Well, despite some really bad weather over the Snowy Mountains for the previous 2 weeks, we targeted the only day on Kozzy with 10% chance of snow and a pretty sunny forecast. It all worked out perfectly and we had a wonderful morning of clear skies. However, it was cold – very cold. The wind was whipping as well which added to the humid cold seeping through our clothing straight to our bones. It didn’t matter though – the sun was out. Henry, Kristine, and I stayed in the town of Jindabyne at a ski lodge of sorts the night before and drove up to Thredbo this past Tuesday morning, August 7. We hopped the Kosiuszko Express chair lift at 8:45am, donned our snowshoes at 9am at the top in some brutally cold and windy weather, and were off. There was a guided group in front of us who we caught up to after 30 min at the Kosciuszko lookout and chatted with a bit. Nice folks and a young fellow from New Jersey pursuing the 7 summits as well. We took off guided a bit by the map I bought at the Kosciuszko National Park Ranger Station in Jindabyne. We soon reached Rawson Pass and headed straight up to Kozzy’s summit. After about an hour and 45 minutes of snowshoeing on some really beautiful terrain with outstanding views, we were on top of the summit cairn of Australia. It was extremely windy up top but the views were gorgeous. A nice 5th of the 7 summits together for Kristine & I. It was extra special to share the experience with my good friend Henry. The Snowy Mountains are really a special range and Kosciuszko is a worthy summit even if it is only 7,310 ft above sea level. It is the highest point on the Australian continent. We all took our pics and after about 45 min up top, we descended. The guided crew had caught up with us while we were on top and all exchanged our congratulations. The guide said he hadn’t been up here in weeks due to bad weather, so we felt extremely lucky to have nailed it with the weather. Or, maybe we just planned it well 🙂 We then descended to Rawson Pass and went up another cool ridge to get a different perspective on Kozzy. Kristine and I were very proud of Henry as he doesn’t do this kind of stuff. He’s a surfer but thoroughly enjoyed every minute up and down Kozzy. We had hot chocolate back at the lodge at the top of the ski mountain and then took the lift down into Thredbo. All in all, from the top of the ski lift, the hike was 14km roundtrip, only about 1000 vertical ft, and 3.5 hrs for us. Henry the took the bus to Canberra to catch a flight back to Melbourne and Kristine & I continued on our ventures up the coastal towns towards Sydney. We are currently staying in Sydney with Kristine’s cousin, Ben Wiseley and having a wonderful time. Ben is a most excellent host! We’re going to drive back to Melbourne starting tomorrow (Sunday). Hope everyone is well! Thanks for tuning in on our new blog/site. A few Kozzy pics below:
Kristine approaching Kosciuszko’s summit
Kristine, Henry, & I on Kosciuszko’s summit cairn!
Kristine & Henry descending Kosciuszko amongst gorgeous surroundings
And, finally, our very windy and hard to hear Kosciuszko summit video:
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