Winter is coming - Snowcraft and Mountain Skills Programme - Information Session

Australia has some deeply held secrets in Winter. The mountains! They encompass a whole new and magical world rarely seen or experienced by most Australians.

I’m going to run a programme over winter to help beginners and more experienced alpinists develop a taste for Australia in Winter time, where its beauty lies and why it's so addictive to go out and visit the backcountry and explore what Australia has to offer.

The Idea
If you are interested in making the jump from simple hiking or climbing at the crags of Arapiles to visiting the snowy summits, this is for you. The core program covers basic snowcraft skills. It will cover, in a sequential progression, basic snow hiking, camping and winter survival skills to learning how to use crampons and ice axes and applying those new skills on weekend trips. Spaces will be very limited on these trips around 10 for beginner snow hikes. 6 - 8 for the advanced beginner and around 6 for the intermediate trips.

For people with little or no experience in the snow we will start with the beginner trips and go for some simple snow hiking with snowshoes. I’ll run 2 trips most probably to Craig’s Hut via Mt. Stirling not far from Mt. Buller and Cleve Cole Hut via Mt. Bogong Summit via eskdale spur.

Those interested in progressing to more technical skills I’ll run 2 advanced beginner trips demonstrating self arrest, crampon and Ice axe usage. If there is demand I may develop the second advanced beginner trip into an introduction to glacier travel and demonstrate crevasse rescue and rope techniques which will require your own technical gear including harness, prussiks, carabiners, rope etc. These trips will most probably be done around Mt. Buller and may require a workshop on climbing knots etc. beforehand

For intermediate alpine trips the people who have completed the beginner and advanced beginner trips will apply those skills in mid winter trips to the summit of Mt. Buller via the West Ridge and Mt. Feathertop summit via the Razorback.

Advanced Trips
For people with more advanced skills, I’ll run technical alpine (Ice/Snow/Mixed) climbing trips to Mt. Bogong, Mt. Buller, Mt. Feathertop and a 4/5 day Ice and Alpine climb around Blue Lake in the Snowy Mountains near Mt. Kosciuszko in September. This will require independent climbing experience and gear, have undertaken all the training trips with competence or supply a climbing/alpine resume and may be invitation only. These will be generally small trips with around 4-6 people.

I have intentionally made these weekend trips to emphasise snow/ice/rock movement skills over varied terrain. These are extremely important skills and it is not possible to develop this well enough in short day trips.

These training trips will be great for people intending to undertake or consolidate their skills (post TMC) from a Technical Mountaineering Course in New Zealand or planning to go on the trekking peaks in Nepal. There is considerable flexibility built into the delivery of this program. Snow and weather conditions will dictate the order of presentation to some degree. The trips may also move to other locations.

Information Night Schedule

6:30 Drinks and mingles
7:00 Dinner & Speaker (Perdo Arvy and the Austrian Alps)
7:30 Winter Programme Information Session
8:30 Q & A

I may incorporate another info session if there is demand

The Core Trips (Weather dependant)
These trips require that you come to the info session.
These will be waitlisted only and only open to people meeting requirements

Beginner
Snowcraft 1 - Basic Snow experience - 23/24 - June
Snowcraft 2 - Basic Snow experience - 30/1 - June/July

Advanced Beginner (requires that you attend 1 beginner trip and info session)
Mountaincraft 1 - Self Arrest, Ice Axe & Crampons 7/8 July
Rope workshop (demand based) 17 or 18 July
Mountaincraft 2 - Self Arrest, Ice Axe & Crampons, Glacier Travel 21/22 July

Intermediate Trips
You must have come to one of the Advanced Beginner Trips

Applied Mountaincraft 1 - Mt. Feathertop Summit via Razorback - 18/19 August
Applied Mountaincraft 2 - Mt. Buller Summit via West Ridge - 31/1 August/September

Advanced Trips (Invitation only or climbing/outdoor resume required)

Feathertop - Avalanche Ridge - Alpine/Snow Climbing - 25/26 August
Mt Buller Ice Climbing NW Faces exploration - TBD
Mt. Bogong - Ice/Mixed Climbing - 11/12 August
Blue Lake - Ice/Alpine Climbing - 5-9 September or 12-16 September - 4-12 people

Prerequisites
These are fitness, strength, experience and time commitments (a full weekend), we need these to maintain safety and make the trip enjoyable for everyone. A rule of thumb is the ability to jog 5km without stopping. If you can’t do this it's not a good idea to come, you'll be slow and physically destroyed with a 15-20kg winter pack, the mountains are hard work.

I have incorporated climbing and hiking events in this meetup group so that you can start developing the skills and fitness to take part in these trips and meet like minded people.

Required skills or abilities

Ability to do an overnight weekend trip
Moderate-high level of aerobic fitness
Overnight hiking experience
Able to carry a 12-15 kg pack for 4 to 5 hours continuously
Basic climbing/scrambling skills

Preferred / Nice to have
Basic first aid
Some snow experience

Notes:It will be necessary to have snow chains (and know how to fit them) for your car. Alpine diesel or kerosene supplements (if diesel) and antifreeze in your cooling system. Most alpine locations require an entry fee of around $35 - $50 per day or overnight stay.

Gear Required (https://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Mountain-Meetup/pages/25805215/Gear_-_Winter_and_Technical_Trips/)

About the organiser (https://www.meetup.com/Melbourne-Mountain-Meetup/pages/26374113/About_the_Organiser/)