Bushwalk Australia

Hi!

Just letting you know about a great trek happening in Australia next month by The Happy Walk called the Happy Alps Snowshoe Trek, or HAST for short, raising awareness about suicide prevention.

HAST is sponsored by Australian Geographic Society and Ocean Guardians and supported by Wilderness Sports, Strive Food, Mont, Bolle, Columbia Australia, ExplorOz, Mind Strength and Conscious Planet.

I will be solo snowshoeing 700km across the Alps starting in Tharwa before 7am on the 1st July and finishing in Walhalla 4 to 6 weeks later.

Hypothermia is a common suicide fantasy and is not an unusual method of suicide so I will be using this snow trek to help raise awareness of how we can all help look after ourselves and each other to maintain mental and emotional health.

You can follow the trek updates and insights while on the snow at the facebook campaign page https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Happ ... 3248596878

Cheers
Terra

Hi Terra,

Great cause!! Good luck with the HAST expedition - completing it solo in winter should be recognised by all as a major accomplishment!!

Although I have heard many rumours of solo walkers/skiers/snowshoers doing the entire AAWT in winter I have never been able to confirm anyone who has fully (ie. not 'just' Walhalla to Kiandra) completed it solo. Would love to hear of others' stories if you know of any. Certainly look forward to hearing of your positive progress and happy updates from the track.

Obviously this trip is only a small part of your much bigger walking plan for the next 6 years - all the best for that too. Sounds fanstastic.

Hopefully it is a great winter and you get heaps of perfect snow and some beautiful weather in the right places. All the best for your final preparations.

Happy shoeshoeing!

Thanks Mark

I have heard of a few other winter treks but not end to end, not yet anyway. I would also be interested to know if anyone has completed it solo in winter. It's something many of us would love to do if we could only find the time but the AAWT is perfect for smaller winter sections just to experience the grandeur of the snow covered Alps.

I really appreciate your support

Cheers!

I have some bad news.
A major flaw in my planning for the snowshoe trek has recently been pointed out to me and taken out of my control forcing me to cancel (postpone) HAST. It makes complete sense and I feel a very foolish and selfish omitting this from my plans.
The personal risk involved was high but calculated and measures had been taken to prevent and reduce the potential for serious problems but the risk was still there never the less. If there was an emergency I would be putting the many lives of the search and rescue teams and the livelihoods of their families and dependants at risk too.
I have been unofficially warned not to proceed with the trek as I will be forcibly stopped if necessary. This warning is heeded and I am already making plans for a safer Spring/Summer/Autumn adventure.
I will taking the first of 4 wet season breaks as I walk around Australia when I reach Exmouth in September 2014. I had originally planned to spend that time exploring Tasmania's tracks but that can wait.
But out of all this has come a good turn of events.
Another walker, Sarah Eagle of Walking Feat, is currently walking from Armidale to Melbourne (today she is in Swansea). Sarah will be, literally, handing over the baton engraved "Every Step Counts" to continue walking for mental health awareness as I start the long, slow walk around Australia from Melbourne on World Suicide Prevention Day Sept 10th. Sarah has been struggling to find volunteer drivers for her support vehicle so I think it is appropriate that The Happy Walk (me) and Walking Feat can join forces. While I planned to be snowshoe trekking across the Alps I will now be taking care of Sarah as she raises awareness through her own personal campaign walk. You can read more about Sarah's amazing walks and why she is doing it at http://www.walkingfeat.com/ and she is still looking for support drivers to help her from Genoa to Melbourne if you would like to get involved.
Cheers
Terra

I'm a little bit dissapointed to hear that Terra. I was eager to hear about the succes (or not) of the trip. Could you please ellaborate on the details of this "flaw". There are certainly harder trips out there so I'm interested to know whether it is a lack of experience, preparation or appropriate equipment that's turned you back, or something different.

Cheers,
Cam ABCEIGHT

Hi Cam,
It is very disappointing.
Definitely not lack of experience, 25 years hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, cycling, even running in the Australian Alps covers that. Not lack of preparation as I have been training, writing risk analyses, swatting over maps, creating itineraries for 4 - 8 weeks in the mountains and buying the right gear just for this for almost a year now. And not lack of appropriate equipment either as I have replaced most of my old gear and added more survival equipment.
It was not my call and I was not given the opportunity to explain my experience, preparation or equipment, not even that I had an adventure seed grant from Australian Geographic Society.
The reason it has been stopped was not just their genuine concern for my safety but more the safety of the search and rescue crews IF there was an emergency. It was stopped as a preventative measure. And that was the flaw - I had not considered the risk to others involved IF I had to call for help.
It is hard to accept, after the time, money and planning I have put into this but I need to respect their decision.
There is still Spring, Summer and Autumn to hike to my heart's content and I'm sure there will be future opportunities to compete a full winter traverse.
At least now I have all the good gear for any hike anywhere

Gday Terra.

That's really disappointing for you. I was looking forward to monitoring your progress. I know of a couple of guys that did the AAT in mid winter as a full traverse start to finish (on skis) and they were interviewed on radio etc along the way so it was well known they were doing it. Has it been stopped due to the snowshoes vs touring skis (perhaps they've got the perception that you'll be slower on snowshoes vs skis so risk of exposure is increased??) or the fact your solo. Also would they consider it if you postponed to Sept/Oct when there's still snow but the weather is more stable (mind you the snowpack will be softening so it might be a PITA to snowshoe in places).

How heartbreaking especially with all the time, money and effort going into the trip. Id love to do such a challenging journey.

Sorry to hear that; but it is a load of BS, if you want to accept the personal risk no-one can forcibly stop you from setting out.
I just had to call off my extended walk in the high plains as I have developed stress fractures in both ankles, but I walked out, Endone helped as did lots of panadol, but at no time was I ever thinking about calling for or asking for help
but that was my choice, I knew I had the skills, gear and experience to handle the conditions and while the conditions were bad the risk was minimal and acceptable.

That's terrible news Moondog. I sincerely hope you fully recover without any complications. I am also glad to hear you managed to get out to safety.

I feel very much the same as you, if I get myself into trouble I do everything I can to get myself out, but it was made clear by the police that if the SES want something stopped they will cooperate. It has been over a decade since I studied police regulations but they can stop someone, with force if necessary, from harming themselves or to prevent harm to others.
If the people I spoke with had given me a chance to explain my experience, preparation, equipment, etc, they may have had some confidence in me but they didn't let me speak. They were very rude and kept cutting me off.
After swatting over my topos for alternative routes and thinking long and hard about the repercussions I decided that the trouble eluding SES and police wasn't worth it.
Ultimately, the cause I'm campaigning comes first, how I campaign comes second but the campaign shouldn't be compromised by controversy and bad media. I also needed to consider my sponsors and supporters, if it did get messy it would reflect badly on them and jeopardise their help in the future.
It will remain a big goal until it is complete. Hopefully it doesn't become my holy grail.

All I can say is "*&%$#! Nanny-state" be damned.

Hmmm Sometimes forgiveness is better than permission, particularly when faced with the bureaucrats of the nanny state.

I realise this was not an an option for you, Terra, given the public nature of your trip.

Keep on walking!

Thanks Andrew

Terra,

A winter traverse of the AAWT is an awesome undertaking, and I'm sorry that obstacles have been placed in your way.

But backcountry ski-touring or snow-shoeing should not be seen as a highly risky activity for someone who is appropriately skilled and equipped, and who has planned ahead (and it certainly sounds like you fall in this category).

Although the Viking with ice could be challenging.

My only thought is that perhaps they believed that the publicity associated with a trip like yours might make the concept a little too visible to people without your skill or planning.

Mad

Sorry to hear you had to cancel. I am very surprised that you were told that you would be forcibly stopped. I would be seeking independent advice about this as I think what you were told is likely wrong. Whilst Australia is a huge Nanny State and getting more so, I wasn't aware we were at that low level yet. Perhaps people can be forcibly stopped doing certain things if they are mentally ill, but apart from that, as long as an activity is legal, I don't see how you can be stopped, especially if you can demonstrate your competency for the task at hand.

Thanks Mad and David,
I appreciate your posts. I appreciate everyone's posts
It may have set me back in the short term but not for long. An opportunity will come up at the right time.
In the meantime I will keep on walking

Hi Terra,

I just came across your thread.
Sorry to hear about the trip being cancelled.
I have been kicking around the idea of a solo AAWT trip in winter myself.
I didn't think the police would actually try to stop you.

Looks like a change of plan may be on the cards

Skunktail,

What they don't know about, they can't stop. It's not as though it is illegal. Heck even the bible on AAWT (Chapman and Siseman) mentions winter traverses.

Mad.

This is really disheartening to read, I've had more than 20 years of volunteer search & rescue work in Victoria both in Bushwalking and X-C Skiing with the appropriate authorites and have never heard of any group or individual being stopped from going on a trip. The only time I can recall a trip being stopped by Vic Police was a trip across Bass Strait ( the craft or epuipment used was not up to marine safety regs.) As a past administrator of the Ski Touring course I was certainly asked for advise on ski touring trips and only once, strongly advised the leader not to go through with the trip due to lack of experience. Many people venture into the bush without the nessecary gear or experience but no one stops them and I believe no one has the legal right too. In Victoria, the Police can Charge or Fine a person/group for a Search and Rescue, but this to my knowledge has never been done. I would like to know who stopped you from doing this trip and as for putting rescuers safety at risk, every search and rescue we attended we were put at risk. Our training, preparation and experience certainly minimised the risk but we all accepted it. I would like to suggest that the person/people who has stopped your trip doesn't have the training and or the experience to know what they are talking about.

Don't give up on it. Seek legal advice. See if they can obtain an injunction and if not you will be able to proceed.

Tonka, it was an individual speaking on behalf of SES Vic who did the ring around to stop me and I suspect it was the same with the police in ACT (Feds). I didn't get name and rank so it's not worth following up on and I have since lost the name and number of the Vic SES member. I have plans to do this in my next available winter (2019) but will be trekking solo across the length and bredth of the Alps between Sept '14 and April '15 while documenting a heap of stuff.
I'm just letting this one go otherwise I will end up feeling resentment and regret and they're not healthy sentiments to harbour while pursuing a dream.
Wolfix, I won't be letting go. The day I start it will be very low key and only a small handful of people will know but the day I finish it will be one of the most significant days in my life and everyone will know about it!!!

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble, and wish you best with the ongoing plans for the replacement event in future.

I'm going to lock this topic for now, as requested by the OP.