NSW Nordic Ski Club
Bogong High Plains Bash
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Towards the end of the rest day on our Stirling Sidle in September 1995 we stopped at the Tawong lookout and gazed upon the northern Victorian ski fields. The options before us were a 3 day to Mt Feathertop (and something thereafter), a 5 day on Mt Bogong or a 5 day around the Bogong High Plains (BHP). As the bulk of the party had not skied on the BHP before and this option provided the greatest flexibility it was selected for implementation. So it was down to the Mt Beauty Caravan Park to dine, prepare and sleep.
Pyles Coaches efficiently transported us up the hill to Falls Creek next day in strengthening sunshine. After purchasing our trail fee (believe me this hurt psychologically) we skied off from Windy Corner to cross the Rocky Creek Dam which provided the first extended views of the central BHP. We left the track behind us and climbed up over Heathy Spur to see Spion Kopje, our objective for the day. A pleasant ski brought us to Edmonsons Hut where we dumped the packs before skiing up Mt Nelse & Mt Nelse North. These are really just white knolls and quite unpresupposing. Spion Kopje (named after the battle in the Boer War) however is anything but, it is at the end of a long flat ridge and has fantastic views of Mt Bogong to the north and the BHP to the south. Fortunately the sunshine held and we were able to enjoy the vistas to the full. To complete the day we skied over to view Ropers Hut before heading home via the Alpine Walking Track pole line. Some of the party, who obviously hadn't done enough skiing, detoured the 6 km to Timms Lookout for the best views there are of the whale backed massif of Mt Bogong. In all 22-28km skied that day in ideal snow and gentle terrain resulting in that delightful feeling of comfortable tiredness with your heart, mind and lungs full of the high country.
The morrow brought sun again and found us skiing through The Park, past Marum Point and down onto Cemetery Ridge in splendid isolation. Here we visited Kellys Hut and then the newly rebuilt Fitzgeralds Hut. The original was burnt down inadvertently a few years ago by a school group and has since been replaced by a number of community groups. This poses the question as to whether alpine huts should be replaced when destroyed - in Kossie the NPWS policy is that they are not.
After mornos it was down to find the Langford East Aqueduct. The BHP is a mini SMA and has a number of aqueducts wandering about which in winter provide great XC Ski routes. This proved the case with a scenic sheltered route unfolding before us. That was except for the very sticky snow which quickly quadrupled the weight of the skis and prevented any glide. An application of wax remedied the situation and had us on our way once more to find a lunch spot beside a swimming pool-like dam - but nobody swam!
Having investigated some huts not appearing on the map near Langford Gap we skirted the aptly named Basalt Hill to ski round to Wallace Gap. This allowed us to visit Wallace Hut, the oldest structure on the BHP. After having inspected this quaint old building we skied onto another quaint, but slightly less old, structure called Cope Hut to spend the night. Here we puzzled over the pot belly stove that consumed briquettes at a great rate but produced minimal heat.
That morning dawned with a blood red sunrise which inspired some of us to go for an early morning ski (others performed very convincing impersonations of sloths and slugs). Thereafter followed 2 hours of great packless skiing through snow filled vales and tree covered knolls. This included some extended views from the summit of the Rocky Knobs before a return to Cope Hut. Donning our packs once more we carried them briefly before hiding them in the trees and skiing down to Bucketts Plain. This was a lovely gentle ski down to a near complete absence of snow - oops! (ah well, you can't always get it right, and besides I hadn't been there before - well that's my excuse anyway). Despite the absence of snow we had a very pleasant time visiting Faithfuls Hut, the plains, finding other people's maps and engaging in that very Irish of sports - swamp skiing (believe it or not the most efficient way to traverse a swamp is with skis on - for some unaccountable reason it also helps to sing Monty Python songs at the top of your voice whilst so engaged).
We then retrieved our packs and went on to climb Mt Cope just because it was there (the views sure weren't). There was however an exciting ski down through dispersed trees to another aqueduct which led us to Ryders Yards Hut for the night. Some slept well that night (those few of us who are without sin) others were tormented by visitations of GREAT FURRY CREATURES with SHARP POINTY teeth and lovely dainty feet and chirpy little voices. Their penance having been exacted, dawn came as a blessed relief.
Day 4 started with sticky snow which we banished with applications of wax. This allowed us to enjoy probably the most scenic aqueduct route on the BHP, that of Cope West Aqueduct. This has lovely views of High Plains Creek and Dinner Plain beyond. We followed this around the side of the BHP to eventually climb up to Mt Jim for a 4 star morning tea (loses one star since there is no gushing brook of crystal clear water immediately to hand). In all other respects it over achieved the rating: views, views and more views in windless sunny conditions. This was as close as we had yet been to Mt Feathertop and all marvelled and this most "alpine" looking peak.
A short ski took us towards the Niggerheads and then down to the scenic vale of Tawonga Huts. Here I scouted out the start of the fire trail whilst the others frolicked in the sunshine. The trail proved a fairly level and straight forward route to Little Plain where we set up camp behind a belt of Snow Gums. At this point the hairs on the back of my neck began to twitch and I thought it prudent to ski up to the summit of Mt Fainter South to "take in the view" and more pragmatically to lay some easy to follow trails for the morrow. So we set off and were rewarded with great views of Feathertop and Bogong as well as a fast downhill run home.
The following day dawned as expected, scudding cloud 40m up. So it was on with the packs and up into the murk we strode following our tracks of yesterday. We followed these to the turn off and then proceeded by map and compass to traverse the Fainter Range in 20m visibility for the next 2 km before we found the descent Fire Trail. I had hoped the weather might lift and so we found a lovely slope just below the scunge layer to play on for a couple of hours. The weather refused to cooperate however and so we elected to descend that afternoon. Thereafter followed a pleasant ski down to Bogong Jack Saddle (OK, there was some rock telemarking) and thence through towering Mountain Ash almost to Spring Saddle. Here we wistfully tied our skis up and commenced to do that which we had not done for five days past - to walk! The descent, hard surface, different rhythm and wet socks combined to see us hobble into Bogong Village. Here by various means we acquainted ourselves with automobiles and retired to the caravan park for showers and then the pub for sustenance for our palates.
Thus ended an extempore trip to the BHP which saw us ski and view 90% of what there is in a satisfying and rewarding manner. Although much smaller than the Jagungal plateau the BHP are well worth visiting as they provide a very interesting degree of variation and have a unique charm of their own.
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