A report from the ‘Climate change and the Victorian Alps – preparing for the fires of the future’ seminar, which was held as part of the speakers program for the 2022 Victorian backcountry festival at Mt Hotham on September 2.
Speakers included an academic, a local landcare representative, Parks Victoria and DELWP.
Continue reading “Seminar – Climate change, fire and the Victorian Alps”
After two years of cancellations due to covid restrictions, the stoke is building for the 2022 Victorian backcountry festival, which will happen over three days – September 2, 3 and 4 – at Mt Hotham resort and the surrounding terrain.
While the tours are now booked out (you can go on a wait list), there is still heaps to do.
Continue reading “VIC backcountry festival happening this weekend!”
After a long wait, registrations to the 2022 Victorian backcountry festival are now open!
Happening over three action packed days – with tours, workshops, massive speakers program, demo village, ski in outdoor bar and lots more, the festival is back in real life after two years of having to operate online. Mt Hotham resort and surrounding side country and Alpine national park.
Once you register you will be able to book in to tours.
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Continue reading “Victorian backcountry festival 2022 – Lineup announcement”
We know that climate change is already impacting on the Australian Alps. Declining snow pack, hotter summers, and longer fire seasons are just some of the impacts we are seeing. This brings many challenges to land managers, and is changing the mountain landscapes we know and love.
Additionally, local economies rely on the beautiful natural surroundings of the Alps, which attract skiers, riders and others from around the state and the country. Declining environments will impact on the numbers of visitors and hence local economies.
This short seminar will delve into the issue of fire, and how we need to respond to longer and more intense seasons in the Victorian mountains.
If you can’t attend the event, it will be livestreamed via the event facebook page.
Continue reading “Climate change, fire and mountain environments”
The Falls to Hotham Alpine Crossing is a popular 3 day walk across the Bogong High Plains. It has two designated campsites that you need to book. For many years the Victorian government has been pursuing the further development of the walk, with a diversion to Mt Feathertop. This would turn it into a five-day 57-kilometre walk. Many people have expressed concern that the proposal includes a commercial aspect, with four campsites with structures included as part of the plan, which would be run by a commercial operator. PV say that ‘walkers will still be able to camp in other locations along the track and complete the crossing for free if they don’t want to use the new overnight facilities’.
Community consultation was undertaken between 2016 and 2018 to create the Master Plan. Parks Victoria have just made two announcements about the project:
Continue reading “Falls to Hotham Crossing: Visual Impact Assessment released”
We know that lockdowns and covid has been hard on all mountain businesses. Now, many are struggling to find enough staff as Australians head to the snow in droves. The rise in interest in backcountry skiing and riding was certainly good for some businesses through the hard winters of 2020 and 2021, and this year is providing a welcome boost. But, faced with the rise in online shopping and the buying power and reach of large chain stores, it’s remarkable that there are still so many locally owned outdoor gear shops in and around the Australian Mountains.
Here are a few of them. If we don’t support them, we will lose them. And as we know, all these places offer local knowledge in a way that online stores can’t.
Continue reading “Local gear stores. If we don’t love them, we’ll lose them”
Across the Alpine areas, volunteer and career firefighters protect the mountains from fire. There are volunteer brigades in resort towns like Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Buller. Crews employed through Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) manage fires on public lands. Firefighting in alpine environments can bring particular challenges, where summer landscape scale fires alternate with fighting fire in snow covered villages of often closely packed buildings.
This story is from Bec Roberts, who is the the 2nd lieutenant of the Mount Hotham – Dinner Plain Fire Brigade.
The Victorian Backcountry Festival is a 100% volunteer run event, by the community for the community. It will be back at Hotham this winter with an action packed schedule of talks, tours, workshops, a demo village and outdoors bar over three days in September.
Volunteering with us is a great opportunity to make new backcountry friends and join a group of like-minded outdoor individuals who want to help out and support the festival and the adventure community it represents. We are hosting 2 volunteer meetup events in early June, in Bright and Melbourne.
Continue reading “Victorian Backcountry Festival volunteer info nights”
We’re ready for winter.
And We’re ready for climate action.
Join our actions over opening weekend (Saturday June 11).
We all know that winter is in trouble. Cold powder and snow pack are in decline. We have a window of opportunity to protect winter. But we need to act now.
Continue reading “POW actions to mark Opening weekend – please join in”
After two disappointing winters, where the Backcountry Festival had to go on line, we are excited to announce that planning is well underway for a big gathering at Mt Hotham this year.
The 2022 festival will happen over three days in early September (2, 3, and 4). It has been extended to three days to allow people to attend more tours and workshops.
Continue reading “The Victorian Backcountry festival is back for 2022”
Snow Gums face a massive threat from the spread of dieback which is caused by a native beetle – and also super charged by climate change, and localised collapse of snow gum woodlands due to more frequent fires.
Last winter Friends of the Earth (FoE) published An Icon at Risk, which considers the many threats to the mountains of north east Victoria (the report is available here).
FoE will be hosting a field trip to map impacts of fire over four days in January 2022 in the Mt Hotham region.
Continue reading “Snow Gum citizen science field trip – January 2022”
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