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The gnarliest runs in Oz

Mt Carruthers. From Huck & Dyno.
Mt Carruthers. From Huck & Dyno.

This is a great resource: the ‘gnarliest runs in Oz’, from the Huck & Dyno website (in two parts – Victoria and the Main Range in NSW).

The NSW feature has all the obvious things, and Victoria includes excellent coverage of places like Mt Buller, Feathertop and Bogong, and also some gems which are off the beaten track, like Mt Howitt.

A few years ago I put a lot of effort into expanding the ski wiki posts on backcountry skiing in Australia (mostly the VIC and TAS sections) but a big failure with this is the lack of images. In contrast to my effort, James and Sam, who are behind Huck & Dyno, have some gorgeous pictures of the mountains and general terrain, plus many of the actual runs. Visually beautiful.

I like their intro:

When you get down to it, Australia is the flattest driest continent on Earth. By definition, the skiing here is the worst in the world. … So it’s easy to write the place off as a land of sunburnt sweeping plains. Or, if you’re a skier, patchy cover, ice and crud, short shallow runs and snowmaking.

Even the highest mountain, good old Kosciuszko, is a hill with a road to the top… The very first time I ever went XC skiing, we made it to the top! Snowboarders were drinking beer up there! Fun for the whole family!

The enthusiastic might even bother to look over at the ‘Main Range’, hoping to see a craggier peak. But nope, Mount Townsend and Northcote and Lee all look pretty tame over there.

But then one day you’ll bother to climb the second highest peak, Mount Townsend, and have a look from the top of there and, HOLY CRAP, there it is…

So begins our investigation into the gnarliest lines in Oz.

With winter finally bearing down on us, I hope this inspires you. Get out there and enjoy!

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Backcountry film festival 2013 season

from the film Further
from the film Further

The Winter Wildlands Alliance created the Backcountry Film Festival in 2005 to help grassroots and professional filmmakers to show audiences their love of the winter outdoors. Since then, the annual festival has become something of an institution amongst many outdoor communities.

The festival is now a pre winter event here in Australia.
Melbourne show

Wednesday May 15

At The South Melbourne Commons
corner of Bank & Montague St in South Melbourne

Suggested donation: $8 conc/ $12 waged

7pm. Come and grab a drink and catch up
7.30. Films start, the show runs til 10pm (with a 20 minute break in the middle).

Check here for details on how to get to the Commons. Trams and the Light Rail are a few minutes walk away. Lots of parking at night.

Facebook event page here, feel free to invite your friends.

Full details on the films here.

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backcountry snowboarding magazine available in Australia

2516246Kronicle  is the world’s first backcountry snowboarding/ spiltboard magazine:

“Kronicle is a backcountry snowboard publication tailored to riders with a thirst for untracked snow, untapped lines, and exploration. We’re employing the richest stories, images and design to chronicle the people and places of backcountry snowboarding. That’s not all—we also report on the gear and skills riders need to reach their mountain objectives.

During its relatively short lifespan, snowboarding has covered a lot of ground and backcountry is the next frontier. It’s a homecoming of sorts, coming back to where it all began, bringing the sport full circle and leading us to Kronicle. This is our story, and it’s just the beginning”.

It is produced by Height of Land Publications in the US, who produce the excellent Backcounrtry magazine and, for many years, Telemark magazine. HOL produces high quality, visually gorgeous publications and Kronicle is a nice addition to their existing magazines.

Kronicle have teamed up with FirstLight Snowboards to provide this to the Australian Splitboard community.

You can order your copy from FirstLight here.

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Backcountry journal – Spring Mission to Feathertop

Scoping the line, image: Sam Leitch

Recent warm weather has really burnt off much of the snowpack remaining in the Victorian Alps, especially on lower elevation and north facing slopes. But there are still some great slopes and gullies, especially those facing south and east.

The following trip report by Sam Leitch comes from Mountain Watch, and features some great images of spring conditions on Mt Feathertop’s impressive east face.

Anyone who has skied/ boarded this terrain will know Hellfire and Avalanche gullies, this is serious country which can be dangerous because of cornice collapse, slide avalanches, and ice, even occasional rockfall. Being east facing it can quickly become extremely icy once in the shadows. Graeme Nelson, a highly experienced skier died here in the winter of 2011.

With spring in full swing and plenty of snow, conditions were great, but as Mike Garrett found on his trip to the Blue Rag Range, things don’t always go according to plan.

Read Sam’s report here.

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Blue Rag Range by bike

Image: MIke Garrett

A recent trip report from Mike Garrett about an epic bike ride (with skis) to the Blue Rag Range to check out what skiing was still on offer.

He says:

“Last year, Graeme (Nelson) and I had pencilled in a September man-date to the Blue Rag Range.

Visible from just about anywhere on Hotham, the Blue Rag sticks up like a red rag to a bull from the Barry Mountains between Hotham and Buller as a long ridge running east west. The heavily wooded northern faces visible from the chairlifts bely a host of south facing bowls, chutes and couloirs – and Graeme was, like me, certain that good snow would still be found there well after the season was over. The plan was to mountain-bike the 15km along the Dargo Road from St Bernard and camp out on the ridge for a few days picking off late September lines”.

A great winter has left some good snowpack in the backcountry. To find how much was left on the southern slopes of the Blue Rag, read Mike’s blog.

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Australia’s first Splitboard festival

The inaugural OZ Splitfest DownUnder will be held in late August and September in the NSW Main Range.

There will be all the usual trimmings, T-Shirts, give a ways, raffles and loads of fun. Possibly some riding too.

You have the option to stay in Jindabyne, camp in the National Park or out on the peaks.

There will be demo boards and rental gear available to those who need it.

Jump on board and meet some new touring partners, the more the merrier!

We will be screening “Freerider” on the Friday night prior to the weekend. Venue to be confirmed.

This is a free event. There are no guides so you must be able to make your own terrain decisions.

T-shirts will be avalabile Pre-order only, designs will be released soon. $22.00 (All proceeds go to POW, Splitboard.com and Kosciuszko National Park)

Hosted by First Light Boards.

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backcountry film festival

2012 season

Mt Feathertop

Winter Wildlands Alliance created the Backcountry Film Festival in 2005 to help grassroots and professional filmmakers to show audiences their love of the winter outdoors.

Since then, the annual festival has been shown in more than 30 towns and cities, and raised thousands of dollars to help efforts to preserve our winter environment.

The festival highlights the fun and magic of the winter backcountry. At the same time, it raises funds to help grassroots groups to continue to protect wild areas.

The Melbourne showing is being held in early May.

Full details here.

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Backcountry film festival

UPDATE: 2012 shows – Melbourne in April

For details on the 2012 season please check here.

We will also be showing the festival at Dinner Plain in August. Stay tuned for details.

Showing in Melbourne, April 2011

Many thanks to everyone who showed up. We will need a bigger venue next time ...

The Winter Wildlands Alliance created the Backcountry Film Festival in 2005 to help grassroots and professional filmmakers to show audiences their love of the winter outdoors. Since then, the annual festival has been shown in more than 30 towns and cities, and raised thousands of dollars to help efforts to preserve our winter environment.

The 2011 film festival is showing in Australia.

This tuesday, April 12

Films start at 8 pm. Please feel free to arrive earlier to grab a drink.

At 303 (303 High street, Northcote, Melbourne), tram stop #32 on the #86 tram. Its just next door to the Northcote Social Club.

303 is a licensed bar.

Entry by donation. All funds raised will support Protect Our Winters.

You can watch the trailer here.

Protect Our Winters is the environmental centre point of the winter sports community, united towards a common goal of reducing climate change’s effects on our sport and local mountain communities.

We believe that to really effect things, consumer behaviour needs to change and that the power of an actively participating and united community can have a direct influence on climate change, now and for generations behind us.

This year’s festival features:

Best of the Festival: Teton Gravity Research’s festival cut of “Deeper” follows legendary snowboarder Jeremy Jones and other top riders as they forsake helicopters, snowmobiles and lifts to venture deep into untouched terrain under their own power.

Best Short Film: “Desert River” from Sweetgrass Productions, is a beautiful ski adventure into Alaska.

Best Environmental Film: “Whitebark Warrior” from TreeFight and Snaz Media, chronicles the decline of thousand-year old whitebark pines due to climate change and efforts underway to save these iconic high alpine trees.

Other Films Include:

  • Australis, an Antarctic ski odyssey
  • TELEvision (check here for a TELEvision trailer to give you a sense of whats on offer) and
  • Cross Country Snowboarding

For extra information, please check the festival website.

For details on POW Australia, please contact Cam: cam.walker@foe.org.au

There will be other Australian screenings of the festival:

  • at Mt Buller on 16th July.
  • Jindabyne, dates TBC.

Snow Monkey has offered a 10% discount card to each person that attends the night.

They have shops in Collingwood and Mt Hotham.

Josh Dirkson, Alaska, from the film Deeper. Image: Teton Gravity Research.
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The Ducane traverse

As summer kicks in, its tempting to get happily distracted by long gone snow and cold. I have been struggling to write content these last few weeks, so am ‘recycling’ a piece that hasn’t appeared on the front page yet: a summary of the Ducane traverse, in the southern end of the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair National Park.

climbing past Falling Mountain

Tasmania has notoriously un-predictable winter conditions, but the Ducane can provide  spectacular skiing when it’s in condition, on steep slopes and in gullies.

The ‘traverse’ is generally seen as being the walk/ snowshoe from Ducane Gap, on the Overland Track, over Castle Crag and Mt Massif, into Big Gun Pass, and then exiting onto the Ducane Range proper. From here you head out past the Pool of Memories and down to the head of Pine Valley via the Geryon climbers camp, or through the Labyrinth to the Parthenon track that takes you to Pine Valley hut.

Its awesome terrain at any time, especially winter, which is when these images and report are from. Enjoy.

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the Gould circuit

Mt Gould saddle

Another great and mostly off-track trip in the Cradle Mountain National Park in  Central West Tassie is the ‘Gould circuit’. It’s a nice three day trip to and from Narcissus hut at the northern end of Lake St Clair. If you continue north into the Labyrinth or west onto the Guardians you can easily stretch it into a longer journey (one option is to keep going over the Ducane Range and Mt Massif, to exit onto the Overland track at Ducane Gap).

The following are some slightly vague reflections on the Circuit.

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winter on its way

Woo hoo. With another good dusting across the Alps in the last week, thoughts turn to the big questions: when will we get that first big dump? What trips am I going to do? Do I need any new gear?

Looking across the Bogong High Plains towards the east face of Feathertop, VIC

A few links that might help the pre season prep:

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

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. The Keep Winter Cool site has a carbon calculator so you can measure – and hopefully – reduce the impacts of your next car-based trip

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.

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Mountain Church

As we wait for winter snow, I stumbled on this short story from the Mountain Gazette by D. Morgan Miller that sums up much of the appeal of getting out in the backcountry:

“Ritual.

Image: Mountain Gazette

Ritual is what I need.

Sitting here in this beloved mountain temple, on my nifty little ski bench in the back of the car, the dressing ritual in this special place has every exhalation feeling lighter and more peaceful. My spirit has already started climbing out of the cellar. Donning my pack, boots and skis, I’m dressing my body to go sacrifice to the mountains for just a short while”.

You can find the story here.

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