Bushwalk Australia

G'day folks
Took a 48 hour jaunt up Mt Ossa last weekend, via Arm River Track. Started off at around 5PM on Friday (which meant a fair whack of torchlight meandering). Stayed at Pelion hut both nights - which was not too busy, and was nice to keep the tent dry too. The walk up Ossa itself was great. Didn't hit much snow to speak of until turning off at Pelion Gap. Carried snow-shoes, but didn't use them till just near the summit - as the terrain was too steep most of the time. There was another party that we played cat-and-mouse with most of the day - and they helped point us towards the final summit (which wasn't too clear in the snow and mist).

Anyway... onto the photos...

And some more!

Part 3

Looks like a fun weeked out. And the views from the top

Cheers Brett

Nice Pics Kramster,
Did you have the interesting snow crossing with a big slide down to Lake McFarlane if you took off
c

Well at least he had some view from up the top I did the same trip Monday to Thursday last week and did see nothing at all from the top. It was still a nice trip though. You must have had really nice weather on Friday. I drove up to Devils Gullet on Friday and somehow did regret that I left on Thursday

corvus wrote:Nice Pics Kramster,
Did you have the interesting snow crossing with a big slide down to Lake McFarlane if you took off
c

I know the part you mean corvus. One time we tried climbing Ossa we had to turn back at that point as it had become a big icy slide down the valley.

Glad you had some view from the top Kramster. Wouldv'e felt like mountaineering at some places hey!
This was Mt Ossa on the week before your trip, so there must have been a bit of snow around.

corvus wrote:Nice Pics Kramster,
Did you have the interesting snow crossing with a big slide down to Lake McFarlane if you took off
c

I think I know the section your talking about also corvus - see pics below for images of Ossa last week. We decided to turn back at the 'X' on the map, however the section shown in red was sketchy at best, and appeared to be unstable. The other photo is from the turnaround point looking back (I didn't get a picture of the view down to the lake as I didn't want to think about it too much. It was a big drop with plenty of snow debris at the bottom!)

You are spot on luke_vic you were wise to turn back as that part with the X can be very deceptive with a right and wrong way to get over it then when you have done this you face another gully with a slide down the other side before a nice steepish rise towards the Summit, very good for the character would NEVER do it again in those conditions but I was young then around 52 , ten years on and a minor fall whilst rock climbing reminds me that I am not invincible after all
c

Thought you might like a couple of on the way up and after the climb photos of Mt Ossa. Snow storm, heavy rain and icy winds ..... I love a wilderness challenge.

Here's a view of the ascent taken a few days earlier from East Pelion. When I got to the pass the weather was coming in so I opted out of climbing Ossa alone. A bit later it cleared allowing me to get some nice shots. Funniest thing was watching from a distance a daughter and mother descend the cutes on Ossa snowboarding on their bellies and bottoms!

Just previously another well-prepared group had turned back from getting to the summit of Ossa claiming that the conditions where harsher and more technical than anything they had done in a recent mountaineering course.

@surfershane Where you at Pelion last week, we stayed there Monday to Thursday14-17

samh wrote:@surfershane Where you at Pelion last week, we stayed there Monday to Thursday14-17

I met a Samuel, Nigel and Jane from NW Tassie (really nice people - Nigel and Jane climbed Ossa on the day I took the photos above), but after tagging along for the first part of the walk let myself fall a day behind them after deciding to "rest" a day around Pelion.

While around Pelion I got some incredible photos from inside the mine at Old Pelion that I really must post on the forum. You have to love Tassie's rich pioneer history - reminds me heaps of home and bushwalking around the old pits as a kid with my grandfather. I can't wait to see the movie Van Dieman's Land. An epic walk considering the lack of gear and provisions (no spoilers please - Anyway I have read Paul Collin's "Hell's Gates", which is excellently well researched).

Well, my name is Samuel though I'm not sure that I mentioned my name to you though I guess we slept in the same room, I hope we didn't snore . I saw a report on Van Diemens land in the newspaper this week, do you got any idea when it comes to the movies?

samh wrote:........................ do you got any idea when it comes to the movies?

It started two days ago in Hobart but I can't give you dates for elsewhere, I'm afraid.

BarryJ wrote:

samh wrote:........................ do you got any idea when it comes to the movies?

It started two days ago in Hobart but I can't give you dates for elsewhere, I'm afraid.

I should really start a separate thread before it looks like we are spanning this post. Just a quick note that David on the Movie Show thought the movie was top rate. There was also an interview with the director who talked about how he managed to make the film so realistic.