This summer it was all about fires. Then, as the mountains started to open up and the weather cooled down, along came the Coronavirus, and things are locked down again.
Here is the monthly summary of key stories that have been featured on Mountain Journal. Enjoy.
Coronavirus/ COVID-19 is affecting everyone, including the outdoor community. Parks are closed to camping, mountain towns are in lock down, outside people are being encouraged to stay away from regional centres so they don’t put a burden on local health services. Outdoor stores and other small businesses are closing.
It is great that governments are stepping in and providing stimulus packages to support businesses. There is also so much we can do as a community.
Continue reading “Supporting mountain communities. From afar.”
Victoria is now under lock down as a way to minimise the spread of the Coronavirus/ COVID-19. Here are a few ideas and resources that might help keep you sane and inspired until it’s over.
Look after yourselves, neighbours and communities in these coming weeks. I can’t say it better than TGR did: Be Safe. Be Well. Be Kind.
As you will probably know, we have turned the 2020 Victorian backcountry festival into a three day event, from Friday – Sunday Sept 4, 5 and 6. Things will kick off on Friday morning so hopefully you can make a long weekend out of it. After receiving strong positive feedback, we will be running another guided trip straight after the festival, probably to Mt Bogong.
Quite a lot of people have expressed interest in getting involved in planning the 2020 festival.
So, if you’re in Melbourne, please come along to this BC Festival get together.
Wednesday March 4.
Continue reading “Backcountry festival 2020: planning & film night”
ANNOUNCEMENT: Melbourne screening cancelled for nowWith the Andrews government now announcing a State of Emergency for Victoria, we feel that the responsible thing for us to do is to cancel this screening of the festival.
We will monitor the situation and re-schedule when it’s appropriate (hopefully May or early June to ensure pre season stoke!).
In the meantime, stay safe, walk some trails, look out for each other, and wash your hands!
The Backcountry Film Festival is produced each year by Winter Wildlands Alliance as a celebration of the human-powered winter experience and a gathering place for the backcountry snowsports community.
The Melbourne show will happen on Wednesday 25 March.
TIME: Please feel free to arrive from 6.30pm. Films from 7pm – 9.30pm.
VENUE: Building 80, Level 1, room 2, Melbourne.
445 Swanston Street Melbourne (between Franklin and A’Beckett streets). Easily accessible by public transport (trams on Swanston Street or trains via Melbourne Central).
TICKETS: Suggested donation: $8 conc & students/ $15 waged. There are no online sales. Tickets available at the door. There will be plenty of room. Sorry, cash only sales on the night (there are ATMs nearby). There is a seating capacity of 180 people.
Co-hosted with RMIT Outdoors Club.
All proceeds will go to the Friends of the Earth climate campaign.
We will start the evening with some short locally made backcountry films.
The BCFF program features 10 films (check here for details).
Facebook event page here.
MARCH 13: Coronavirus update: The Australian government has cancelled all gatherings of more than 500 people. We will keep an eye on government recommendations and make a call on whether to proceed with the screening a couple of days ahead of the event. Check this page or the facebook event page for updates closer to the 25th.
As fire fighters get on top of the blazes that have been devastating huge ares of the Victorian, NSW and ACT mountains, towns and communities are starting to re-open. Many parks are still closed but towns are increasingly open for business.
One obvious thing we can do is visit these areas and buy up big. The economic impacts of the fires on tourism in local towns is enormous (and estimated to be well over $1B already)
The impacts on the natural and cultural values of the mountains are also huge. We are trying to track ecological impacts (details here) and post about cultural impacts where we can.
For instance, the Kosi Huts Association reports that:
“At least 10 of the mountain huts dotted around the national park have been destroyed, including Delany’s Hut, Sawyers Rest House, Wolgals Lodge, Matthew’s Cottage, Brooks Hut, Pattinson’s House, Round Mountain Hut, O’Briens Hut and Four Mile Hut.“
It is likely that there will be re-building efforts for many of these huts.
There will also be lots of ecological restoration and track work happening that will require lots of good will and volunteer effort.
Please let us know what’s going on.
If you’re planning any recovery efforts (or are aware of any) that require volunteer support or input, then please email details to me and I will include here. Thanks.
Cam.walker@foe.org.au
The picture above comes from Andrew Stanger. The NSW Nordic Ski Club is building nesting boxes for animals that need hollows.
Up until Christmas, there hadn’t been a lot of fires in the High Country, either in Tasmania or on the mainland. That all changed on New Years Eve. Lightning storms triggered fires across Tasmanian, Victoria and NSW. What followed has been nothing less than an absolute disaster as huge areas of the mountains have burnt – and continue to do so.
With large areas evacuated, the economic impacts on local economies has been devastating. This is peak tourism season, yet entire areas are under evacuation orders, businesses are closed and events are being cancelled. The flow on effects on many people’s income will continue for months.
I am seeing many people who are struggling because their region or business is closed. Even where a town is open, the ever present smoke in many places is not very enticing to tourists.
So once the fires are under control, please have a think about doing a trip to the High Country. Aim to head off with your wallet full and your stomach, esky and food basket empty.
Continue reading “2020 fires: get into the mountains and spend up big (when you can)”
If you love winter, then chances are you love a good ski or snowboarding film. This year’s batch of new films have been released over the last couple of months (pre Northern winter). One thing that’s really obvious in the ski/ riding genre is the ever growing number of films that are focused on human powered adventure. It’s great to see this tradition continue this year with a number of films focused on low carbon adventures.
Here’s an introduction to a few of them:
We’re facing heatwaves, drought and mega fires. Fire season started early right along the eastern seaboard and while the mountains have largely been spared so far, its going to be a long summer.
The updated Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook which has just been released shows that extended area of Gippsland and the mountains of North East Victoria are forecast to experience above-normal bushfire potential over the summer.
Global leaders (including our own federal government) have comprehensively failed to agree on how to tackle climate change during the recent UN negotiations in Spain. Horse numbers are sky rocketing in the Snowy Mountains because the NSW government is in thrall to political forces who refuse to accept the ecological costs of having large feral horse populations in alpine and sub alpine environments.
The list could easily go on. When you look at the state of the world, it’s hard not to get depressed. So here is some outdoors related ‘end of year’ good news for you.
Wherever you are and whatever you do, I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing, and fire free, summer.
Continue reading “Finding the Good News in the grim reality”
As you will probably know, we have turned the 2020 Victorian backcountry festival into a three day event, from Friday – Sunday Sept 4, 5 and 6. Things will kick off on Friday morning so hopefully you can make a long weekend out of it. After receiving strong positive feedback, we will be running another guided trip straight after the festival, probably to Mt Bogong.
Quite a lot of people have expressed interest in getting involved in planning the 2020 festival.
So if you’re in Melbourne, please come along to this BC Fest get together.
Thursday NOV 28.
Upstairs at Friends of the Earth, 312 Smith St, Collingwood. Enter via the side, on Perry Street, and head up the stairs.
We’ll start at 6.30pm, have a quick chat about how you can get involved (there will be a series of working groups taking on different parts of the festival like the touring program, the speakers program, the outdoor bar, etc). Please bring your ideas and enthusiasm about what you want to contribute next year to make it bigger and better.
Then from 7 til 8pm (ish) we will drag a few classic backcountry films out of the vault and enjoy on the big screen (ingredients likely to contain Jeremy Jones shredding big lines in Alaska). Please feel free to BYO drinks. Free event.
Come along and catch up with the BC crew.
If you can’t make it along, remember that you’re welcome to complete a brief survey about the festival and what you would like to see next year.
Are you a backcountry skier, snowboarder or snow shoer who also makes films?
We are looking for some short, locally made backcountry films to screen at the Backcountry Film Festival (BCFF) in Melbourne (March or April 2020) and the 3rd Victorian Backcountry Festival (Mt Hotham, September 2020). The BCFF program is put together by the US-based Winter Wildlands Alliance, and this season features a great line up of films (details here). But we like to open up the season with a local film.
Here’s an example of one from a couple of years ago – Mt Townsend 2209. If you’re keen to contribute something please get in touch. Cam.walker@foe.org.au
It needs to be under 7 minutes and suitable quality for a big audience of backcountry enthusiasts.
After receiving resounding feedback about the 2nd Victorian Backcountry festival, we have decided to lock in dates and locations for 2020.
It will be a three day festival, held from Friday to Sunday, September 4 – 6.
Due to the huge level of support from the Hotham community and businesses and attendees, we will keep the festival at Hotham.
We will keep the basic format – lots of tours and workshops, speaker’s program, outdoor bar, AST 1 avalanche training, and an extended trip after the festival. Spreading the festival over three days will allow us to fit more in.
There is still time to provide feedback. Check the online form here. We’re getting some really great feedback on how to make it a better event, so please take a few minutes to let us know your thoughts.
If you know of any major clashes with these dates, please let us know asap. Cam.walker@foe.org.au
See you out there.
Mountain Journal 
Recent Comments