Patagonia is hosting a showing of the Backcountry film festival, at 6pm on wednesday June 3.
At the Patagonia store. 93 Bathurst Street, Sydney.
We will be showing all nine films (full list here).
This is a free event. You’d be most welcome to make a donation, which will go to the Friends of the Earth climate campaign.
There is a facebook page for the event available here.
Backcountry is the new black.
In the last few years, all things backcountry have come in from the fringe, and are now ubiquitous, featuring in films, magazines, books, and gear. I assume that for most people its slightly voyeuristic. People like to read about the amazing runs on offer in the backcountry without necessarily actually getting out there themselves. But there certainly is a new generation of skiers and boarders heading out for an adventure, and BC specific gear is one of the growth areas in the snow equipment industry.
Here in Australia, attention has tended to focus on two of our most spectacular BC destinations: Mt Bogong in Victoria, and the western slopes of the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains (yes, there is lots more on offer, often harder to access and perhaps less iconic. Then there’s Tasmania, which has some insanely good terrain on the rare occasion that it actually comes into shape for riding. But that’s another story).
Few people are aware that backcountry Australia hides some big-mountain slopes, even less are willing to journey there for it. Yet the western slopes of the Snowy Mountains has some grand terrain for backcountry skiing and boarding.
Season 2014 delivers conditions of a decade for one splitboarder.
We are delighted to be showing this 8 minute film by Nicolas Rivers during the backcountry film festival this year.
This thursday May 21, RMIT in Melbourne.
Full details on location and the nine other films available here.
Now in its 10th year the Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival celebrates the human powered winter experience through film. The festival aims to entertain while helping to raise funds and awareness for Winter Wildlands and our like-minded partners.
The Backcountry Film Festival premieres in Boise, Idaho, and then travels to more than 100 locations worldwide. Along the way, it will be viewed by more than 20,000 outdoor enthusiasts and raise more than $110,000 each year for local organisations working on advocacy, snow safety, outdoor education and Snow School programs.
Thursday May 21, 2015
Cinema at RMIT. Building 80.
Level 1, Room 2, 445 Swanston Street.
Suggested donation: $8 conc & students/ $15 waged.
All proceeds go to the Friends of the Earth climate campaign.
Facebook page here.
The cinema is Room 80.01.02 (It can be hard to find, best bet is to enter off A’Beckett Street, just by the Oxford Scholar Hotel (map here). Building 80 is on Swanston, between Latrobe and Franklin street, opposite the main RMIT campus.
Feel free to meet at the Oxford Scholar for a drink from 6.30pm. Please aim to arrive at the Cinema around 7, we will start the films at 7.15pm.
The festival will also be shown during the 2015 Splitfest (splitboarding festival) being held in the Snowy Mountains, on friday August 22 in Jindabyne.
Please check here for a listing of the films being shown.
The NSW Splitfest DownUnder will be held on weekend of the 21-23rd of August in the NSW main range.
Register here.
We will be holding the Friday night entertainment at the Banjo Paterson Inn Starting @ 6pm
1 Kosciuszko Road, Jindabyne, Snowy Mountains, New South Wales.
There will be all the usual trimmings, T-Shirts, give a ways, raffles and loads of fun. Some of the prize categories include worst DIY job, most inventive Splitboard design etc. etc.
An official list will be out soon so stay tuned!
You have the option to stay in Jindabyne, camp in the National Park or my favorite camp on the peaks.
There will be rental gear available to those who need it. Jump on board and meet some new touring partners, the more the merrier!
This is a free event, there are no guides so you must be able to make your own terrain decisions.
Telemark Skier magazine, based in the US, is starting WORLD TELEMARK DAY.
They say:
“this inaugural event is a day for telemark skiers to get together and go telemark skiing. Wherever you might be around the world let’s gather at our local hills and drop a knee together!”
The Southern Hemisphere event will be on Saturday SEPTEMBER 5, 2015. Anyone interested in organising an event is welcome to do so: just post the details on the facebook page so other people can join you.
There will be a gathering at Mt Loch that day. We will meet in Mt Hotham resort in the morning, and ski to Mt Loch and Machinery Spur. Tele and AT skiers and splitboarders all welcome.
Some people will also be camping at JB Plain (between Mt Hotham and Dinner Plain) that weekend. You’d be welcome to join the camp. Just come fully prepared with food and gear for snow camping. There is a pub just a 2 km ski away if the need arises.
And just a ‘date claimer’ for the 2015 Splitfest DownUnder festival.
It will be over the weekend of 21-23 August, in the Main Range of the Snowies.
Check the Splitfest website closer to the event for full details and to register.
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:
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’.
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.
Just a reminder that the NSW Splitfest DownUnder will be held over this weekend (29th – 31st of August) in the NSW main range.
Register here.
We will be holding the Friday night entertainment at the Banjo Paterson Inn, starting @ 6pm.
1 Kosciuszko Road Jindabyne Snowy Mountains New South Wales 2627
There will be all the usual trimmings, T-Shirts, give a ways, raffles and loads of fun. Some of the prize categories include worst DIY job, most inventive Splitboard design etc. etc.
You have the option to stay in Jindabyne, camp in the National Park or my favorite camp on the peaks.
There will be rental gear available to those who need it. Jump on board and meet some new touring partners, the more the merrier!
Full details here.
Two plans were proposed, Whites River Hut or Burrungubuggee Hut. We went for the Burrungubuggee option as it seemed like more of an adventure! Our main objective was to ride some virgin snow in a remote part of the KNP.
A trip report from John Blankenstein . This is his third report from the western faces of the Main Range, featuring runs on the Mt Carruthers North Chutes and the South West Sentinel.
“Wind and rain had crept back into the mountains with a series of less than adequate “not so cold fronts” which threatened to unhinge my winter. Optimistic, I was certain that cooler air would be drawn up into the cycle of precipitation by Thursday evening. I got a call from Mike at First tracks Snowboard store Jindabyne on Thursday night with reports of wind gusts in excess of 190km from a cat driver on top of Guthega, by 9pm that night snow finally entered the equation and by Saturday morning we had received a healthy recharge of up to 20cm of dry pow”.
Read the full report here.
Falls Creek Ski Patrol is holding a Backcountry Awareness Presentation to be held this Saturday night the 9th of August at the Frying Pan Inn between 7 and 9pm.
Seats are limited so call Falls Creek Ski Patrol on 03 5758 1288 for bookings.
The night will consist of
· a general presentation on backcountry awareness from both members of the Falls Creek & Squaw Valley Ski Patrol, including: How avalanches form, resort vs backcountry, personal equipment, weather / avalanche information sources when abroad, formal education resources for professionals and recreationists, avalanche transceiver use, probe line and search techniques, safe travel in avalanche terrain and snowpack analysis.
· the second part of evening will be a brief general summary of the recent Bogong Avalanche from Falls Creek Patrollers who assisted in search and recovery efforts – this will include a forensic review of the avalanche from a snow science and search and rescue perspective.
· After this there will be a couple of Backcountry short films – OFF GRID and Valhalla.
Also if anyone is interested in Field Workshops they should contact the Falls Creek Ski Patrol Base on for more information on 03 5758 1288.
· Donations for the night are going towards the set up of two Avalanche Rescue Hasty packs.
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