Kosciuszko

(AUGUST 2012):

Kristine had ventured down under before when she was much younger with her family, but I had never been to the Australian continent. Whenever this trip would happen for us, I know I was looking forward to it from what Kristine & others have said about the people, the cities, and the atmosphere. Our good friend, Ryan “Baba” Aldrich, spent a semester in college down there, specifically in Sydney, and couldn’t rave enough about Australia. I was excited. My good friend, Henry Herring, who I grew up with in Charlotte, NC has been living in Melbourne working for ANZ for a few years now and when he told us he is likely moving to Hong Kong in 2013, our plans solidified to go this summer of 2012 in order to visit him. Combining the trip of hiking up Australia’s highest mountain, Mt. Kosciuszko, with visiting Henry made it that much more special.

Mt. Kosciuszko (7,310′) is the highest point on the Australian continent and one of the 7 summits. Many 7 summiteers dispute this claim in favor of the much higher and more difficult Carstensz Pyramid (16,024′) on the island of Papua New Guinea. Whatever your list may be, I, for one, believe the original 7 summit list completed by Dick Bass in 1985 in which Kosciuszko is one of the 7 summits to be the correct list by definition of a continent. I think some people have a hard time grasping that Kosciuszko, which is relatively simple to hike when compared to the other 7 summits, is on the list and thus defer to the Carstensz list in which they define the 7th continent as Oceania, i.e. Australia, New Zealand, & Indonesia combined. However, in my opinion and like many others, there are islands and there are continents and that is all. You are either on an island or on a continent if you are on land above sea level. Combining Australia, New Zealand, & Indonesia into Oceania is neither an island nor a continent – its a geographical area. So, if we’re talking the highest summits on each continent, by definition of a continent, Kosciuszko reigns supreme as the highest point on the Australian continent. If we’re talking continental plates, then that is something totally different and is not what Dick Bass originally sought to complete. But to each his own, I guess, and if the Carstensz list has more meaning for you, so be it. At some point down the road maybe when we have the funds to pay $15,000 for a one day rock climb, we’d obviously love to climb Carstensz. However, at this point in our lives, the original 7 summits defined by Dick Bass will be our goal, which is absolutely satisfying  to us as Kosciuszko is a beautiful peak in a spectacular country on a wonderful continent. If you are interested, Gerry Roach from Boulder, CO, the 2nd person to complete the 7 summits (Kosciuszko list) after Dick Bass and author of numerous Colorado guide books, writes a wonderful essay on Kosciuszko which can be found here. If Kosciuszko is good enough for Gerry as one of the 7 summits, its absolutely good enough for Kristine & myself.

Thankfully, we were able to purchase one of our United tickets with miles, so we only had to pay for one ticket, but it still wasn’t very pricey (for Australia) considering it was the dead of their winter. Upon our arrival on Thursday, August 2, in Melbourne, Henry gave us directions to his office where we met him. He then walked with us and helped us carry our gear to his townhome in a very cool part of south Melbourne near the South Melbourne Market and numerous cafes. One of the best aspects of Melbourne was the coffee! My lord, was it awesome! Auto-drip coffee is non-existent, which is a good thing, and in its place is a variation on an American latte called a “Flat White”. Espresso and milk, essentially, but so so good. Lets just say it was really tough to come back to the states and drink what we have here – very unfulfilling. Melbourne is a terrific city with lots of culture and neat cafes, markets, and sights to see. We drove by Rod Laver Arena, home of the Australian Open, as well for those tennis fans. I am a big fan of the four tennis majors and watch them every year religiously.

We spent a few days in the Melbourne area touring the city, drinking countless flat whites, picking up our rental car, and taking a roadtrip south of Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road started with Bells Beach, which was so cool to see since Henry is a huge surfer and spends alot of his time there.

We continually checked the weather forecasts for Thredbo and the Snowy Range. Thredbo is the small ski town and resort at the base of Kosciuszko. It appeared Tuesday, August 7, was our best bet for clear weather up in the high country with only a 10% chance of snow. Kristine & I knew we were taking a chance with the weather coming to Australia in the dead of winter to hike Kosciuszko, but its all we could do as Kristine has her summers off. Plus, if we could hike it successfully in winter, it would be much more fulfilling to do so than in the summer with a hundred other people hiking up a metal boardwalk.

After another night and wonderful dinner in Melbourne, the three of us took off on Sunday in the rental car to make our way leisurely northeast towards Thredbo, which was a good 6-7 hr drive away. Based on Henry’s recommendation, we aimed for the Healsville Animal Sanctuary first where we saw all sorts of Australian animals including kangaroos, koalas, tasmanian devils, and even wombats. It was a very nice sanctuary and about as close to a natural habitat as any sanctuary we’ve experienced.

Then, a few hours drive put us in the town of Wangaratta and we found a shotty motel room to stay in and watched more of the olympics. Monday, August 6, was my day to begin driving. It was actually pretty fun albeit a little nerve-racking at times especially for Henry & Kristine. I just tended to always drift to the left in order to avoid oncoming traffic. After a few hours en route towards Thredo, I got a grasp on this left side of the road driving. We eventually made it to the Kosciuszko National Park entrance from the northwest, got some lunch, and unfortunately had to rent chains for our tires since the road to Thredbo was reported to be snowy and slick in spots. This was Henry’s first time driving on snow in Australia and he admitted it felt pretty strange. We never used the chains and rolled into Thredbo at about 3:30pm. It was extremely cold and snowy in Thredbo and up on the ski mountain and reminded us of winters in New England where the humid cold seeps right through your bones. Much colder than winters in Colorado. The mountains in the Snowy Range really reminded me of the Appalchians in winter just slightly higher in elevation. We were definitely a bit worried about the weather for our summit attempt the next day, but again the forecast continued to be good. We rented Henry snowshoes in Thredbo and gathered what information we could about lift times and route information and then continued southeast down out of the range to the town of Jindabyne for lodging. Jindabyne is a neat little town on Lake Jindabyne and is a very scenic destination with many skiers staying in town rather than at the more expensive lodging in Thredbo.  Jindabyne is about a 30 minute drive from Thredbo. The Kosciuszko National Park ranger station and visitor’s center was just down the road so we checked that out, asked about the weather forecast, and I bought a topo map for the climb. The only aspect of the hike that worried me, which would only be the case in winter, is navigating in a whiteout up in the high country of the Kosciuszko region since there are essentially zero landmarks to navigate by. This is how accidents in the past have happened – people get lost in whiteouts, cannot find their way back to the top of the ski lift, and freeze to death. However, our forecast was pretty spectacular. We had arranged a room for the night at the Troldhaugen Lodge while back in Melbourne and squeezed into our little room, packed up, and had some wonderful mexcian dinner and mexican hot chocolates at a tasty restaurant. The olympics were on the agenda yet again before bed time.

We woke up on Tuesday morning around 6am, packed up, had a grand breakfast at the Troldhaugen Lodge, and drove up to Thredbo. Thanks to Kristine’s connections and the generosity of a man named Stephen who works for Thredbo ski resort, we were hooked up with complimentary lift tickets for the day. Despite some really bad weather over the Snowy Mountains for the previous 2 weeks, we targeted the only day on Kosciuszko with a 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! We hopped on the Kosciuszko Express chair lift at 8:45am, donned our snowshoes at 9am at the top in some brutally cold and windy weather, and were off.

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 Kosciuszko’s summit.

Unfortunately, Henry had to be back in the office in Melbourne on Wednesday morning, so it was time to say our goodbyes. After one final flat white together, Henry then 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.

Our plan was to continue southeast to the coast and make our way northeast up the coast towards Sydney. We stayed the evening after Kosciuszko in the town of Cooma, watched Usain Bolt take the 100m dash gold, had a great breakfast of flat whites and muffins, and continued onto the town of Narooma on the coast. The motels in Australia, even the dumpy ones, were all in excess of $100, so we tried to limit our motel usage. Fortunately, thanks to Henry in Melbourne and Kristine’s cousin Ben in Sydney as well as camping out on the beach, we limited our motel stays to only 3 nights.

Like clockwork, we enjoyed several flat whites and breakfast at a Narooma cafe and then made our way northeast up the coastal highway. It was Thursday now and our plan was to get to Sydney that evening to visit Kristine’s cousin, Ben Wiseley. Jervis Bay was next on our hit list along the coast and it did not disappoint. The clear turquoise water reminded me of the Carribean and the beaches were beautiful. We spent a few hours here, ate our PB&Js & apples on the beach, and then continued onwards to Sydney.

The first day we crossed the harbour from downtown Sydney to Manly Beach on a ferryboat in some pretty rough seas, which was very exciting.

We hiked for a few hours out to North Head and encountered some of the strongest winds I have actually ever stood in. The winds literally picked us up a few inches. North Head is the gateway to the ocean from the harbour and afforded great views of downtown Sydney.

I think Kristine & I are so happy we decided to go to Australia this summer. Kosciuszko was a really fun day and hiking the peak in winter made it that much more challenging and special. We are just so fortunate the weather held clear and sunny for us that one August day. I am constantly reminded of the saying “there is no better time than the present” and this saying just reinforces the desire to really pursue your dreams and goals now and not wait until later. You never know what the future may hold. I will end this trip report with the following picture of a store front in Melbourne. Kristine absolutely loved this saying. Enjoy!

We’re off to Aconcagua this December 2012 for our 6th of the 7 summits together!