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Winter 2025: was it good, average, or an exception?

We’re getting close to October and there is still excellent snow cover across the higher elevations of the Australian high country. After several ‘ordinary’ winters, we really needed this one. Businesses were struggling, workers were facing short seasons and snow lovers were generally depressed. So, 2025 has been the boost we all needed.

I have raved a lot on the website about what a great winter it has been and the snow media has wheeled out the superlatives to describe good snow falls and solid snow pack. Its been truly fantastic.

However, we do also need to remember an important fact. 2025 was not spectacular. It was an average version of what winter should be in the Australian mountains. And sadly, it was an increasingly rare winter – one that started early and maintained good snow pack across higher elevation through to the ‘formal’ end of the season – but which is rapidly becoming unusual, rather than regular.

Continue reading “Winter 2025: was it good, average, or an exception?” →

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National Climate Risk Assessment – what it means for mountain environments

The National Climate Risk Assessment (the National Assessment) was released this week. Prepared by the Australian Climate Service, it aims to provide an assessment of risk across 8 key systems and 11 regions on the continent, prioritising key risks both within each system and across systems.

This approach aims to provide an understanding of who or what might be at risk from a changing climate, across different areas of the country and paints a national picture for decision makers, to help them prioritise adaptation actions.

A key finding is that Australia’s climate is already changing and will continue to change into the future. The country is likely to experience more intense and extreme climate hazards, and in some cases in areas where people and places haven’t experienced these hazards before.

It is a complex document and while it doesn’t specifically focus on mountain areas, many references are relevant to the mountainous region of the south east and lutruwita/ Tasmania. Risks from climate change include increased stress from higher temperatures, increased fire risk and continued decline in snow pack.

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Wollangarra open day 2025

The Wollangarra outdoor education centre is located on a river flat beside the Macalister River in the foothills of the Victorian high country. It is a long established and much loved institution which has offered many thousands of young people incredible experiences in the outdoors. Wollangarra survives and thrives because of the community around it. Over the first weekend in October it holds its annual Open Day, which in 2025 will be held on October 4.

Wollangarra offers a hands-on approach to learning about life, leadership, and environmental care. On its website they say ‘here, young people find a welcoming community that values hard work, simple living, and connection to the land’. This is reflected in the events that happen on the open day (a report from the 2024 event can be found here).

It’s a bit of an outing to get there for most people but definitely worth the effort.

Check the Woll website for details and to get tickets.

 

 

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Letting go of the wilderness. Holding on to the Wild

As the process of a Treaty between First Peoples and the state of Victoria gets closer to agreement, I keep wondering about what it will all mean for the lands that we love. With an end to native forest logging, there has been two largely parallel processes underway. On the one hand, environmentalists have been pursuing their vision of larger national parks. On the other hand, First Nations people are asserting their rights to manage their traditional Country.

As a society, we really haven’t grappled with the changes in power that is currently underway in Victoria. These are a few of the complex thoughts and feelings that I have been sitting with in recent months.

Continue reading “Letting go of the wilderness. Holding on to the Wild” →

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Treaty – It’s here!

Victoria is today set to become the first state or territory in Australia to introduce a treaty to its parliament.

The treaty promises to “reckon with the past” and empower Victoria’s First Peoples.

This morning, First Peoples’ Assembly Co-Chairs Rueben Berg and Ngarra Murray joined Jidah Clark, Member of the Treaty Authority, Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister Natalie Hutchins for a Press Conference at Parliament, announcing that the Government will introduce the Statewide Treaty Bill into the Victorian Parliament today.

This is a historic milestone on the decades-long journey to Treaty, we are now one big step closer to Treaty for Victoria, and all supporters and allies are invited to share in and celebrate this announcement.

Continue reading “Treaty – It’s here!” →

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An updated management plan for Ben Lomond National Park. 

Ben Lomond is an important destination for those seeking winter recreational opportunities in lutruwita/ Tasmania (it is the main focus of downhill skiing in the state, which commenced there in the early 1930’s).

While most visitation currently happens during winter, there are also plans to expand visitation during the warmer months. The Tasmanian government is about to write the park’s first new management plan in almost 30 years and will consider environmental and commercial uses for the park.

In keeping with state government plans to continue to increase visitor numbers in national parks, a key consideration in the preparation of a new management plan will be ‘the opportunity for Ben Lomond National Park to become an important year-round destination’.

Continue reading “An updated management plan for Ben Lomond National Park. “ →

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O C Smith – Red Robin Surveyor

Red Robin Mine will be a familiar name for many people who visit Mt Hotham and the surrounding area. When operating, it was the highest altitude mine in the state. Red Robin Mine is located on the Machinery Spur track between Mount Hotham and Mount Feathertop.  William (Bill) Spargo discovered gold there in 1940, which initiated Victoria’s last gold rush.

Stephen Whiteside has been documenting previously unknown aspects of high country history, including the story of the Red Robin mine. In this instalment of the larger story he delves into the life of O C Smith, who surveyed Bill Spargo’s Red Robin gold mining lease on Machinery Spur in the 1940’s.

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‘Moth tracker’ launched for 2025

Bogong Moths are an important and iconic species. After Bogong Moth numbers crashed by an estimated 99.5% in 2017-18, these small but mighty moths were sadly listed as Endangered by the IUCN in 2021. Bogong Moths are found in every Australian state and territory except for the Northern Territory. They are even sometimes found in Aotearoa New Zealand! Beginning in spring each year, Bogong Moths make an epic migration towards alpine regions in Victoria and New South Wales, where Critically Endangered Mountain Pygmy-possums are waking from their hibernation. Bogong Moths are a crucial spring food source for Mountain Pygmy-possums and declines in Bogong Moth numbers are an urgent threat to the possums’ survival.

Moth Tracker is a citizen science initiative which aims to gather data on the Bogong Moth’s annual migration. Submitting a moth sighting on the Moth Tracker website is quick and easy.

Continue reading “‘Moth tracker’ launched for 2025” →

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Environmental film night in Canberra

This Is Home’ is an immersive environmental film and conversation night presented by Mont Adventure Equipment. Across stories of eucalyptus forests, alpine rivers, and the Snowy Mountains, the night explores the pressures placed on wild places and the choices we face to protect them.

Setting the tone of the night is Mont’s documentary, Softly Spoken, which threads together the values that guide Mont: respect for the wild, decisions made with integrity, and a commitment to safeguarding wild places for the future.

Together, the films, conversations, and Mont’s story create an immersive experience that asks us to reflect on what is lost, and what can still be protected.

Tuesday October 7th, at 7:00PM

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The Australian Backcountry festival starts today!

Now in it’s 8th year, the BC Fest returns to Mt Hotham, and this year we are blessed with incredible snow.

While the tours are all booked out, there is still a huge amount to do, including three great social events (tonight, saturday and sunday).

Head to the website to see the full schedule.

The festival is a 100% volunteer community event.

I will post some photos here as the weekend unfolds.

ABOVE: I will be leading a snow shoe tour into the Boiler Plain reference area on sat am. After massive burnoff of snow cover the current storm has delivered an incredible (albeit unconsolidated) base just in time for the festival.

Friday AUG 29

4pm. To make things interesting, the snow base is very unconsolidated – which will make for interesting touring conditions, there is a lightning storm on its way, and the Great Alpine rd between Harrietville and Hotham has been closed to all traffic.

Checking out the snow shoe tour route.

Saturday August 30

ABOVE: snow shoe tour to Boiler Plain.

ABOVE: backcountry brews workshop.

ABOVE: the party at the Hub at Wire Plain.

 

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Peak Oil Company: ‘durable clothing and equipment for the Australian outdoors’.

Almost all outdoor gear used to be made in Australia. That is now a rarity, although a couple of companies continue to produce things here (there is a probably outdated list of these companies available here). Outdoor gear advertising is largely synonymous with generic high impact lifestyles – fly here, go there, have the latest stuff, charge that line – rather than being connected to a place or community (sure there are exceptions, but the ‘global brands’ do dominate the market here in Australia).

That’s why small scale, locally owned gear companies are so important (as are, of course, locally owned shops – you can find a list of them here).

Some Australian brands like Snow Gum, One Planet or Mountain Designs, have been around for decades. There are also a growing number of micro brands starting up and one of these is Peak Oil Company, whose primary mission is ‘making durable clothing and equipment for the Australian outdoors, without using petrochemicals’.

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Spag-Bol and Snow gums

Mt Howitt, in the Victorian high country,  is a wonderful destination at any time of the year. The easiest way in, of course, is the lovely trail from the Howitt Plains. The hardest direct approach is up the west spur from the Howqua River. In winter the options are more complex and way more committing. While you look across the Howqua valley to the metropolis that is the ski resort at Mt Buller, the ridges from The Bluff to the Howitt plateau feel wonderfully remote, and the A frame hut at Macalister Springs can feel like you’re at the heart of the Victorian high country. Weather, route finding and snow conditions can be variable and difficult. Heading to ‘Mac Springs’ in winter remains a classic hard trip for anyone who is committed to backcountry touring.

This winter, three friends, Hunter Williams, Oliver Huzzey, and Rainer Cook Tonkin, made the trip in to Howitt on old gear bought second hand on marketplace and with homemade ski crampons. In true backcountry tradition, it pushed them out of their comfort zones, providing a mix of misery, hard slog and elation.

Continue reading “Spag-Bol and Snow gums” →

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