NSW Nordic Ski Club
K to K the easy way
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Having last attempted the crossing three years ago in the normal direction from Kiandra to Kossie, and encountered very strong headwinds and blizzards, I decided going North this time would be easier if we again encountered bad weather. If the weather at the beginning of the trip was predicted to be bad, we could always start at Kiandra and hope it would fine up by the time we got to the higher terrain. As it turned out the weather forecast was good for at least the first couple of days.
Up the lifts at Thredbo we went on Sunday morning, and out into a brilliant, blue skied day. Much grunting and huffing was heard as we adjusted the unaccustomed weight on our shoulders. Not believing our luck with the weather, we left behind the noisy downhillers and skied along besides the Rams Heads and past Etherridge and the old car park to dump our packs out of sight on the side of Kossie above Rawsons valley. Climbing Kossie for lunch we were greeted with air so opaque we could see the fine detail of the Victorian Alps to the South and West, and views all the way to our destination at Kiandra. After setting the record for the most people balanced on top of Kossie's trig, we descended with some difficulty to our packs. Stopping to catch our breath and brush off the snow and our injured pride, we were treated with the sight of Adam skiing down a heavily wind rippled snow cornice and steep slope as though it was a beginners slope. We were most gratified when he executed to perfection a leg split face plant, when he encountered the easier looking, smooth but breakable crust immediately above us. This set the scene for the next two days as the new snow on the ground was very firm in the mornings and was covered with wind ripples. After just having watched slides of Liv Ardenson's solo journey to the South Pole, I could at least get an idea of what she had to endure, though our snow ridges were usually only 15-20 cm in height and at most 60 cm which was not as bad as her metre plus undulations and bottomless crevasses.
With the wind on our faces brushing the cobwebs off our work worried minds, we crossed Muler's Pass and traversed above Lake Albina to our campsite above Little Austria. This has to be one of the best fine weather campsites I have enjoyed. It was magical watching the sun go down over Townsend Ridge and the changing colours of the snow and sky. Owing to a persistent wind, the lack of nearby objects to hide behind and the danger of sliding off down the moderate slope on the firm snow, I decided to dig a communal toilet. This consisted of a hole dug horizontally in about 2 metres and down a metre, with the excess snow used as wind breaks. This meant we had privacy from the campsite but still had a loo with a view. The only trouble we had was trying to get to it in our bivey boots on the firm snow. They had a propensity to skid off down the hill towards Lady Northcotes Canyon. Most disconcerting.
It was minus 12° C in the tents when we crawled into our sleeping bags and not much warmer when we set out the next morning. The wind had strengthened slightly during the night but the clouds were staying away. Using skins to climb Lee and Corruthers we quickly admired the view and removed our skins and descended to a more protected spot for morning tea above the headwaters of Soil Conservation Creek. Continuing along the ridge to Twynam we negotiated a tricky decent over the firm wind ridged snow to a protected lunch spot near Mount Anderson. A climbing traverse saw us high on the slopes of Mount Tate which like all the peaks we saw, was covered with ice rime. A decent over some icy slopes and a cornice brought us to a protected campsite in the headwaters of Windy Creek. Another toilet built with the assistance of Steve who wanted to warm himself with some exercise, saw a veritable mansion of a loo constructed with multiple deposit slots and plenty of elbow room.
Another cold night was followed by a very pleasant day which gradually warmed as we climbed onto the Rolling Grounds and traversed the Western side of the range. This is something that I had not done before, as usually it is either windy or and icy. Due to the large depth of snow only the tops of some very heavily rimed trees were visible. These were the first trees we had seen close up in a couple of days. Reaching Dicky Cooper Bogong we stopped for morning tea and to admire the view towards the Greymare Range and the Dargals, a trip which we had enjoyed only the previous year. With Jagungal beckoning we descended off the northern tip of Dicky Cooper and had a pleasant ski down on the softening snow to Schlink Hilton hut for lunch. There we met two other skiers doing the crossing in the other direction. They turned out to be old bicycling friends of Graham and John who promptly made themselves at home to exchange old memories. We adjourned outside to sit at the back of the hut out of the wind on a drift of snow which was piled up to the top of the hut's roof. After watching Adam and Hugh consume large quantities of dehydrated ham, beef jerky, mangoes, etc, we followed the creek up behind the hut, up on to the Kerries. After stopping for a mandatory play on a short but steep slope we continued on up the valley and descended to Mawson's hut. There we bumped into Brian and Ray, some more of our club members, who were doing an extended tour of the Jagungal area from Munyang. After exchanging stories and future plans we had a pleasant night camped in the vicinity of the hut so we could use the toilet.
The next day dawned windy with low cloud but it was not overly cold. Jagungal looked out of the question, but we thought we would ski to MacAlisters Saddle and make a decision there. The Valentines River and the Geehi were totally covered, with only the occasional hole every one or two kilometres. The cloud was still obscuring Jagungal so we descended to a protected spot at the top of the Doubtful River for lunch. Skiing down the Doubtful on very slow snow, we passed Cesjacks Hut and continued for about a Kilometre to the junction of a creek which would take us up to Spencer's Peak. By now it was very warm even though it was windy and cloudy. A short break for water and nibbles and we passed Spencer's Peak and some lovely snow gums to the top of another creek which took us down to Mackays Hut. The slow snow mean I was poling continuously whilst the person behind was gliding effortlessly and the person behind them was skiing too fast, and by the ninth skier, way too fast. This resulted in star patterns being formed in the snow when the skiers behind fanned out to stop running up the back of me.
A warmer night saw us breaking camp to a very windy but warm to hot day. Some of us elected to ski straight to Brooks hut, whilst the rest skied over to Boobies Hut. Some of found the energy to ski up Far Bald Mountain, to enjoy the 100 kph winds on the top. Just trying to stand there was like parachuting out of a plane. The views again were worth the effort and some softened snow enticed us to a short frolic. After just one more run, the tenth or twelvth, we descended for lunch back at a much calmer hut. With a tail wind we scooted across Happy Jacks to Brooks hut. We only had to take our skis off a couple of times where the snow had melted on the road bridges. Battling the wind on skis with a heavy pack is hard enough, but for those who don't like heights or the thought of an icy dip, the log that forms a foot bridge across the river caused a few palpitations.
Climbing Arsenic Ridge by way of Hugh's folly, (don't climb up the East side!) we were met with the view of Table Top Mountain only a few kilometres away. Taking a short cut we met up with the Table Top Fire Trail and followed it to the base of the mountain. We climbed up to explore the large top of the mountain and to sample the various runs in all directions. After a leisurely lunch we followed the fire trail past the mountain and skied to Broken Dam hut on very soft slow snow. A campsite with a view of Table Top was found where we enjoyed a last evening being entertained by the antics of Hugh and Adam who were imitating electric mixmasters whilst mixing their desert of chocolate moose. We thought we were being invaded by a swarm of giant bees.
We woke the next morning to the sight of Hugh and Adam building an mini igloo. The day was perfect for skiing out to Kiandra, with a cooler night setting the snow for a fast trip over to Four Mile Hut. We investigated the falls below the hut and in doing so found a slope with perfect snow for practicing our turns right beside the falls. Lunch back at the hut was going to be the plan, but on our return we found it had been invaded by three other skiers. This being too crowded, we hefted our packs and climbed the hill, wiping the sweat off our brows. We met some skiers who had started out that morning on the way to doing the K to K in the usual way. Stopping for lunch we were found by Helena from our club who was out for the days skiing. A hot afternoon kept us near the trees to escape the sun. Reaching the top of Township Hill above Kiandra we were glad to see our transport, my parents, were waiting to ferry us to our cars parked at the Nordic Car Park at Mt Selwyn. Perfect snow for a telemark turn descent to Kiandra topped off a wonderful trip.
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