Thinking your tour through in its entirety as best you can helps to formulate a realistic & achievable experience. Due consideration will identify weaknesses which can be averted allowing you to maximise your day & increase your safety margin. Contingency plans are a must allowing you to have a Plan B if required & cater for unexpected accidents, illness or mechanical failure.
Many considerations are interconnected & will adversely affect one another so a mishap in one area could become a compounding problem.
The following points are not a gear list but some of the considerations when planning for a backcountry mission
It is very important that aspiring backcountry enthusiasts undertake tours that suit their skill level, journeying not far from the trailhead & making a point of debriefing their experience & processing the results. As skills, knowledge & experience develop their safety margin is increased allowing them to undertake more complex tours.
Hurry slowly alpinists... How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
By Mont Ambassador and backcountry guide Doug Chatten of Snowy Mountains Backcountry
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It became my safe place. My home. Every time I slide into my sleeping bag, that memory comes back. Not just the physical comfort, but the emotional one. The sense of safety, self-reliance, and joy that only comes when you strip life back to the essentials and find they’re more than enough.
The Miena Cider Gum is under significant threat of extinction, clearly shown by the fact that the majority of trees in this particular patch are dead. Climate change is a massive contributor to the threat to this species. These trees have adapted to a cold, wet environment, normally growing on the edge of frost hollows and they cannot tolerate drought stress.
I had 3 days to explore and photograph the crags and gullies around me, quietly wandering alone searching for images that defined the wilderness of Tasmania in Autumn. This is probably the very best time of year to be in the mountains in Tassie.
