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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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Time to get Out There!

conditions at Mt Wheatley, 25/6/14
conditions at Mt Wheatley, 25/6/14

So, the first major dump has passed over the Alps, with snow everywhere!

This update comes from Bruce at Wilderness Sports in Jindabyne.

A deep low, well to the south of Tasmania is moving slowly to the southeast. A ridge of high pressure extends across the far north of New South Wales from a high centred over South Australia. The high should move to the Tasman Sea on Friday. The next major cold front is expected to reach the far west of the state Friday night, before bringing another vigorous and colder west to southwesterly airstream over the weekend.

In terms of backcountry conditions on the Main Range:

BACKCOUNTRY:
Lots of wind and drifting snow continuing to build the snow cover on the Main Range with a further 20+cms over higher peaks. Looks so promising with the forecast of solid snowfalls continuing this week. The base will have consolidated improving backcountry skiing & Snowshoes are pretty useful at the moment to get about. Once the weather clears it will be really good but while the weather is wild and woolly patience will be rewarded so use more sheltered spots to get out. Resort Cams show building snow cover!
The NEW Cam looking towards Mount Kosciuszko is sensational to assess conditions (But not when blizzard conditions prevail).

“From field observations exposed slopes in the area averaged 40-50cms. Cross loaded terrain averaged between 50-80 cms. Protected slopes snow depths started at 70 to130+cms”.

Check the weather page on www.wildernesssports.com.au for more updates on the weather throughout the week.

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It’s here

The wait is over. Melbourne’s Herald Sun, who always love a bit of hyperbole has declared it “The megablizzard. Snowpocalypse now“.

A few weeks ago, Falls Creek management made the brave prediction:

Like many on the mountain, we’re beginning to get a very good feeling about this Winter. Old hands say it feels a lot like 1991, the end of the last Cold War, when our dear frenemy El Nino looked like a double agent early on before confounding the pundits and pounding us with record snowfalls. The pattern looks encouragingly familiar this year. Fingers crossed.

Whether they are right waits to be seen.

But there is no doubt that the snow is falling. Check the forecast amounts for resorts over the next week, courtesy of Mountain Watch.

Bring it.

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Winter. Are we there yet?

It’s almost mid June and we’re still waiting for winter to start!

Forecasts have been all over the place. Recently the Climate Council suggested winter would be warmer than normal. Not good news for snow lovers.

Earlier reports on this site quoted weather guru grasshopper as predicting ‘a mediocre to above average season’.

With the BOM now suggesting the expected El Nino event will not occur until early spring, perhaps things are looking up.

According to the Weekly Times:

Weather forecasters at the Bureau of Meteorology last week dramatically downgraded the fears of El Nino’s drying influence on the weather in southern Australia this year.

While the El Nino pattern could still form in spring, the conditions that originally caused scientists to issue the warning disappeared last month.

Falls Creek is especially brave with this recent prediction:

Like many on the mountain, we’re beginning to get a very good feeling about this Winter. Old hands say it feels a lot like 1991, the end of the last Cold War, when our dear frenemy El Nino looked like a double agent early on before confounding the pundits and pounding us with record snowfalls. The pattern looks encouragingly familiar this year. Fingers crossed.

 

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warmer weather, shorter ski season?

The most recent assessment of Australian weather trends (seasonal update: abnormal autumn 2014) from the Climate Council warns of a warmer than average winter. Professor Will Steffen says that “warmer weather increases the odds that the ski season will be shorter”.

“The unseasonably warm conditions that many regions of Australia experienced in April and May are likely to continue through winter. Higher-than-average maximum and minimum temperatures are likely over most of the country with the chances of warmer-than-average conditions being particularly high for the southern half of the continent.

With a warmer winter on the cards this year, the prospect of increasing intensity and frequency of winter warm spells could lengthen Australia’s bushfire season and worsen drought conditions”.

As skiers and boarders will remember from last winter, when overall temperatures are warmer than usual, it doesn’t take much to lose snow base when there are precipitation events. Victoria was especially hard hit last year, with loss of the entire base in July after a reasonable start to the winter in June.

The good news is that we can do something about this if we choose to do so:

“These trends can be turned around. Australians have an opportunity to rapidly and significantly reduce our CO2 emissions to help stabilise the climate and halt the current trend towards more extreme weather events and hotter average temperatures”.

 

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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 is showing in more locations.

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, 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).

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.

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

And get out there and getting filming!

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OFF GRID – backcountry skiing on Mt Bogong

“In 2012 seven adventurous skiers explored the Australian High Country. They camped, skied and filmed across one week’.

This short film is the result. Focused on the experience of climbing and riding on Mt Bogong and its ‘camo snow’, OFF GRID is a celebration of Australian backcountry skiing and boarding.

OFF GRID was produced by Joey Corcoran and Watkin McLennan of SoO Airtime (“a movie, an event, a community and bunch of Australian skiers that love sharing their Airtime”).

It premiered at the Melbourne showing of the Backcountry film festival in May 2014.

You can see it here.

Find Soo Airtime on Facebook.

 

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Snow on the way

So, after the ‘autumn break’ and decent rainfalls across the south east, we are finally steering towards cooler and wetter conditions which are expected to bring the first significant snowfalls of the year.

As reported on MountainWatch, the esteemed forecaster Grasshopper is quoted as saying:

“At this stage it’s looking like some snow worth mentioning – it’s plenty cold enough – but the totals won’t be crazy. Don’t expect this snow to stick around, at best it will ruin a few hiker’s days and help to cool the ground. But any ground-cooling event at this time of year is positive!”

‘So this mightn’t be a season-starter, but it’s worthwhile getting hyped about’. 

And the final analysis?

5 to 20cm across Friday/Saturday (Alert level: Confident).

Read the full report here.

The BOM is not quite so enthusiastic, forecasting ‘snow showers’ across much of the High Country over the next week.

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2014 season – Backcountry film festival

BC festival posterNow in its 9th year the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival celebrates the human powered winter experience through film.

The festival is now a pre winter event here in Australia, in its 4th season.

The Melbourne show for 2014 will be held on

Wednesday the 14th May

at Melbourne Uni (exact location soon). From 6.30pm, films start at 7pm.

Suggested donation: $8 conc & students/ $12 waged.

Co-hosted with Melbourne University Ski Club.

The festival is run by not-for-profit hosts, and in Australia, all funds raised will support the Friends of the Earth campaign against new coal and gas.

Full details here, including the trailer and list of films.

Facebook event here: please feel free to invite your friends.

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Baw Baw resort under private management.

After struggling financially for several years, it has been announced that the day-to-day management of the Baw Baw alpine resort has been handed to private enterprise.

As with many key decisions taken by the current Coalition government, it appears to be blind to the reality of climate change. Climate science is consistently pointing out that the lower elevation resorts will suffer from shorter and more erratic snowcover earlier compared with higher resorts. Yet government continues to ignore the huge elephant in the room.

Like other resorts, Baw Baw has sought to broaden its appeal in recent years, with a strong focus on ‘green season’ activity and an emphasis on arts and culture, and community-orientated events. Let’s hope the new management continues to develop a diverse range of low impact events that can draw in larger numbers of people.

Anare lodge
Anare lodge

According to resort management:

Belgravia Leisure will manage the resort on a fee for service basis “with the incentive to improve financial performance”.

Board Chair Vicky Papachristos welcomes Belgravia who has a proven track record in the leisure industry, managing over eighty facilities throughout Australia including successfully managing Lake Mountain.

“I am delighted with Belgravia’s appointment because this will allow them to gain an understanding of the resort’s commercial operations and to assist us with improving the long term sustainability of the resort for the future”.

“We are looking to them to bring new ideas and expertise to help us achieve our vision for Mount Baw Baw to become a more vibrant centre for year-round alpine experiences.

“For some years the resort has required additional funding from Government to remain operational. This funding will continue but we will be drawing on Belgravia’s expertise to reduce this burden on the taxpayer and produce a better overall offering,” she said.

“Belgravia will apply their significant experience to manage the resort and produce efficiencies. We will work with them to develop a plan to secure investment in the resort to ensure the long term independent financial sustainability of the resort.”

Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Ryan Smith said: “The private operation of Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort by Belgravia Leisure is a major boost for tourism and the economy. It will help to build a more innovative and sustainable future for the resort so that its facilities can be enjoyed by Victorians and visitors to the area.”

Belgravia Leisure will assume management responsibilities for the resort immediately and in time for the 2014 snow season. They will report to the Board and will be subject to the same legislation and regulations that are currently in place.

The contract follows the tender process that commenced in November 2013 seeking expressions of interest from private operators to manage and operate Mount Baw Baw. The contract is for one-year with the option to extend this arrangement.

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