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a not for profit ski resort?

This is an interesting idea. Locals in a town in Wyoming wants to take over its local ski hill and turn it into a community-owned operation.

Here in Australia, the resorts tend to be owned by large entities that run a number of operations. For instance, Grollo Group – a major property development company – owns Mt Buller Ski Lifts amongst a number of other tourism ventures. Hotham and Falls Creek ski operations are owned by Merlin Entertainments Group, which “operates more than 90 attractions, seven hotels and two holiday villages in 20 countries and across four continents.”

In contrast, the community at the base of Snow King Mountain ski area in Jackson, Wyoming are looking to bring ownership back home because the area is up for sale. “The King” is Jackson’s original ski hill, established in 1936 and located on the southeast edge of the city. It was the first ski area in the state of Wyoming.

Continue reading “a not for profit ski resort?” →

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The Glass Half Full, 2014 Season Wrap-Up

The following is a good end of season reflection from Reggae Elliss, writing on Mountain Watch. As Reggae notes, mid-July offered the best snow of the whole season. It was seriously excellent. After much early hype about it being a terrible season, it ended up being a solid, but not outstanding one. Reggae goes into it in some detail. Those heady days of July seem like a life time ago. But I have to admit that I’ve also had some of my best ever spring skiing these last two weeks, on SE slopes on The Bluff, in Dargo Bowl and out at Mt Loch.

There’s a few days skiing in some of the resorts and substantial backcountry terrain still in reasonable shape. Hope you have a chance to get out there …

As I write, there is still two weeks to go until the “official” end of the season here in Thredbo. Despite the warm weather of the past couple of days, plus 20mm of rain forecast, it looks like we’ll have some lifts spinning until October 6.  Looking back on this winter, it’s a bit of a ‘glass half full’ scenario. The great snowfalls and powder days of July gave way to only minimal snowfalls in the past eight weeks with only two falls of over 10cm since July 18.

However, while we haven’t had that many powder days in the second half of winter, the snow has remained consistently good. August was a month of dry, chalky, packed-powder, cold sunny days and light wind. The past three weeks have also been good, with plenty of days of fun spring snow and sunshine.

Pre-season, all of the talk was about how an El Nino weather pattern was forming and this could mean a dry, cold winter, with minimal snowfall. Unfortunately, this sentiment gained a lot of traction when the opening weekend in June came and went without any natural snow, hardly any snowmaking and only one lift open in Australia, a t-bar to the second tower on Perisher’s Front Valley.

The media were having a field day, quoting all sorts of expert sources, all of whom concurred that 2014 was shaping up as a disaster with minimal snowfall. It could even be as bad as ’82. The ray of hope was our own Grasshopper, who wisely pointed out in his June seasonal outlook that it was too early to push the panic button and reminded us of his earlier seasonal outlooks published in April and May. In those, the Grasshopper emphasised that there are two variations of El Nino, the classic, dry cold version or the ‘Wrong ‘un”, a term the Grasshopper coined to describe an El Nino that spun the other way, delivering cold westerly air flows, low pressure systems south of Victoria and snow-bearing cold fronts.

It was too early to call at that stage, but he wasn’t jumping on the classic ‘El Nino’ bandwagon and was still leaning towards a ‘Wrong ‘Un” for the first half of the season and was calling for a snow depth max at Spencers Creek of 172cm and the first 50cm + storm coming in late June/early July.

As we now all know, that’s what happened.

You can read the full assessment on Mountain Watch.

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Is Backcountry the new Black?

In a recent post, I suggested that, in the last few years, I have seen more people getting out into the backcountry for skiing and boarding. I didn’t try to draw any conclusions about out-of-winter visitation, but it certainly seems to me that there is a new generation of backcountry skiers and boarders, and a growing number of snow shoers as well. These people are coming both from traditional resort users and also a more nature-enthusiast demographic as well.

I recently spotted some stats from the US based Outside magazine about avalanche risk, which seemed to underscore the trend that I see out on the slopes:

  • In the US, more people are getting out of resorts ‘than ever before’ (this includes skiers, boarders and snowshoers). The author of the article White Noise in the October 2014 issue of Outside, Christopher Solomon, suggest that ‘a tipping point has been reached, some say, and what was once a fringe subculture is now firmly mainstream’.
  • He puts this growth to a range of factors, including more resorts opening ‘sidecountry’ terrain, more focus on snowsports culture on getting out of the resort, more infrastructure – like guiding businesses – who can take inexperienced people out, and better equipment.
  • He notes that in the US, sales of backcountry gear has grown 85% over the past four winters.
  • He says that men in their 20s are the group that are making up the ‘largest demographic venturing into the backcountry’.

All of this is fairly consistent with what I see out on the slopes. And we have not come close to a peak as yet. I have lost track of the number of skiers, boarders, towies and other mountain enthusiasts I met this winter who have aspirations to get out of resort, but haven’t done it yet. The ‘collective consciousness’ of the snow sports community has shifted and more and more are looking beyond the tows. In light of this, Hotham resorts intention to investigate extending its lifted areas into prime sidecountry terrain seems doubly strange.

Most of the newer backcountry skiers and boarders I meet seem to be focused on getting out into steep terrain. But I also notice another crowd, who are enjoying ‘traditional’ XC skiing or snow shoeing. This group tends to be both younger and older than the ‘steeps freaks’.

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winter 2014

The winter that was. It started late. But, as they say, better late than never. And it’s almost over.

To quote snow forecaster Grasshopper, who writes for Mountain watch.

It’s been quite a season. You can say one thing for certain, it’s been a winter of extremes and the weather has kept us guessing. Possibly more so than in recent years, in my opinion anyway. We started, of course, with a very dry situation during early June. The official opening date of 7 June was once again, a tad optimistic, and around 12 June folks were getting a little panicky. Then POW. Snowmageddon hit, and nearly two metres of snow in a fortnight had the snow base sitting on around 130cm by early July.

That base saw us all the way through August and well into September in the higher country. And yes, there’s still lots of good turns to be found out there. Enjoy.

Here’s some images from my winter. Please feel free to send me your own for inclusion, or share them on the mountain journal facebook page.

Continue reading “winter 2014” →

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Australian backcountry film festival – Spring 2014

For the past four years, the backcountry film festival has been attracting good numbers of people, and has been showing in more locations across south eastern Australia.

It seems like it might be time to have our own festival – with films made in Australia.

At previous Melbourne shows, we have added a film about skiing and boarding on The Bluff (No Lift Lines Here), and this year saw OFF GRID, a new effort on Mt Bogong from SoO Airtime.

The plan is to hold an Australian backcountry film festival in late spring 2014 with only local content. There are some fantastic film makers out there, and we hope to be able to showcase some of these.

We are seeking expressions of interest from film makers who would like to submit films.

Any human and gravity powered backcountry adventure would be welcome: walking, skiing, boarding, MTBing, paddling, climbing, …

As this is an entirely volunteer effort, with no budget, we are not able to offer payment for showing the films.

Films can be in two length categories. We hope to show an hours worth of short films (3 to 7 minutes) then up to 2 longer films (30 – 40 minutes each).

At this point we are looking at doing a Melbourne showing, with the ability to offer the festival to other places once its packaged up. The aim is to do a low fuss mini film festival, so we’d appreciate getting the films in a format that allows us to put them onto a single dvd.

If you’re keen, please get in touch: cam.walker@foe.org.au

I would also love to hear from anyone keen to volunteer their skills to turn the individual films into a package and for help with logistics.

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The Little Things – getting closer

Mountain Journal has previously reported on this impressive film project. The Little Things  is a snowboard film featuring the “stories of riders who are inspiring for their environmentally sustainable initiatives and lifestyles”.

They have carried out a successful crowd funding project and have two trailers available. The following update comes from the producers.

Continue reading “The Little Things – getting closer” →

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The perfect back country camp

I love this story. As a climber I have spent weeks at a time living in the camp at Arapiles in western VIC (The Pines is always an entertaining place). Lifer climbers (as opposed to weekenders) are great at dossing out and living cheap. From the stone hut in the car park above Buffalo Gorge, to roadside camps in the Grampians, there are dozens of established, and well known, camping spots in the climbing world where you’ll often find other climbers.

I know of fewer such spots in the back country skiing world. Known campsites accessible by road where you can park yourself for a while without too much hassle.

Continue reading “The perfect back country camp” →

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Back Country culture. Changing of the guard?

As a teenager, my summer hiking and climbing quickly broadened into winter XC skiing. Wonderful years of skinny skis, dodgey boots, japara jackets and woollen pants.

A decade or so later, on a trip to the Main Range, I skied with some guys of similar skill level who were shredding slopes that I could barely get down. This was my introduction to the wonders of plastic boots and heavy gear. Like quite a few of my friends of similar age, I made the transition to fatter skis and started chasing steeps as well as enjoying my backcountry pottering. My equivalent of a mid-life sports car was a pair of Liberty skis with Axel bindings. I even bought a pair of skins. I never looked back, happily skinning up mountains after years of bagging my mates that had crossed over from the One True Religion of pattern based skis.

In the same way we have those subtle changes in our individual lives, these also play out on the larger level of the backcountry community. The last few years I have seen some interesting changes in back country (BC) culture. I suppose a lot my reflection is influenced by where I ski (mostly the Hotham/ Feathertop area, and Mt Stirling, with a couple of longer BC trips each year). So maybe its an observation that doesn’t ring true elsewhere. I haven’t skied out of Falls or Thredbo in about 3 years. And I certainly haven’t tried to cross reference it with any data.

Continue reading “Back Country culture. Changing of the guard?” →

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Winter. Bring It (Again).

After a mild spell of weather over the past week and a bit, winter is due back today with stormy weather and snow down to 500m in Victoria tomorrow.

The snow base has been affected by the recent warmer weather, drizzle and rain, but without too much loss at higher elevations. We are certainly due for a top up. The recent weather will help consolidate the base, and with good falls expected in the next few days, hopefully we will be set up for a long end to the season, well out into the ‘official’ months of spring.

But, as always, we can never take anything for granted – especially snow. Mountain Watch’s snow forecaster Grasshopper warns ‘It may be some time before we’re talking another big dump’ after this one, so get out there if you can.

Check the BOM site for alpine forecasts or the Mountain Watch website.

[Main image: Pinnacle, on the summit of kunanyi / Mount Wellington, this morning 31/7/14]

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Lamont mountain blog

I just discovered a new website, La Mont, from Mandy Lamont, which promises to be a ‘Mountain blog, for mountain folk by mountain folk’.

I call Jindabyne home.  And after spending my first summer here in 2010/2011, my love of the mountains has extended to summer and an ever growing love of mountain biking.  This blog is isn’t about me, it’s  about the mountains that I love, the people and places in them and the adventures within them.

The mountains are now my life.  They’re in my blood, they’re in my name.

You can find the blog here and the facebook page here.

 

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Splitfest – Australia’s backcountry boarding festival

4201417Now in it’s third year, the Splitfest DownUnder is THE gathering for anyone interested in trying out splitboarding or just meeting other people who are into backcountry boarding.

Splitfest is getting closer. Main Range of the Snowies, over the weekend of August 29 – 31.

Full details, including how to register are available here.

1405295737This year there will also be avalanche training courses available before hand. Please check below for details.

If you act quickly, you can still get Splitfest T-Shirts.

The following comes from Adam West.

Avalanche Training

We are conducting AST 1 at Splitfest this year.

Cost: $300

The training will be done by Dave Enright. Dave is the guy you would have seen in the film “Further” from the Japan section. Dave was Jeremy Jones avalanche advisor/guide while filming.

Dave is the owner of Evergreen Outdoor in Hakuba. This is a great opportunity to get some Avi training from one of the best in the world.

There are two courses available, of 8 persons per course. Dates are 27-28th of Aug and 30-31st of Aug.

Get in quick so you don’t miss out. Email me at info@mrbc.com.au indicating which dates suit you to confirm your spot. This will book out fast so “first in best dressed”.

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

Organised by FirstLight boards.

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the year of the Avalanche?

While avalanches are not uncommon in Australia’s high country, they are certainly not a day-to-day part of the backcountry experience.

But the late start to the season, which saw excellent and deep falls across the Alps has seen some strange consolidation in many places, with a resulting increased number of slides as the snow base settles in.

Since the big fall in early July, there has been warmer and cooler cycles and continued snow showers across the Alps. Mt Buller saw a large slide avalanche in the Chutes last week, Stanley Bowl on Mt Stirling was closed, and a lot of the terrain around Feathertop and Hotham felt sketchy in the more avalanche prone areas. There are many reports of cornice collapse and slides from the Main Range of the Snowies.

When we checked snow conditions above the slopes at Stanley Bowl at the weekend (12/ 13 July) there was a clear heavier layer of slightly rain affected snow as the base, with a covering of new snow that cleaved off very easily. While only a few cm deep in places (depending on the aspect, deeper on slopes that collect spindrift) it was certainly a classic avalanche profile. This upper layer is getting heavier and compacting but in our cross sections was a separate strata to the base layer. Slopes that were more sun affected appeared to be in a more stable condition.

Two experienced backcountry snowboarders, Martin Buckland and Daniel Kerry, are currently missing on Mt Bogong and there have been fears stated by search and rescue about avalanche risk on the mountain. Let’s hope they turn up safe and sound soon. (As a tragic update to this story, on July 14, Victoria Police announced they had found one body, subsequently identified as Daniel Kerr, and that an avalanche had caused his death. On July 16, Victoria Police also announced that they had found Martie Buckland’s body).

STAY SAFE

The take home message here is that there are some incredible conditions out there at present and you’d be mad to miss some of the best snow in a decade.

And as pointed out by Bruce Easton, owner of Wilderness Sports and with 30 years experience in the backcountry, people have been reporting “best ever” backcountry conditions. Conditions have been better than average to date, and if people use common sense and stay within experience and what they know, they can have great experiences.

But there is also an enhanced risk of slides, so take care, and check before you drop in on any large backcountry lines. It’s a good idea to ask for some local intell from ski patrol before heading out if you’re starting near a resort, or check sites like Backcountry Forum or Wilderness Sports for conditions in the backcountry.

Personally I don’t carry an avalanche beacon, but a growing number of BC skiers and boarders do. I started, and was caught in, a slide avalanche on the bottom section of Pink Hamburg near Mt Hotham a few years ago. Since then I have been doubly aware of the value of carrying a snow shovel even when touring the side country, and the dangers of skiing/ riding alone.  A trip intentions plan – with good geographic detail about where you intend to ski/ ride, and a reliable person at home who has a definite time to call the emergency services – is really important for small groups intending to ski / board bigger and more remote terrain.

And if a slope is questionable but you do decide to ski/ ride it, then establish basic safety protocol: identify the likely points where a slope may give way and if there are any escape routes or safe points on the way down. Go one at a time while other the party members stand somewhere safe which allows them to observe the full slope so if a slide does happen they can pin point quickly where the debris has settled.

And if you’re not familiar with how to assess terrain for avalanche danger, then consider doing a course. There are 2 courses being offered this year in the Snowies, organised by Main Range Backcountry. They are being held Aug 27 & 28 and Aug 30 & 31st. Full details available here. Its money well spent.

There is a great short film by Fitz Cahall called Strong, about a man who survives an avalanche and goes back a year later to ski the line that almost took his life. The final words from that film says it all:

This year, be safe

But live wild

 

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