BACKCOUNTRY JOURNAL – Almost Skiing Twynam West Spur

Starting at Guthega, Twynam and the peaks beyond are over the furthest visible ridge 8km away

Blog | Thomas Pinzone

I have been itching to get out to the western faces of the Snowy Mountains all winter. Apart from an early season mission in May, to date, work, weather and other commitments have conspired against me. I had a free day yesterday and had planned to get out amongst the big lines on offer.

Unfortunately none of the usual suspects could make it so it was to be a solo day. Waking early, I was pretty excited as the recent snowfalls had given way to a beautiful sunny spring day. I drove up to Guthega and got my shit together in the car park.

All filled in at Illawong Lodge

I made good time out to Illawong. I can’t get over how much snow is around at the moment, I have never seen all the creeks covered. I took my skins off as the early ice made for a great fast skate out along the flats.

Looking good but its all ice

Horrible ice with brown dust

I crossed the Illawong swing bridge and continued out to Mt Twynam. Conditions were not great, it was so icey I was barely leaving a skin track. Despite the blazing sun, I was getting nervous that the western faces would be too dangerous to ski.

Looking north, Anderson Crags in foreground and Jagungal in the distance

As I got higher, approaching Mt Twynam and still struggling on the ice, the wind increased severely. I skied around to the western face of Twynam and could barley stand up. It was relentless, no gusts, just constant gale force winds. I skied down to the Twynam west spur saddle, enjoying the incredible view of the western faces despite the ice and wind.

Short boot up to Tenison Woods Knoll

I carefully booted up and along the spur concentrating on not dropping any gear or even worse falling over and sliding hundreds of metres. I used my pole to check the snow on the north western face hoping that it would have softened up in the sun. Sadly, it was still ice.

Epic Terrain

I had promised myself in the morning that if the snow looked dodgy I wouldn’t drop in. Considering the consequences of solo BC skiing I came to the realisation that I wouldn’t be skiing any of the gnarly terrain on offer on this day. Despite the howling wind, once the decision had been made I relaxed and spent some time taking photos of the breathtaking peaks.

Looking down the Avalanche Face

Some dark clouds in the valley far below and Mt Bogong 100km away poking its head out made for some extra drama.

The Sentinel and Mt Bogong in the distance

Townsend North Spur

Chutes off Carruthers

Strzelecki Creek

As I was getting ready to start heading back to Guthega I ran into a group of 5. They had also checked out the snow and made the call to leave it alone. Knowing they had also judged the conditions to be dangerous made me feel better about my decision. I followed them back towards Twynam for a bit, their group consisted of people on AT gear, tele gear and a split boarder. Great to see so many people out enjoying the BC.

BC people

I took my skins off for the long ski back to Illawong. Dropping down the eastern face of Twynam I was pleasantly surprised by the snow. I carved a few big turns, it felt good to get the skis moving again after the disappointment of the western faces.

Back at Illawong, away from the ice and the wind of the Main Range I sat and enjoyed some lunch in the sun. I had a pretty easy ski back to Guthega. The spring sun was in full affect at the lower elevations and I was burning up by the time I got back to the car.

Despite not being able to ski any of the awesome terrain out on the western faces, I’m glad I had the opportunity to get out there. Hopefully the snow will hang around, the planets align again and I can get back out there soon.

Yew

19 km and nearly 1,000m climbed