mt Bogong and cole cleve hut

[andrewa]

Where did you build the igloo?. I was up last weekend, but visibility was a little limited!!

Andrew A

[Kinsayder]

I like that picture that I assume was taken at the summit cairn. Did you slip getting up there?

[andrewa]

Kinsayder, the top of the Eskdale spur was quite icy last weekend, but manageable with boots only, albeit marginal. Snow shoes made for more relaxed travel. The staircase would have been similar, although last weekend there would have been wind blown snow on the east side of the spur, so maybe the top of the Staircase would not have been so icy.

Andrew A

[Kinsayder]

Sorry Andrew, I have a broken sense of humor, I was referring to the cairn.

[north-north-west]

Geez, you're hardcore going up onto Bogong with those conditions. I was watching the stormclouds on Saturday evening from Timms, and it was bad enough there. Might do Bogong this coming weekend, maybe try a circuit via Little Bogong and Quartz.

[ninjapuppet]

Didnt have a map or gps with us, so didnt really bother looking around to see where the eskdale spur was, so we just went up the staircase spur.
You could probally have made it up without crampons, but we were just so much more confident with crampons on. you can see the difference in bight between my G12 which look like fangs, and microspikes which look like baby teeth.

The igloo was built at the start of the poles, which is also to let us know where the ice climbing starts. the conditions were really good for ice climbing. Gotta come back for more ice, and finish off my igloo. Hopefully build another one on top of the summit.

[andrewa]

Kinsayder, it went through to the keeper. Rare for me, but you get +1 point for playing well

Ninjapuppet, I presume that means your igloo is at the treeline of the Staircase. I'm glad you had some good ice climbing. Certainly the gullies look good, but I didn't think they'd be in condition for that. We did run into a couple from O/S who were descending the ( doing 8 peaks in 8 states), who had passed " 6-7 guys with full on mountaineering gear on the Staircase" -presumably youse all. She was gorgeous BTW!! Sorry. Bad me. Back to the misery of carrying gear up there...

A

[Kinsayder]

No worries, Andrew.

Good work and great pictures, Ninja.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I am taking a VNPA hiking group up there on Dec 13, 14, 15 th .

[paidal_chalne_vala]

The weather was foul on the Dec 13,14,15th w/end and we had to turn back at Bivouac hut. It was not safe to go on.

[Lophophaps]

A week ago there was water in the creek below Cleve Cole and a bit of a trickle in the soak on the north side of the summit, just above the pole line. I drank the CC water sans boiling and didn’t die. No ill effects either. The Bivouac tank was fairly full, but had a broken gate valve. Water could be obtained from the tank.

[tgar1]

Hi all.

I'm doing the Alpine challenge in March and looking for some information on getting up the Spion kopje fire track from Bogong Village to Warby Corner. Apparently this is the most difficult part of the challenge and looking to mimic the actual conditions / ascent gradients as much as possible in training. Anyone who has some information on this walk or the Alpine challenge event itself, it would be greatly appreciated.

T

[north-north-west]

The only time I've done that was last winter, with a heavy fog. Navigation was interesting once up top, but in good weather and no snow cover it's easy - there's s good track all the way up and across, just one major creek crossing. It's a steady climb to Little SK once you're over the creek, but not a really steep grade.

[paidal_chalne_vala]

I finally made it up the staircase spur to the summit with the VNPA , camped at CC hut and went back the next day down the Eskdale spur. It was an epic hike in superb clear January sunshine. My legs hurt now.

[Zone-5]

Forgot to pack the map, compass and GPS!

Not really excusable as you put your team's safety at unnecessary risk!

Besides that it looks like you had a great time..

[Giddy_up]

Nice work ninja and what a great trip, looks cold………do you have any idea what your daytime temps were?