A summit down under - Mt Kosciusko
Kosciusko
August 7, 2023
Mount Kosciuszko, in the Snowy Mountains of south east Australia is the tallest mountain of Australia and considered one of the Seven Summits, depending on which list you follow (the other contestant being Puncak Jaya in the Indonesian side of New Guinea). At 2228m it’s not considered one of the most challenging climb. Most people “attempt” it in the summer. A ski lift up from the ski resort of Thredbo and a 3 and hour/5km round trip from the top of the runs. It takes 5 hours at most if you prefer to do it in the winter using snow shoes. Easy!!
But this was not deterring my friend Jason from making our climb a mini expedition. Instead of starting from Thredbo, we drove five km out of town to Dead Horse Gap. From there we would climb the mountain using the southern ridge: 10km up and 10km down. With snow shoes.
The Snowy Mountains are famous for two things in winter: white outs and wind. And boy we met both in earnest.
Starting at 07:45 from the Dead Horse Gap car park, the first hour of the climb was quite decent, the sun was shining all the way through the gum trees forest and above the tree line we had time for some beautiful pictures of the Snowy Mountains all around us.
Things had to change dramatically once we reached the top plateau near Ramshead South. Apparently we went through a nicely insulated plateau to Ramshead North, turn left and down towards a glacial lake and up the final ridge to the summit. I say apparently because apart from the occasional opening of the clouds and appearance of the sun we did not see much. It was all white apart for the colour of our jackets. It was amazing to see how our young guide Chess (short for Francesca) managed to find her way. A mixture of experience (she had been there a few times) a good GPS with a map on her phone (which she checked every twenty minutes) and, when the battery failed, a standard old fashioned compass. Looking at our track on Strava at the end of the day, we had been quite accurate and didn’t move too far from a straight route. Well done Francesca.
So everything very went well except for ……. the wind!!! It started at 20km/hour in the gum trees forest; climbed to 50km/60km on the plateau and reached 80km/hour on the summit. That is 55m/hour for the royals and the Americans. Most mountains shut down when the wind reaches 40km. And indeed we were told that the ski lift Kosciuszo Express in Thredbo, which is used for the standard approach to the mountain, had been closed. So it was good we selected the alternative route. But it was blowing; and in more than one occasion we were pushed back from our path.
Obviously we didn’t stop much at top, once we found it (in the white out). And we really had to hold tight to the commemorative stone; and crouch behind it to take the photo/s.
The wind, the snow (which was quite beautiful on the top), the fog, really made us believe we were in Alaska or Antarctica rather than Australia. It’s good the wind was not too cold, otherwise we would have frozen to death. Everything gave us the feeling of a real expedition.
8 hours round trip, 20km, 80 km/hour wind. A few niggles to the feet and knees but another summit. Great fun. Well done Jason for organising the entertainment. And Francesca for guiding us to safety!!!
Seven Summit: 6 + 1 (or 2 in case you want to climb Mont Blanc).
