Australia: Alpine Skills Course
Introduction
What do you get when you sign up with an accomplished mountaineer? And the first Australian and Commonwealth citizen to have climbed all 14 x 8000ers (inspiration for our project!)? Well, with Andrew Lock, you get the full gambit. There is nothing that this guy doesn’t know in the mountains. We would trust him with our lives if it depended on it. So with that, we signed up with Andrew to undertake his ‘Essential Alpine Skills Course’, and of course to hear more stories of his 8000er adventures.
Sunrise in Kosciuszko National Park
Alpine Skills
The three day course is designed to teach you the necessary skills to enjoy Australia’s alpine regions, responsibly and safely. Coupled with an option of an ascent of Australia’s tallest peak, Mt Kosciuszko (2,228m).
Snoeshoeing to our campsite
A fascinating fact of Mt Kosciuszko. While it’s about one quarter of the size of Mt Everest at 8848m, Everest is only a baby. Everest at 60 million years old is younger than Kosciuszko, at 440 million years old!
Towing the pulk
Setting off from Thredbo in great conditions carrying a 18kg pack, we snow shoe’d up towards the main range located in the Snowy Mountains. We took turns to tow a pulk behind us which was loaded up with more of our camping gear.
Pitching our tent
The first thing you learn when you are exposed to alpine conditions, is to select your tent site carefully, having checked the prevailing wind direction. Followed then by protecting your site by building a snow wall to protect your tent from the elements. This proved very beneficial as we encountered some 70kmh winds which made for some interesting navigation skills in whiteout conditions.
Having hiked up Australia’s tallest peak - Mt Kosciuszko - in summer, the alpine winter conditions encountered were naturally, very different. We managed to summit not only ‘Kosci’ (as we locals call it) but also two of Australia’s other tallest peaks in Rams Head North and Etheridge Ridge. It was a proud moment for us to have a picture taken with Andrew at the summit, and our project flag!
On the summit of Kosciuszko with Andrew Lock
Skills learnt on the course ranged from clothing and equipment selection, emergency shelters, snow craft, route selection, navigation, weather assessment, group management, hypothermia prevention and leave no trace skills and ethics.
Other useful skills learnt covered avalanche awareness. Despite Australia being relatively flat when compared to other countries, the alpine regions do encounter avalanches.
A recent film made in conjunction with the North Face, titled ‘Western Faces‘ mentions that Australia’s alpine conditions are similar to the challenging conditions in Chamonix, France, with lots of powder snow and steep terrain. Which just goes to prove, you don’t need to travel all the way overseas to encounter great snow conditions and to have fun.
Onwards and upwards!
Trevor
Whiteout conditions on our last day
Useful Links
See all the courses, adventures and expeditions that Andrew offers, including this Essential Alpine Skills Course.
Make sure you check various weather forecast sites before you set off – Bureau of Meteorology and Mountain Forecast.
Check out Andrew’s book ‘Summit 8000’ for inspirational stories of his 14 x 8,000er summit project.
Read more of our posts about adventures in the Kosciuszko region here.
