The 2015 Southern Hemisphere season started with a trip to Australia. It was the Australian Splitfest time and Adam West was interested in if I wanted to put together a course. I decided on doing a “How to set up a base camp safely and explore bigger lines while taking in conditions”. It would be a brief trip but as always I was looking forward to it.
Snowboarding in the Snowy Mountains Backcountry
My wife and I arrived in Australia after a week long hike in the Cascades. Soon Adam West picked us up and we were off to the Snowy Mountains. After a night of camping at Island Bend we were off to Guthega Dam and touring with overnight gear.
The first thing we focused on was low angle skin tracks as we made it to the spot we were camping at. With the weather being nice and the day early we dug a pit and put all of our overnight gear in it before heading of on a tour.
We were off to the steeper West facing slopes while looking at the snow for obvious instability. The winds were light and the snow looked to ride quite well. It would be a corn riding type of day.
The plan was to ride the ridge if the foreground into the valley before skinning back to the summit and riding down to camp.
While riding we chatted about riding on top of each other and how to safely mitigate terrain. I made sure to mention how on the bottom it was a terrain trap as we skinned back up the slope. While it can be rare for natural slide events in corn snow a cornice can make things go big.
The weather had changed dramatically between riding and skinning and as we went back to the camp site it was time to set our tents up. The main thing we focused on was putting up a wind protected site that was out of any avalanche path. We were fortunate because the moment we went to bed the winds picked up and if we didn’t take the extra 20 minutes it could have been a brutal night.
An Epic Sunrise over the Snowy Mountains
The next morning we woke up early to take in the sunrise. The winds had died down and it was obvious we were going to have a great light show.
One by one we got out of our tents after confirming that the sunrise was going off. We were alone in the Snowy Mountains with a stunning backdrop.
We chatted and waited for the sun to warm us up. It had been a long and windy night but it was well worth the sunrise alone.
Once the sun was out we sat around and enjoyed the warmth of the day. We had a chat about the camping experience and anything they wanted to know. It was a great time chatting with Johnny and Mat and I hope I was able to teach them some valuable knowledge along the way.
Quickly the weather turned so we weren’t able to get back into the upper slopes. I was familiar with the area it but wasn’t safe. We decided it was time to head back to the car park.
The Low Lands of Australia
Once back I put on a slideshow for the event. It went well other than the battle between Seattle coffee and Melbourne coffee, turns out that is a sensitive thing…… After the slideshow Adam and his wife Jacqui were kind enough to take us back to there house. From there they loaned us a car so my wife could do another dream of here……Beaches and a lot of them.
We made our way back to Sydney and John let us stay overnight at his place. The next morning we were off to the airport airport. My wife was heading back to Finland and I was off to New Zealand for the next 3 months.
It was another awesome trip to Australia. I’m super thankful for being given the opportunity to teach my knowledge to John and Matt. Adam West put on another amazing Splitfest and it was great to be involved.
Thank you for reading and If you enjoyed reading this and want to see more ski tours abroad check out this link