BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL – Club Lake with Chris Booth

The Western Faces offer some of the steepest skiing in Australia; with a long walk out Image:: Dom Kieler

Mountainwatch | Chris Booth

I reckon there’s a lifetime of skiing for me to get through in Australia.

I never used to think this. My dreams of skiing always extended beyond our shores to say, the European Alps or Alaska. Australia only had such limited terrain, and most of it felt so closed in. To get any real skiing done, I assumed I would have to take a plane.

But since discovering ski touring a few years ago that whole belief system has been turned on its head. We have mountains just like those in Europe or Alaska. We have expansive long and steep lines with beautiful long and clear outruns. Despite the fact that our mountains seem small, our alpine environment is actually enormous. So much so that it boggles the mind as it attempts to calculate the scope of things – just like in Europe or Alaska. I am reminded of this feeling every time I head out onto the main range of NSW, past Thredbo, Charlottes, Perisher or Guthega. It’s that feeling of seeing something from a distance and thinking it’s small, and then watching it grow into an enormous beast as you approach. Club Lake is a bit like that. The place looks like a mellow little face, about a few turns worth, until you come up onto it and realise it’s actually really decent. Of course you think you’ve got a better picture of it by that point, but then it looks bigger again when you put a person on it.

Aussie Backcountry, best enjoyed with good friends Image:: Dom Kieler

Meanwhile, over the back, on the Western Faces, the enormity spirals well and truly out of control, as peaky, craggy mountains plunge into Victoria. From there the blue hues of Eucalyptus trees on stacked mountains stretch out for what seems like an eternity. It’s nothing short of stunning.

When we think of Australia’s national treasures we think of places like the Great Barrier Reef, the Tarkine, Kakadu etc. I don’t think the Australian high country is on that list. But it should be. The Australian high country is a truly miraculous thing, and unique to anywhere in the world and a wonder that it exists at all. Its an understatement in the extreme to say that we are lucky to have it.

It may not be deep, but it’s fun Image:: Dom Kieler

This winter I have spoken about the negative attitude towards our mountains, and our pessimism towards the quality of our winters, and I have a feeling that both of those things stem from our basic lack of awareness about just how extensive and amazing our alpine ecosystem is.

Had I not have been introduced to all this by way of ski touring, I wouldn’t have known either.

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