Climbing Mt Zeil
Posted: Thu 10 Feb, 2011 7:55 pm
Last April a mate and I tried climbing Mt Zeil. We failed and given that I'm 52 and live about 1,500km away I probably won't try again but I'd love to hear from others who have tried whether you succeeded or not.
For those who've never heard of Mt Zeil (and I suspect that will be quite a few) it's the highest peak in Australia west of the Great Dividing Range. Its summit is about 1,530m above sea level and about 900m above the surrounding plain. The big challenge is its remote location. It's about 150km in a staight line (or 190km by road) WNW of Alice Springs in a remote corner of the West MacDonnell National Park. The nearest easily accessible road is about 12km from the base and there are no walking trails or tracks of any kind to the summit (at least not that I could find any record of).
For those with the patience to read it I've got a fairly detailed (7 pages with photos) account of our walk including GPS references but it's in WORD format which the system won't seem to allow me to upload. If anyone is interested I can cut and paste and see if that works but what I'm really interested in are your stories.
I'm conscious of forum rules relating to publishing details or access to sensitive areas with no tracks but as this is in a National Park and, as far as I can make out, only about a dozen groups attempt it each year I don't think we'll breach the intent of the rule.
Look forward to your stories - SJR
For those who've never heard of Mt Zeil (and I suspect that will be quite a few) it's the highest peak in Australia west of the Great Dividing Range. Its summit is about 1,530m above sea level and about 900m above the surrounding plain. The big challenge is its remote location. It's about 150km in a staight line (or 190km by road) WNW of Alice Springs in a remote corner of the West MacDonnell National Park. The nearest easily accessible road is about 12km from the base and there are no walking trails or tracks of any kind to the summit (at least not that I could find any record of).
For those with the patience to read it I've got a fairly detailed (7 pages with photos) account of our walk including GPS references but it's in WORD format which the system won't seem to allow me to upload. If anyone is interested I can cut and paste and see if that works but what I'm really interested in are your stories.
I'm conscious of forum rules relating to publishing details or access to sensitive areas with no tracks but as this is in a National Park and, as far as I can make out, only about a dozen groups attempt it each year I don't think we'll breach the intent of the rule.
Look forward to your stories - SJR