I had climbed El Cap before, but this adventure held a special significance, as I was sharing it with my brother, Joe. The bond between us, forged through countless shared experiences, made this journey all the more meaningful and reminded me of the value of family and shared passions. The beauty of Yosemite Valley served as a backdrop to a cherished memory in the making.
A few months ago I heard about Lake Baikal’s “little sister”, Lake Khövsgöl in northern Mongolia. Only 200kms from Baikal, Lake Khövsgöl exhibits the same characteristics in winter, freezing to a depth of approximately 1.8 metres in the savagely cold Mongolian winter with temperatures of below -30°C. This lake is smaller than Lake Baikal which is some 700kms long but it is still 137kms long and has a surface area of 2,620 sq kms (that suddenly sounds awfully big!!). The two lakes combined hold more than 20% of the world’s fresh surface water (NASA).
I drove West for a couple of hours from my home yesterday afternoon then walked 12kms until reaching my chosen location. I was hoping to miss the midday heat by walking into early evening and I arrived at the camp site at 7 pm. It was still warm, 20°C or so which in my mind is about 15°C too much but not unbearably so.
Gravity Jindabyne will be holding a gravel bike demo day in the new year hosted by Snowy Mountains Backcountry at the Guthega Mountain Centre on Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd of January.
Last year I had the dream of climbing The Nose of El Capitan. It seemed incredibly far fetched but I knew with enough preparation, I should at least have a go someday!
A couple of days ago I packed my gear and headed for a nearby plateau in perfect weather. The walk in was through a pleasant succession of ridges, boulderfields and mountains until I reached a suitable campsite at around 1350 metres.
While a warmer and drier spring and summer has the potential to bring a host of visitors to the Australian Alps, it may also have consequences for the current dieback phenomenon unfolding in the area.
When the production team were initially discussing a Mont t-shirt they knew they wanted to collaborate with an Australian designer who had a connection to the Mont brand. Someone who understood the heritage, the durability of the gear, embodied the values and connection to nature.
Last year I rode my motorcycle around the eastern half of Australia, covering a bit over 10,000kms and luckily timing the ride perfectly to dodge the massive floods that hit outback NSW and surrounding areas.
This year the logical extension was to ride around the other half of Australia. I marked out a route that took me from my home state of Tassie to Geelong, Adelaide, Darwin, Broome, Port Hedland, Perth, Adelaide then back to Geelong and on the ferry back to Tasmania.
I have just completed my own attempt at this ride, starting at Devonport and finishing at Dover,a total distance of 493 kms with 9,517 metres of vertical ascent (and descent) over a period of 10 days.
I thought it would be interesting to give an insight into what the ride was like for a 67 year old who had completed only relatively little biking before beginning this challenge.
Australia has ice climbing. Yep, you better believe it. Certainly a bit more of a novelty than in other alpine areas around the world, but it’s still a great introduction to swinging around pointy tools and wearing spiky shoes.
