We are excited to announce this unique backcountry experience. A premium alpine touring program with internationally accredited ski and split guides applying their craft to the mountains they call home.
Join us on a weekend adventure in the Victorian Alps to rip fresh lines, glean insights on technique and terrain, while we look after the rest. You turn up with just your touring kit and a good sleeping bag so you can travel light, drop turns, eat, sleep and repeat. Sounds pretty good huh? Catering for everyone, from first timers to hard chargers.
Dates:
August 2 - 4
August 9 - 11
August 16 - 18
August 23 - 25
August 23rd - 25th / Fully Booked
Here’s the Package
The package includes everything you need from the event base in Bright, North East Victoria. Including transfers up into the mountains, guiding services out onto the range with a premium guide / assist ratio of three to one. A day of touring leads us to a fully stocked basecamp with a few lux touches. Including a varied menu procured from local producers, inspired by the touring cuisine we love from the places we travel to ski abroad. Then either a blanket of stars or a fresh blanket of snow for the morning. Tents for one or two people whichever you prefer, plush sleeping matts. Base Camp consists of a group tent with wood stove for meals and drying stuff, a mess tent for food prep and then the smaller better insulated sleeping tents around.
• You will need the ability to descend a ‘black’ run confidently and safely in resort as a measure of the skill requirement for this trip.
• Your bring your ski or split touring kit, alpine sleeping bag (rated -5˚ / -10˚) and the daily touring essentials (click here for the list).
• If you need to hire some of it then there is a list of suppliers also.
Who’s this for?
In the Victorian Alps the best backcountry terrain is accessed by living in it. This camp-out series is an introduction to the practice of overnighting in the backcountry, to share both the thrill and the quiet solemn beauty of the dividing range in the depth of winter. This is for sun set gazers, fireside times, solitary aesthetic lines far from the madding crowd.
hike. Ski. eat. sleep. repeat.
The magic of the camp-out experience is that you take your doorstep to the best terrain based. The vast untracked realms that are the backdrop of a resort become your domain. The problem is that ‘Ski in / ski out’ just won’t feel the same again…
Some images courtesy of the Victorian Backcountry Festival.
How it works
There are four options for your trip. For starters decide whether your focus is on learning techniques (our entry level orientated option), or to better understand and explore new terrain (more up, more down). The second is whether you are heading out on Friday morning or Saturday morning, a ‘Friday Freeloader’ or a ‘Weekend Warrior’. If you have a buddy or four, we will bundle you together for the shared experience.
Technique
This is all about skills, observing and learning. It is not at the exclusion of touring through terrain as we will coach you in terrain choices through the lens of safety, navigation and the occasional accident. We will touch on snow science and some survival / rescue skills if there is an appetite in the group. Coaching on the move, a slightly slower pace with more chats and a more moderate objective.
Terrain
Here we will be focusing on the developing terrain skills. The guides will walk you through the decisions or how, why and when to ski / ride based on the conditions. Help you build confidence in your own decisions and shed light on how to get the most out of the turns you earn. The best way to learn terrain is by moving through it. Read: Bigger vert and cover more ground.
Friday ‘Freeloaders’*
For those who can get the Friday off, we invite you to enjoy the ‘snow camp’ process, starting from Bright on the Friday morning. You will have the task of assisting the team in hauling some of the gear, and helping build camp. In exchange you get a warm-up tour, an extra night under canvas, a heap of practical skills. In return for your hard work, effectively a free meal on Friday night. Spots are limited for the ‘Freeload’.
Weekend Warrior
We get it, getting time out is hard… so you get to arrive in style with everything ready to go. Meeting in Bright on Friday night with a roof overhead, ready for an early start and light tour to camp in the morning. It’s a ‘light lift’ and you will be out getting not just ‘first tracks’… but ‘only’ tracks on the route to the base camp.
There’s no ‘lock-in’ agreement so if you want a swap focus after day one, where we can, we will try to accomodate a switch.
* Freeloaders freely leave the ‘pack-down’ on Sunday to the assist team. So everyone gets a fun light ride out (apart from the assist team)
This series is run using a ‘Guide Co-op’ model, sponsored by The Climbing Company. We are effectively a Not-for-Profit.
Scoping access on a ridged cornice. Keep clear of that edge!
Backcountry Camp-out series
$980
all inclusive
• Guiding Services / Meals / Accomodation (Friday & Saturday night)
• all Transfers ex Bright.
Session 1
August
2 - 4
Session 2
August
9 - 11
Session 3
August
16 - 18
August
23 - 25
Fully Booked
Reminder:
Friday Freeload meets packed and ready in Bright at 8am. Ready for transfer
Weekend warriors meet in Bright Friday evening (preferably before 11pm)
Ready for transfer at 8am
Series Pass $2400
You can book in for any three sessions at a discount rate.
Where exactly?
Now that is the all important question! And if working in the mountains has taught us anything it’s that agility around making sound decisions for mountain objectives, based on the conditions, is critical to getting the best from the conditions on the day.
We’d rather have a glorious day of face shots in the trees when the pow is dumping, and smiles all round, over struggling along windy ridges in a whiteout. Similarly we want to get high and drop a technical alpine face on a sunny winter afternoon. So we have a bunch of potential locations in mind, and literally a location for every outlook.
Getting value out of stumping up the cash starts here, as we cherry pick the best conditions from the valley floor. The Tuesday before your session you will get the rundown.
Fresh off the press.
Mt Loch & Cobungra Headwaters
Mount Hotham Backcountry
Eskdale Spur / Cairn Gully
Mount Bogong
The Razorback
Feathertop Approaches
This is a first for the Victorian Alps. To have assembled such a strong cohort of like minded ski guides and assisting mountain safety professionals in one place is a real feat, and it speaks to the drive and professionalism of our Program Director and Head Guide:
Hamid Shafaghi
IFMGA (International Federation of Mountain Guide Association) Mountain & Ski Guide
With over 20 years of guiding experience in high mountains and backcountry terrain, Hamid Shafaghi is a distinguished IFMGA-certified guide. With his extensive guiding experience in both Central Asia and Europe, Hamid has led advanced courses and guided participants through serious alpine terrain, instilling confidence and skill along the way. His alpine climbing resume includes the Slovenian Route on Nameless (Trango) Tower, and in the French Alps like Bonatti route on Grand Capucin , opening a new route in Madagascar which has been nominated for Piolet d’Or prize etc… yet for this series he’s here to ski!
Introducing: Ski Guides
Andrew Brown
Growing up in Melbourne, his passion for the Victorian backcountry began early. After running snowboard camps worldwide for 6 years, he focused on advancing his skills in the backcountry. Living in New Zealand, he completed the professional guiding pathway and obtained accreditation with NZMGA in 2022. The 5th splitboarder in New Zealand to do so.
Andrew works as a backcountry guide in Hokkaido, Japan during summers and does guiding work in Australia and New Zealand in the southern winter.
New Zealand Mountain Guides Association Level 1 Ski Guide, Wilderness First aid, Avalanche Risk Management L5 (New Zealand)
Alysa Atkinson
Working as a ski patroller between Australia and Canada, Alysa spends 11 months of the year working and recreating in snowy alpine environments. Prior to patrolling, Alysa spent 2 years working in outdoor education, facilitating hard top and journey programs to young people in the Alpine National Park.
CAA Avalanche Operations Level 1, Australian Ski Patrol Association Certification, Certificate IV in Outdoor Leadership, Wilderness First Aid
Luke Frisken
Originally from Melbourne, Luke has a wealth of experience backcountry skiing in many locations in Australia. He has spent Winter seasons at a wide range of interesting ski touring locations around the world including Republic of Georgia, Kamchatka Russia, New Zealand, and Japan. Luke contributes his skills as an MSC observer, and is a founding member and volunteer forecaster for the Avalanche Georgia NGO.
Trainee in the NZMGA (New Zealand Mountain Guides Association) ski guide program. Avalanche Risk Management L5 (New Zealand). Wilderness First Aid.
Simon Murray
Simon ‘Wombat’ Murray has extensive local snow camping, ski mountaineering and rescue experience, he’s the local area expert for the program and affectionately termed ‘Camp Dad’. He’s put together the Ski/Split touring program for the Victorian Backcountry Festival six years running and before that, the ‘MSCs Slay Safe’ Program, overseeing literally hundreds of independent ski/split participants participants without incident. He’s a Mountain safety educator and backcountry guide around Hotham.
Mountain Safety Collective Founder, Victorian Backcountry Festival Tour Program Director, Victorian Backcountry Companion Principal Author, Avalanche Operations level 1 (Canadian Avalanche Association) , Wilderness First Aid.
Lachlan Short
Lachlan Short spends 200+ days a year working and breathing in the outdoors as an outdoor educator and adventure guide, working primarily in alpine and rock environments. Some of the organisations and clients he has worked for include the University of the Sunshine Coast, Mt Buller, Thredbo Backcountry Guides, The North Face, Australian School of Mountaineering and Climb the Seven Summits. He has a dual degree in Science (Ecology) and Education (Secondary Education) and a Diploma in Outdoor Leadership.
Canadian Avalanche Association Operations level 1 field, New Zealand Certificate in Ski Patrol, Wilderness First Aid, Australian Ski Instructor Level 2, Diploma of Outdoor Leadership.
Questions? Call Us!
Luke Frisken - 0423 833 247
Hamid Shafaghi - 0406 750 087
or email info@theclimbingcompany.com.au