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Welcome to my ski touring page

Skiing comes in many guises and goes by various names but for me it means only one thing: heading out into remote wintery wilderness, as far as possible away from ski resorts, ski lifts and crowds. Sometimes we call it ski touring, other times cross country skiing and occasionally backcountry skiing, but what it means is spending up to a week travelling through untracked snow country on skis, camping out in tents or in mountain huts that may be found along the way.

Because I live in Sydney, almost all my skiing is done in the Snowy Mountains near Mt Kosciuszko, the highest mountain on the Australian continent. In a good year, extensive areas of skiable snow exist from June to October. In such years, when conditions are good, skiing is the ultimate. My favourite area is the Jagungal Wilderness, the most extensive alpine wilderness area in Australia.

This part of my web site contains photos and writeups of ski trips that I have done in the Snowy Mountains, Australia. Most of these trips are challenging excursions into the Jagungal wilderness or the Main Range. However, occasionally I run trips to introduce beginners to the wonders of ski touring in Australia. I do most of these trips with the Sydney University Bushwalkers, of which I have been a member since 1985. If you are interested in finding out more about these ski trips, please feel free to get in touch with me using the email link above. I welcome people to join me on ski trips, or any other trip for that matter.

Skiing in Australia is special for many reasons, but not the least of which is the strikingly Australian character of the alpine wilderness areas. Australia's native flora and fauna has adapted itself to the extreme conditions that winter brings to the Snowy Mountains, and it is not uncommon to be skiing among snow gums drooping with snow. The snow gum is a species of eucalypt that is found only in the alpine areas of New South Wales and Victoria. It is also common to see native animals such as wombats in the snow.

Australia's alpine wilderness is threatened by climate change, resort development and overuse by tourism. I therefore strongly support a minimal impact approach when visiting these alpine areas. I therefore advocate self sufficiency on ski trips, and always carry a tent and stove on these trips and use these in preference to staying in alpine huts.

I hope you enjoy the photos and writeups from my various ski trips over the years. There aren't many here yet, but more photos are coming soon!

Index to Photos and Trip Reports