With the uni break upon us, the University of Newcastle Mountaineering Club was ready to hit the slopes and head out for our annual snow pilgrimage, aka intermediate back country skiing trip
While eliminating condensation in your tent completely is almost impossible, you can keep it in check and make your nights less aquatic by following these five simple steps.
I decided to head up to the Rodway Range in Mt Field National Park and spend a night out. I usually trust the website windy.com for my forecasts as it uses 5 different weather models (including the one that the BOM uses) and is generally very accurate. All of the models indicated a relatively mild night with the coldest temperature forecast being -1°C.
As a keen cyclist, walker, and camper I have always practiced leaving an area in a better state than when I arrive, so noticing so much rubbish I applied the same practice and began to pick up both litter and recyclables whenever possible. Scanning the Mont webpage and drooling over pictures of the Moondance 1 person tent I came up with the idea to save and cash in my recyclables to fund the purchase of a new tent. And so, my quest began….
Nestled deep into the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park amongst the fickle climate of Tasmania’s Southwest lies pristine Lake Rhona. An icy basin that is hugged and fed by the surrounding Denison Ranges and charmed with button grass and quartz sand. What a magical place to wake up.
I enjoyed the low weight and uphill characteristics of the FINDr 94 on our skin up to South Ramshead, but the real surprise came on our ski back down...as we dropped elevation slightly, the FINDr's came into their own with easy edge control and a nice flex and turn shape you would expect from a heavier ski.
A long awaited addition to our lineup of Chainsaw Protection, Clogger's Denim line is now available in Australia. Designed to look like a classic pair of Denim jeans, these trousers are lightweight, tough, and have 6 layers of Arrestex HP Chainsaw Protection hidden beneath a laid back look.
Trad climbing to me is all about having the skills and confidence to climb anything, in all possible conditions. This could mean a nice jaunt up a grade 10 on a sunny day with non-climber friends, or battling through exhaustion and fear on a scary aid climb halfway up El Capitan in the middle of the night… its all about having the tools to make for the best possible adventure.
First on the list was repeating a notoriously scary climb I did last year called “Telemachus Direct” (24). This climb for me is the perfect embodiment of bold trad climbing. It begins as a steep and physically demanding crack system that is well protected but leaves your forearms quite pumped as you approach the crux.
Snowshoeing originated thousands of years ago by the the First Nations people of the northern hemisphere as a way to travel over deep winter snow. Today snowshoe designs have evolved utilising aluminum and modern composites materials.
Not long after sunset a mist settled over my tent and most of the night was remarkably mild at around -1°C but a couple of hours before sunrise it cleared and I had a healthy minimum of -6.3°C leaving the tent crusted with ice and the ground crunchy underfoot. Not as cold as Liawenee which registered a cool -9.6°C but still refreshingly crisp.
Summit photos seldom tell the story of the journey to reach there. For me, after 34 days on Annapurna 1 (8,091m), it seemed like a sure win, but I decided to turn back ~350m from the summit due to severe stomach pains… and head-torch failure.