Mt Anne - NE Ridge - winter

[dodgey]

A group of experienced SW walkers are considering a trip up the NE Ridge this winter - probably August. I've been up there at Easter about 20 years ago, so I'm familiar with it in good conditions. Has the route changed much /deteriorated much since then? Is the "track" still relatively navigable (bearing in mind that we had no problems all those years ago). Also does anyone have experience of the snow and overall conditions up top there in mid-winter? We dont need secret details of the track access, just thoughts on the conditions we would likely find there....

[PeterJ]

I was there last year and it is much the same as 20 years ago and the parts that were hard to follow still are. Some sections have definitely become a bit scrubbier with Horizontal.
The ridge itself is in better shape now which suggests less people are going there. My first walk there was in 1983 and it was just lovely but on later trips the damage became more noticeable, but as I say it is now recovering well. The most impact left was the pad running along a wet area immediately below the main ridgeline. On checking an old issue of Australian geographic I read that this track was the one used by cavers to reach their campsite during a 1987 expedition. That party was there for three and half weeks and had close on two dozen members, so one would imagine the track must have a terrible bog by the time they left. After 20 years this bit is still badly damaged, but even here recovery is taking place.