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Environment, news, culture from the Australian Alps

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Celebrating International Mountain Day – in the lowlands

International Mountain Day is marked each year on December 11. This is one of those globally recognised events that often have an annual theme, and according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO), this year it is “Mountain solutions for a sustainable future – innovation, adaptation and youth”.

Out in central and northern Victoria, on the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, there are two sets of celebrations that will happen around the global day. The Dja Dja Wurrung are organising an event at Lalgambuk (Mt Franklin) on the 11th, and the folks from the Great Dividing Trail Network (who look after the trail that runs from Ballarat to Bendigo) are hosting a series of walks to different mountains between the 6th and 10th of December.

Continue reading “Celebrating International Mountain Day – in the lowlands” →

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Call out for Australian backcountry films

Each autumn, the Backcountry Film Festival comes to Naarm/ Melbourne. Timed to inspire some pre season stoke, the program is put together by the Winter Wildlands Alliance (WWA) in Idaho and is a one night festival featuring up to 12 short films. Last year there were 2 films with an Australian connection.

As well as the WWA package, we like to screen one or two locally produced backcountry films – and maybe that’s where you come in! In the 2024 season we showed local films 36o South and Spring Shralpinism on Sentinel Ridge.

If you plan to make a short backcountry inspired film after this winter and would like to show it to an enthusiastic audience, then please get in touch. Cam.walker@foe.org.au

The 2025 screening will happen some time in April or May 2025.

 

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Regional reads

I started Mountain Journal back in 2010. Hiding from the mid summer heat, I drew inspiration from Mountain Gazette, a long lived magazine from the USA, and started turning out a few stories under the general themes of ‘news, environment and culture’ from the Australian Alps. Almost a decade later I finally managed to produce a printed magazine, which is now in its 4th year of production.

Somewhere along the way I wrote “people do want to read well crafted content that comes from *somewhere*. Place still matters, and mountains are some of the most compelling environments, drawing us mountain lovers in, helping to form the communities and cultures we develop as we try to make sense of each place.”

Most of what I read is online nowdays. But I do love the experience of print. Finding a sunny spot under a tree and diving into a magazine or book remains a very different experience to sitting on some kind of electronic device. We all know that print is hard – its expensive to produce and distribute. But it has an enduring charm and many people still love the substance and feel of paper-based reading, be it magazine or book.

Continue reading “Regional reads” →

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VIC backcountry festival 2024

The first Victorian backcountry festival was held at Falls Creek in 2018. It is now a significant annual community event, based at Mt Hotham – and touring the surrounding mountains – and draws several hundred people each year.

The 2024 festival will happen over the last weekend of August (three days from August 30 until September 1). There is a new convenor this year, Ryan Miles, and a larger organising team. It is a 100% volunteer effort, by the community and for the community.

While we are still working out the details, and the format will be slightly different this year, it will be along the same lines as previous years: built around a great program of tours, there will be workshops and events happening on each night – Friday to Sunday – including great speakers and films.

Keep an eye on the website for updates and announcements on ticket sales and the touring program.

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Winter Van Life

‘Van life’ might be a popular Instagram hashtag, but it hides the multitude of reasons why people spend winter in their vehicles. More and more people are choosing to spend their winters outside as they pursue their snow dream. For others it is a necessity as rents climb and erratic winter snow impacts on the availability of work. James Worsfold delves into the issue.

This story originally appeared in the 2024 Mountain Journal magazine (#4). Available as a PDF here > https://themountainjournal.com/2024/03/19/mountain-journal-magazine-4-now-online/

Continue reading “Winter Van Life” →

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‘Mountain Redneck magazine’

This year’s Mountain journal magazine is now starting to pop up in various places around the high country. Our ‘distribution strategy’ (such as it is) mostly revolves around me chucking a few magazines in my pack or car as I wander around the Alps. So its all pretty haphazard, and reflects where I get to, which means they don’t get placed right across the Alps. But the 2024 edition is now out there, in spots as random as Cope hut, Moscow Villa and Bluff Spur hut on Mt Stirling.

That means the feedback starts. Its always great to get a message from someone who has found one in a hut. The most common spot is Mt Wills, and mostly from people who are walking the Australian Alps Walking Track (AAWT). The next most common spot is Derrick hut (maybe because I’m out there often, so its easy to keep stocked up).

Continue reading “‘Mountain Redneck magazine’” →

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Finding the Centre.

It’s a perfect autumn morning in Pretty Valley. The grass and tents are frosted with ice, the air is cold and invigorating, the silence immense. Sitting and waiting for the sunlight to spread across the plains from the hills to the west, it feels so silent you can hear the earth itself humming. In the shallow valley below, white mists form above the marshy landscape and braided waterways, rising until they meet a temperature inversion, which creates a ceiling effect that stops further upward movement. The flat topped mists then flow slowly towards the south east. Finally, the sun starts to warm my back. The air fills with bird call, the parrots sweep through, chitting as they fly past. After a cold night, it seems like everyone and everything is glad to be alive this morning.

Continue reading “Finding the Centre.” →

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Mountain Journal magazine #4 now online

Once a year we produce the Mountain Journal magazine. It is distributed through mountain and valley towns from Melbourne to Canberra each autumn. 2024 is the fourth print edition, and the magazine is being distributed at present.

You can also enjoy this PDF of the magazine MJ4.

Continue reading “Mountain Journal magazine #4 now online” →

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2024 Backcountry film festival Melbourne screening – April 22

The annual Backcountry Film Festival is put together by the Winter Wildlands Alliance (WWA), screens around the world, and is hosted locally by Friends of the Earth and RMIT Outdoors Club.

The 2024 season will screen in Naarm/ Melbourne on Monday April 22.

It will be screening a collection of short documentaries and ski movies about the pursuit of adventure in the mountains, artistic vision, friendship, and how the snowsports community is adapting to a changing environment.

Continue reading “2024 Backcountry film festival Melbourne screening – April 22” →

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‘Lets be really intentional about the stories we choose to perpetuate within our sport’

Connor Ryan is a Hunkpapa Lakota skier based in Colorado. Prominent for his work with Natives Outdoors and his film Spirit of the Peaks (and more recently his series called the New Radical), he is a strong native voice in what is still largely a community dominated by Anglo people.

Recently while speaking at a conference organised by the Winter Wildlands Alliance he was asked for his thoughts about how environmental advocates can become better story tellers.

His response really resonated with me.

Continue reading “‘Lets be really intentional about the stories we choose to perpetuate within our sport’” →

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MJ turns 14

JAN 2024

What even happened last year? Another mild summer, no big fires, then truly dazzling amounts of autumn snow, a great start to winter, then, nothing. Rain and warm temps and misery and the snow pack was gone, not to return. Early end to the season in many places, especially the lower resorts. The usual denial and grumpy guys ranting on line if you dared to mention the ‘climate’ word. Muddy spring and now, another mild summer – a bit different to the El Niño scorcher we had been expecting (so far at least).

Yes, this is the new reality. Climate systems turned on their heads. Wild floods up north, while more than 14 million hectares burnt across the Northern Territory alone during our spring. Erratic winters and wild swings of weather. Buckle in, because it’s not going back to ‘normal’ any time soon.

Then there are the wars raging across many parts of the planet.

And yet, the world can still feel right. Those long autumn days with a slow wander across snow plains, the light rich, the air cool, the distant peaks calling. We are blessed to live in a safe corner of the planet with beautiful hills and forests, rivers and high plains. The freedom and safety to explore. Let us be grateful, as we work for a better world for all.

You can read the full reflection here.

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2024 Backcountry film festival lineup announced

The 19th Annual Backcountry Film Festival is put together by the Winter Wildlands Alliance (WWA). It will be screening a collage of short documentaries and ski movies about the pursuit of objectives and ideals in the mountains, artistic vision, friendship, and how the snowsports community is adapting to a changing environment.

We are yet to set the date for the 2024 festival: it will happen in Melbourne in late April or early May.

We normally start with some speakers from local backcountry groups and feature a couple of short locally made backcountry films, then get into the WWA program.

Continue reading “2024 Backcountry film festival lineup announced” →

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