BACKCOUNTRY – Spring Sessions with Liberty International Team
Liberty international team rider Joe Schuster
Words & Images | Ben Hansen
Most of this winter felt like spring, with almost no snowfall and lots of rain. As a result we’ve been finding ourselves lapping the park a little to often and not exploring the terrain.
Taking the Guthega turn-off from the Kosciuszko road, you can find a whole new world of mountain to explore. With sunny days, a few mates a lot of water and a cold beer to wrap it all up, a quick hike out of the resort can be just as exciting in spring conditions.
Last week Liberty Riders Joe Schuster, Kyler Cooley, Dylan Natale, Murry Bartram, Simon Blondel, Anthony Symonds and I did just that. A 20 minute hike over the dam and across the river, a sunny day and a few shovels resulted in a fun session building a feature over a cliff and some fun spring runs away from the crowds.
Skiing backcountry is an exciting way to explore new places and develop new, or improve, skills concerned with all aspects of snow sports. Not only involving skiing and snowboarding but utilising the mountains and what they have to offer, reading situations and using knowledge of safety precautions, weather and snow conditions to your advantage.
Spring is a great time to explore lots of different terrain in an extremely big area. Guthega is fairly safe spot to start from, it’s close to civilisation and it’s not a huge trek to get to some good skiing or boarding. Heading out from the back of Charlotte Pass involves a bit more walking but some steeps can be found at Blue Lake.
When going walkabout make sure you have plenty of water, take a light pack with some lunch and always pack some warm clothes because weather can change very quickly. Also always check weather conditions and tell somebody where you plan to go, when you are leaving and when you plan to return.
Snow Shoes, or skins are defiantly recommended especially when there is a lot of snow, And after this snowfall who knows maybe there will be some untouched fresh snow out there to play around on.
Perisher forecasts,
snow reports and
live snow cams.
