Table of contents for Issue 176, Winter 2020 in Wild

RAINY DAYS AND SUNDAYS Hi James, I was in Mt Cook in March, my first visit in summertime in 50 years and I could scarcely believe the dramatic changes that have occurred over that period although I had been warned. (My initial visit was to attend ten days of climbing courses and do further climbing.) General meltdown and the glaciers’ alarming retreat and shrinkage from the valley sides is one of several factors making climbing much less popular in the region than it previously was. What was once a road to the original Ball Hut is no longer even able to be walked due to recent further moraine wall collapses. Most astounding is that the lake that started to form at the foot of Tasman Glacier in the 1970s now…

What a year. A crazy, screwed up, painful, deadly year. And we’re not even halfway through it. I can only hope—we all can only hope—that things will improve from here. But if this year has taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain. It’s left me with no shortage of subjects to discuss. I could talk about the ongoing ramifications of the fires, and that peer-reviewed research has shown clearly they were made worse by logging. I could talk about how leaders in several states have not heeded the lessons learnt from the fires but instead have pushed forward with the needless destruction of precious hardwood forests. I could talk about the brave souls engaging in non-violent direct action on Tasmania’s Mt Field, willing to risk arrest and/or life and…

Last winter, on August 14 2019, Mountain Sports Collective issued a chilling update to their website. The organisation, a non-profit aiming to improve snow safety in the Australian backcountry, was in just its second year of operation, and a few days earlier, on the 9th, they’d issued their weekly bulletin outlining conditions and hazards for backcountry skiers and travellers in Kosciuszko’s Main Range. In it, the outlook was rated as both ‘Extreme’ and ‘Deteriorating’. Sixty-plus centimetres of snow had already accumulated in the current storm event, and the blizzard conditions, it said, would be ongoing. “We are in the middle of a high risk and consequence avi cycle,” the bulletin said. “Expect a persistent slab problem to develop over the five days.” It also added, “Travel with extreme caution.” The…

This was not a good place. I was in the snow. I was dehydrated. I was cramping. And I was in agony. I would have been writhing around in delirious pain were it not for the fact my whole body seized up each time my legs went rigid. And we weren’t even halfway up the climb. All I could do to push through was to begin counting my steps, trying to break the task at hand down into smaller goals while also tracking the deterioration of my muscles. One…two…three…four…Man, I did not pack my bag well…10…11…12…13…And here comes the rain…18…19…20…21… Another downed tree? Shit, skis off…31…32…33…34…Twang, FFFFFUUUUUUUU*#($)!@(*$. Start again. One…two…three…Only a couple more kilometres to go. With the prospect of avalanches, sheet ice, cyclone-force winds, and technical skiing, the approach…

The river lay hidden. Hidden for so long that even the old timers who descended it are now a little hazy on the details. Who? When? How? There’s some faded history here, because for more than 40 years no-one had ventured into the rocky whitewater jungle of this section of the Gwydir River. The last time it had been paddled it was back in the 70s, in fragile fibreglass crafts almost unfathomable to modern whitewater kayakers. Everything changed here back in 1976, when the Copeton Dam was constructed on the Gwydir. The massive wall soon held back a volume of water three times that of Sydney Harbour; 4,600ha were flooded. Ever since, whitewater through the superb granite gorge—now 100m below the high-water level—has been hidden. Stilled. Silenced. But in 2019,…

Fringing one of the far north’s most inaccessible national parks, Cedar Bay is a blissfully deserted find, luring hikers on a rugged, rainforest adventure to the palm studded shores of its arcing blue lagoon. Getting there is a taxing, all-day affair, navigating a barely-there track that climbs through fan palm forest where southern cassowaries and tree-kangaroos roam, and across chilly streams to Black Snake Rocks before a knee-crunching descent to the beach. There’s no road access and no facilities provided, and so few people hike their way to Cedar Bay you’ll probably hit the sand feeling like the last person on earth. Yet 50 years ago, Cedar Bay was a happening kind of place for a harmless commune of hippies, many of whom fought to halt the Daintree’s controversial Bloomfield…

AURORA AUSTRALIS OVER MT FIELD, TAS by Shaun Mittwollen Canon 6D, EF 16-35mm f4L, f4, 15s, ISO 1600 CHARLOTTE GARDEN ON AFTER MIDNIGHT (24), THE ORGAN PIPES, TAS by Simon Bischoff Sony α7R II, FE24-70mm, f6.3, 1/800, ISO 640 MINA YOUNG LEE, ROCKBURN CHASM, DART RIVER, NZ by Chris Brinlee Jr Nikon D850, 50mm f1.8G, f2.8, 1/200, ISO 720 DREW JOLOWICZ & BUFF FARNELL, PINK HAMBURGMT HOTHAM BACKCOUNTRY, VIC by Chris Hocking Nikon D4S, 70-200mm f/2.8G, f8, 1/1000, ISO 125 DREW JOLOWICZ, AVALANCHE GULLY MT FEATHERTOP, VIC by Chris Hocking Nikon D4S, 70-200mm f/2.8G, f8, 1/1250, ISO 160…

My favourite book by Fredrik Backman starts ‘Forks. Knives. Spoons. In that order’ and it always makes me feel slightly off centre. Surely it is knives, forks and spoons? Similarly, when I haven’t had the opportunity to get out hiking, I feel like the out of order cutlery drawer—slightly uncomfortable, but not entirely sure why. I like to hike. I was late to it and I’m sad for the wasted years not spent walking in nature. I like it all: the trees, the red dirt, the rock jumping, the creek traversing, the little thrill of a rustling bush that, according to my imagination, is either a snake or a wild pig. (Although I have never seen a wild pig, nor do I rationally expect to, and snakes really do tend…

Growing up on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, I lived in an eternal summer and it wasn’t until I was nine years old that during a family road trip I was introduced to snow for the first time in Thredbo, NSW, as I learned to ski. Many years would pass before I felt the magic of winter briefly as a teenager. As I began to carve a career as an adventure photographer, I was thrown deep into the cave of winter when I joined a one-month long expedition to Baffin Island. I vividly remember the struggle to get warm in my -40C sleeping bag even though it was stuffed full of all my clothing for the trip. Nonetheless, I fell in love with the harsh beauty of winter. Since then, I’ve…

[Disclaimer: This story is a guide of how not to introduce your partner—he, she, they—to outdoor adventure sports.] I’d love to think that, when Martine and I first met, she was entranced by my adventurous spirit. My infectious passion for anything outdoorsy. Wooed by romantic fantasies of weekends spent meandering through the countryside. Realistically, she had no idea what she’d got herself into. I think she’d been watching too many rom-coms*… Anyway, I’d been stewing on it for a while before I found the courage to ask Martine (AKA Teen) if she wanted to come on my annual hiking trip to the Northern Territory. Considering we’d barely been on a walk together, I thought I’d best not scare her off straight out of the blocks. Play it safe. Don’t tell…

DAY 1 Homerule Trailhead to Cedar Bay Camp 17km (approx. 8 hours) Setting out early from Homerule Rainforest Lodge, locate the trailhead on the far, forested edge of the trio of dams (GPS S: 15 45.086 E: 145 17.565). For the first hour, the route follows a broad, old logging track across Wallaby Creek and up a steep ridge where you’ll likely encounter pig wallows dug into the swampy mud. Boars can be unpredictable and aggressive if caught off-guard, so make some noise as you approach. From here the trail undulates a little through stunning lic-uala ramsayi fan palm forest before the track narrows and the hard yakka begins. Cyclones routinely shake the forest along this section, felling trees draped with vines and thorny wait-a-while, forcing you to climb and…

In 1964, a young man barely into his 20s convinced a Californian bank to lend him $5,000. Five thousand bucks mightn’t seem like much, but in today’s terms it’s nearly $40K. And Doug Tompkins’ career path to that point wasn’t one to inspire most banks. He was a high school dropout whose only real graduation had been to become a ski and climbing bum. Tompkins had never done well with authority; after being expelled from high school, he promptly took off to South America to train with the US ski team. He never returned to high school. Instead he rode across Chile on a motorbike, and then spent a couple of years skiing and climbing in South America, Europe and Colorado. Tompkins’ outdoor experiences left him convinced he could make…

…And art thou nothing? Such thou art, as whenThe woodman winding westward up the glenAt wintry dawn, where o’er the sheep-track’s mazeThe viewless snow-mist weaves a glist’ning haze,Sees full before him, gliding without tread,An image with a glory round its head;The enamoured rustic worships its fair hues,Nor knows he makes the shadow, he pursues! Constancy to an Ideal Object by Samuel Taylor Coleridge “As we soaked in the sunshine and sea views on one side and watched the storm slowly ebb away over the other shoulder, I became aware we were not alone.” It was Day Four of our hike along the tops of the Paparoa Mountains on New Zealand’s South Island. Before we set out, meteorologists had promised the weather was sure to clear and become fine for a…

What is this Larapinta Trail you speak?The place of rock and dried up creeks.The place of sunset and nighttime skywhere dingoes howl, and we wonder why. A place so old, what has time forgot?Or has it been forgotten like its original mob?It’s harsh this land, this place, this timeyet ancient lands they’ll heal, they’ll entwine. Our feet walk on forward, or perhaps it is backwith home on our shoulders, under a wide-brimmed hat.The dust is incessant, it finds every crack.Larapinta walk will seep in, it will forever call you back. CONTRIBUTOR: Alex Hotchin is a Melbourne-based cartographer, illustrator and explorer of the intricacies of place. She considers sketchbooks, watercolours and pens an essential part of any adventure kit. www.alexhotchin.com…

Ascending a mountain on skis is a meditation of sorts. The simple act of putting one plank in front of the other eases the body into a moving introspection. The mind chatter slows. Your immediate surroundings and the current moment fill your mind so there isn’t room for even one wandering thought. During this specific ascent, I’m fixated on an observation of patterns. My friends and I are climbing through a forest in the Coast Mountains of Canada’s British Columbia. We meander around the cedars with their thick, sinewy bark, and duck under their deep green, snow-burdened boughs. Our pole plants and ski tracks contribute to the designs behind us, and ultimately, we leave a story in the deep snow. Each uphill stride tells where we’ve been; each kick-turn—punctuating the…

Back in the 1950s, the not-famous-enough economist Albert O. Hirschman began advancing a theory which essentially was that we don’t value enough the consequences of things going wrong. Too many economists, he believed, thought that poor planning, or mistakes, or boondoogled cluster-f*cks only had negative consequences. Hirschman, however, saw that the creative thinking and innovative methods used to get around these hitches often produced highly positive outcomes. Hirschman died in 2012. But for an example of his theory today, look no further than the NSW south coast town of Tathra. The town is in a stunning location. Forests reach down to the sea. A long, sandy beach stretches in a dazzling arc for three kilometres. But for cyclists riding the streets of Tathra, there exists a flaw. To get from…

Since 1981, Wild has been informing and entertaining Australian adventurers young and old. Our readers, our contributors and our community are what have enabled us to prosper for nearly 40 years. So if you want to pick up the latest issue of Wild, we recommend these guys. Like us, they are the best in the biz; they know their gear better than anyone. ACT PADDY PALLIN 6 Lonsdale St, Braddon P: 02 62573883 paddypallin.com.au MONT 18 Pirie St, Fyshwick P: 02 6162 1661 NT LONE DINGO 64 Todd Mall, Alice Springs P: 08 8953 3866 lonedingo.com.au NSW PADDY PALLIN 507 Kent St, Sydney CBD P: 02 9264 2685 paddypallin.com.au PADDY PALLIN 587 Kingsway, Miranda P: 02 9525 6829 paddypallin.com.au PADDY PALLIN 16 Hunter St, Parramatta P: 02 8120 8973 paddypallin.com.au…

“Anna Brozek sits high atop of a giant cable logger on once-forested slopes north of Mt Field National Park in Tasmania’s south. The machine is designed to haul logs up steep slopes, usually inaccessible by traditional means. Anna spent two nights on the porta-ledge, in near-freezing conditions, as a volunteer for the Bob Brown Foundation. The protest involved a team of ten people halting logging operations to protect wedge-tailed eagle habitat—two documented nesting sites are adjacent to the clearfelled area. Anna and four others were arrested with trespass.” Adam Burling, Hobart, TAS Adam wins an OSPREY TRANSPORTER 65 DUFFEL, valued at $199.95. Designed to be tied to yaks on faint footpaths, organising your gear library at home, or packing for the biggest trip of your life, the double coated TPU…