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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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Kelly Van Den Berg. A life outdoors

As part of the Mountain Journal magazine, we publish a series of interviews each edition with people who have had life long connections to the mountains. The section in the 2024 magazine, Around the Fire – chats with mountain people, has some great interviews, profiles and stories, including this one on Kelly Van Den Berg.

You can read the magazine as a PDF here. https://themountainjournal.com/2024/03/19/mountain-journal-magazine-4-now-online/

Print versions will be available shortly.

Continue reading “Kelly Van Den Berg. A life outdoors” →

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Mountain winter events 2021

Recent snowfalls across the Alps has got every snow lover excited about winter. Here is an initial list of snow related events happening across Victoria, NSW and the ACT this winter.

Please check here for a list of tour guides, all avalanche training providers, and gear hire options.

Continue reading “Mountain winter events 2021” →

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Get the skills you need for a Winter of Awesome

Last winter was pretty ‘ordinary’ in terms of the snow pack, and many people were unable to get into the mountains because of lock down. However, in the places where outdoor adventure was allowed, it was clear that there was a boom in visitation to side country (areas in or near ski resorts) and backcountry (more remote areas).

It has been the same this winter in North America, with some significant results. The New York Times reports:

‘In the throes of a pandemic that has made the indoors inherently dangerous, tens of thousands more Americans than usual have flocked outdoors, fleeing crowded cities for national parks and the public lands around them. But as these hordes of inexperienced adventurers explore the treacherous terrain of the backcountry, many inevitably call for help. It has strained the patchwork, volunteer-based search-and-rescue system in America’s West’.

This winter we have to expect lots of new and inexperienced people getting out of resort and into the higher peaks.

This will bring lots of impacts to our precious high country – especially around human waste (check here for our Let’s talk about poo guide to managing human waste in the backcountry). It also brings risks to inexperienced skiers and riders, and others in the mountains who may need to assist people and groups in difficulty, and put strain on police and volunteer search and rescue groups like Alpine Search and Rescue and the SES.

Here are some ideas on getting skills if you’re planning to head out into higher mountain environments this winter.

Continue reading “Get the skills you need for a Winter of Awesome” →

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The Victorian backcountry festival is back in 2021!

After moving online in 2020 due to the Covid-19 lockdown, the Victorian Backcountry Festival will be back at Mt Hotham in 2021.

The Festival celebrates the growing movement of ‘all things backcountry’, focused on  human powered winter activities such as cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, telemarking, alpine touring, split boarding, photography and snow camping.  This will be the fourth year that the Festival has run, and the second time at Mt Hotham.

The Festival aims to not only provide an introduction to the ever-growing suite of backcountry activities, but to also make it more accessible to the general public, whilst educating them about mountain safety.

Continue reading “The Victorian backcountry festival is back in 2021!” →

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MSC kicks off the 2020 Backcountry Conditions Reports

Mountain Sports Collective is a membership based not-for-profit user group organisation for human powered alpine sports in Australia.

In winter it produces a regular ‘Backcountry Conditions Report’ covering three areas: North East VIC, the Central Alpine Ranges in VIC, and the Main Range in the Snowy Mountains. The reports cover alpine snow and weather conditions and travel and terrain advice. It is generally updated as conditions change significantly.

This winter MSC has set up a ‘community observation’ page that allows backcountry users to contribute information about conditions. You can add your observations here.

Now that proper winter conditions have finally kicked in, the Reports will be updated on a regular basis.

Please check the reports before heading into the backcountry.

 

You can support the efforts of MSC by becoming a member.

 

 

 

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‘Ode To Muir’ – a film by Teton Gravity Research – screening in Melbourne

`Teton Gravity’s newest film Ode To Muir “pairs professional snowboarder, adventurer and founder of Protect Our Winters Jeremy Jones with two-time Olympian Elena Hight as they embark on a 60 km human-powered expedition deep into California’s John Muir Wilderness.

Their journey balances the challenges of winter camping, gruelling climbs up the Sierra’s biggest mountains, and aesthetic first descents with personal reflections on the importance of the natural world, and sharing perspectives gleaned from what it truly means to explore a great wilderness”.

Continue reading “‘Ode To Muir’ – a film by Teton Gravity Research – screening in Melbourne” →

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Something craggy and life priorities

Antony von Chrismar describes a mission to the Main Range with long time friend Lach to ride big lines on the western face. “The stoke was high … a rare treat it was to slay such perfect stable powder on a complex Aussie mountain face.”

Continue reading “Something craggy and life priorities” →

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Lets Split trip to Dead Horse Gap

Lets Split is an interesting development in the Australian backcountry scene. They offer trips in NSW and Victoria for people to experience split boarding. They describe their trips as being different to guided tours: ‘rather they are an opportunity for like minded folk to come and experience Splitboarding, with people who are experienced on that terrain’.

Here is a report from their final trip for the 2018 season.

Continue reading “Lets Split trip to Dead Horse Gap” →

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The 2018 Victorian backcountry festival

Thanks to everyone who made the effort to come along to the inaugural Victorian backcountry festival (BCF). More than 200 people attended over the two days, with more than 20 sessions being held, including clinics, tours, skillshares, presentations, and a film festival.

BCF grew from the world telemark day celebrations that have been happening at Mt Hotham the last 5 years. After deciding to bring it to Falls Creek, the idea morphed into an ‘all things backcountry’ event which would aim to bring together some of the backcountry (BC) community and offer an opportunity for ‘first timers’ to get involved. We focused on many forms of human powered winter adventure – including cross country, snow shoeing, alpine touring, telemark and splitboarding.

Continue reading “The 2018 Victorian backcountry festival” →

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New film from Teton Gravity: Ode To Muir

‘Respect the exposure’ suggests Jeremy Jones as he and his buddies climb some seriously steep terrain in the Sierra Nevada.

Teton Gravity’s newest film Ode To Muir “pairs professional snowboarder, adventurer and founder of Protect Our Winters Jeremy Jones with two-time Olympian Elena Hight as they embark on a 40-mile foot-powered expedition deep into California’s John Muir Wilderness. Their journey balances the challenges of winter camping, grueling climbs up the Sierra’s biggest mountains, and aesthetic first descents with personal reflections on the importance of the natural world and those who first traveled it generations ago, and sharing perspectives gleaned from what it truly means to explore a great American Wilderness”.

Continue reading “New film from Teton Gravity: Ode To Muir” →

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LETS SPLIT – trip to Guthega

Lets Split is a recent development in the Australian backcountry scene. They have just started to offer trips in NSW and Victoria for people to experience split boarding. They describe their trips as being different to guided tours: ‘rather they are an opportunity for like minded folk to come and experience Splitboarding, with people who are experienced on that terrain’.

The following report on their recent trip in the Snowy Mountains comes from Amine Yasmine.

Continue reading “LETS SPLIT – trip to Guthega” →

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