactly what they plan to build on the summit. Apart from a cableway station, other potential buildings that have been discussed include restaurants, cafes, visitor centre, accommodation, and an ampitheatre/function centre. This would form an enormous footprint on the fragile alpine environment and naturally wouldn’t all fit within the current development zone.

It is our belief that the cable car is being used to cloak an enormous development at the pinnacle.

Revelations at the MWCC breakfast launch just before Easter focused mostly on what they had planned on Cascade Brewerys land. Very little was mentioned about what was planned for the summit other than MWCC planned to fly an open-top cable car over the Organ Pipes.

Current revelations of plans are eerily similar to the 1993 Skyway plans that was to start at Cascades and used an aerial tram to travel to the summit where a restaurant and ski field were to be erected.
Respect The Mountain is calling on all concerned residents of Hobart to contact their Aldermen over the long weekend via mobile or email to register their concern before Monday’s meeting. Contact details are available on Respect The Mountain’s Facebook page, Twitter account and website. Alternatively, members of the public can attend the meeting at Town Hall at 5pm.

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Baw Baw resort under private management.

After struggling financially for several years, it has been announced that the day-to-day management of the Baw Baw alpine resort has been handed to private enterprise.

As with many key decisions taken by the current Coalition government, it appears to be blind to the reality of climate change. Climate science is consistently pointing out that the lower elevation resorts will suffer from shorter and more erratic snowcover earlier compared with higher resorts. Yet government continues to ignore the huge elephant in the room.

Like other resorts, Baw Baw has sought to broaden its appeal in recent years, with a strong focus on ‘green season’ activity and an emphasis on arts and culture, and community-orientated events. Let’s hope the new management continues to develop a diverse range of low impact events that can draw in larger numbers of people.

Anare lodge
Anare lodge

According to resort management:

Belgravia Leisure will manage the resort on a fee for service basis “with the incentive to improve financial performance”.

Board Chair Vicky Papachristos welcomes Belgravia who has a proven track record in the leisure industry, managing over eighty facilities throughout Australia including successfully managing Lake Mountain.

“I am delighted with Belgravia’s appointment because this will allow them to gain an understanding of the resort’s commercial operations and to assist us with improving the long term sustainability of the resort for the future”.

“We are looking to them to bring new ideas and expertise to help us achieve our vision for Mount Baw Baw to become a more vibrant centre for year-round alpine experiences.

“For some years the resort has required additional funding from Government to remain operational. This funding will continue but we will be drawing on Belgravia’s expertise to reduce this burden on the taxpayer and produce a better overall offering,” she said.

“Belgravia will apply their significant experience to manage the resort and produce efficiencies. We will work with them to develop a plan to secure investment in the resort to ensure the long term independent financial sustainability of the resort.”

Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Ryan Smith said: “The private operation of Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort by Belgravia Leisure is a major boost for tourism and the economy. It will help to build a more innovative and sustainable future for the resort so that its facilities can be enjoyed by Victorians and visitors to the area.”

Belgravia Leisure will assume management responsibilities for the resort immediately and in time for the 2014 snow season. They will report to the Board and will be subject to the same legislation and regulations that are currently in place.

The contract follows the tender process that commenced in November 2013 seeking expressions of interest from private operators to manage and operate Mount Baw Baw. The contract is for one-year with the option to extend this arrangement.

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‘The Little Things’ snowboarding film

TheLittleThingsMovie-EarthDaytrailer-April14-fiAs a contribution for Earth Day (April 22) Snowboarder magazine released a trailer for the snowboarding film ‘The Little Things’.

They say:

As snowboarders, we are explicitly tied to the outdoor world. We depend on ample snowfall, cold temperatures, and healthy forestland to provide us with areas in which to strap in and make turns. And that’s just the tip of the environmental iceberg. Fuel to power our cars, trucks, and snowmobiles (and if we’re lucky, helicopters). Power for chairlifts, resources to make equipment, the list goes on and on, and for most of us, the impact of everything doesn’t enter our minds that often when we’re moving from edge to edge down corduroy or through fresh snow. But, and in no way do we or the folks involved in The Little Things Movie intend to be pushy, being considerate of our environment is something vital to take into consideration. Especially for snowboarders.

The Little Things is a snowboard movie/documentary based on environmentally conscious riders who are inspirational through their riding, as well as their sustainable ways of living and thinking. The film to be released fall 2014 is an initiative taken on by professional snowboarder Marie-France Roy and directed by Filmmaker Darcy Turenne in which all the riders are bringing to life the importance of protecting and living in balance with our environment. Riders include Gretchen Bleiler, Tamo Campos, Jeremy Jones, Mike Basich, Meghann O’Brien, Jonaven Moore, Marie-France Roy, and friends.

You can find the trailer here.

 

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