Yes, these things will be most useful too but just walking with a pack will help a lot too .I see people doing this in semi Urban settings ( where I cycle) to get in shape for a trek ,esp. when they only have 3 hours to spare on a Sunday
My biggest ever tip for someone getting into backcountry (winter or summer) is Enjoy pain! Its going to really f**king hurt! But its worth it, and sometimes it hurts good!
I was a Pilates instructor for 5 years and have a PhD in biomechanics, so fortunately I know alllllll the things I should be doing, I just don’t do them what is the adage - do as I say, not as I do?! Won’t be starting any new fitness things this week though. Currently laying in bed sick - with just a normal virus. Not THE virus. But still, feeling very sorry myself
The other thing I wanted to note in my “lessons learned” was how good my buff was! Kept sun off my neck initially, then used it as a headband to keep hair/sweat off my face, extended back as a kind of headscarf/beanie when it got cooler, used it as a sort of towel to wipe down the outside of my water bottle from stray droplets. So many uses!
I have a large supply of pink tennis headbands for all sweaty effort inducing outdoorsy stuff. I also recommend not trekking in a long sleeved merino wool top( that is for wearing at camp in green season) but rather wearing a quick dry fabric long sleeved hiking shirt with a good protective collar. I wear a quick dry fabric sun hat with a legionnaire's drape at the back. I tan easily( being a person of Sub continental extraction) but the sun in Ozstriya is wicked. Ms. I.B.F. ( OP) is very fair so the sun is to be respected or severe sun damage awaits. I knew she was ejumacated ;-P just by reading her trip report .
I am quite fair and do need to get a better hat, I wasn’t outside for long in this case but a little sun visor is hardly the best sunsafe option! Would you believe I was actually cold, that’s why I kept the long sleeve merino on for the hike back
I keep a tube of brown coloured zinc cream almost everywhere I look, in every activity kit I have be it : cycling ;surfing; bushwalking; XC skiing and outdoor distance swimming as well as a tube in my car.It is good stuff.
To be honest from the times I’ve met you (albeit at the pub), I don’t think your issues would be fitness related. Your hike wasn’t long enough or hard enough to expose any major fitness flaws. sure maybe their is a small element of getting used to pack carrying, but I think most of your issues would have been with gear. next Canberra catch up I’m happy to chat about gear and how to make sure it’s fitting.
missed this earlier, FWIW I reckon 90% of your soreness probably relates to the fact the virus was already in your system, the other 10% from the pictures, your pack wasn’t sitting right (hard to say definitively). I’ve always battled with hats for the outdoors work, super chunky hats make me heat up, but I’m conscious of the sun. I still like my visor, I wear beanies under it in winter and I’ve used a buff in summer as well.
Yeah the muscle soreness does make more sense now, that’s for sure. The pack didn’t feel great on, so I’ll have to fiddle more with it next time to make it sit on my hips properly
again hard just looking at pictures but straight away I’d say the shoulder straps appear to not be sitting flat on your shoulders (selfie pic), this could be the angle or the pose but it does look like the pack is hanging back. The pack also looks a tad short for you back length.
Find an reputable outdoors activities shop such as Bruce's shop in Jindabyne( what is it really called ?... I forget) for example. They will help fit your pack correctly to your body .The weight must ride on your hips and be comfortable. In white season the extra gear such as snow shovel, spare torch batteries, extra stove fuel, extra thermals , more food & snow tent etc. make the pack heavier . Sometimes skis and ski boots also need to be fastened to the pack . So the weight needs to be ergonomically distributed and a good quality pack which has been fitted correctly will help with this goal.
Yeah I’ve just zoomed in on some photos and I think you’re right - it actually looks like I tightened some of the side straps on the pack so tight that it warped and the frame is arcing away from my shoulders as a result
Fortunately my Osprey 30 fits beautifully, which is what I’ll use for day BC trips. Overnight BC (snow anyway) are still a while off I’d say, I don’t have most of the gear and need to save $$$ for the splitty!
This may well be the case but I spent three white seasons on snow shoes doing snow shoe trekking, snow camping etc. before I changed to skiing( I saw de light , praise de lawd!). I learnt a hell of a lot about white season camping, mountaineering (such as ice axe usage) and overall survival in some very poor conditions on Mt. Bogong, Mt. Feathertop, The Bogong High Plains, Mt. Stirling and elsewhere too. So waiting for the split board to arrive might work &/or when you have the right kit for snow camping then snow shoes would be adequate as long as they are NOT "Yowies".
i have all the gear for us for O/N. you just need to rent the splitty! Im trying to convince @Any to go out with me. But he want a guide.
I’m fairly sure it’s nigh on impossible to rent a splitty - I saw a thread last year where people were discussing it. But it’s sure worth a try and I’m sure I’ll be motivated once we get a few autumn snow falls!
Horse camp hut could be a good place to aim for regarding an overnight NSW newbies' snow camping trip. The hut is not that far from Guthega Power station. The hut has been renovated well , the pot belly stove is a top loader , it has a stream nearby for water and a pit loo if I remember rightly. It does not have much terrain to excite a snow boarder. The aqueduct trail above the hut would be nice to XC ski on in winter. White's River hut has better access to the Rolling ground on the Main Range. The slopes/ hills above that hut would be more interesting for snowy declivities on a snow board. Anyway I am just trying to help BUT I will not suggest too much stuff about the KNP. Some forum members object to us Mexicans below the border saying stuff about the KNP ;-P.
Haha well you still know more than me! I know where thredbo Perisher Guthega and theoretically Charlotte pass is ooh and I ALMOST drove to dead horse gap last year but I got as far as the Carpark nearby and chickened out when I saw a deer
You are thinking right now . Classic XC skiing is not THAT hard to learn. You can cover 20 kms in day with a day pack on BC XC skis and swish down the hills …. weeeeeeeeeeeeee I am not an expert at all ( except at how to NOT crash into a snow gum or a rock at a fair speed.... abort the mission with the bum brake I say !) but I am ready to learn to do Telemark turns , do skidded ice hockey stops and perfect magically linked up stem Christie turns. With kicker skins fitted to BC XC skis long ascents and carrying a pack up a hill becomes way more feasible. Kicker skins on the ascents seem to turn skis into snow shoes of sorts. No need to carry snow shoes either. I am a fan of kicker skins. I am like spider man climbing up an icy building on them. Thank you "black diamond". You have done it again.
I’ll spell his name incorrectly but Ruena from Paddy Pallin in Braddon is great, I’ve brought gear off him for 25+ years and he will set your pack up. The top Osprey will have the belt heat moulded. As an intro ski board I like heading to munyang (Guthega power station) late Friday and walking from the power station to horse camp. Most of the time you can walk till about 1km from the hut so it’s easy enough to do. The following day take the aqueduct track to whites river, set up camp and then spend the afternoon on the hills around the hut. Next morning head back to the car via the other aqueduct.
thanks, whilst Bruce at wilderness sports is great I’m reasonably comfortable setting up my gear. Actually I’m not sure he sells packs! I’d probably stick to the locals in Canberra. I think the most important thing with packs is to heavily weight them and then play so you understand the effect adjustments make. After back length adjustment there are three other adjustments you can do with the pack on, waist, shoulder strap length and the strap that runs from the top of the shoulder strap to your pack (keeps the weight against your back).
ESS have some - https://essboardstore.com.au/pages/snow-rental Rhythm do too, but only available if you go on one of their tours :/
I don't know anything about overnight plans or a guide. Have heaps of bc plans at Hotham this season, tho only in Perisher area for 2 weeks, so it'll be interesting to get some there too. So far just looking at topo maps, the other side of Gutega looks interesting. I'm a fan of the 3+ star kind of overnight hut trips.
must remember don't discuss plans with @Any when he's drunk... Any O/N will be out of season!! late season at least...
isn’t that the best time to discuss plans, I know I have agreed to some seriously stupid adventures after a few beers. Kinda one of the reasons we have the Canberra get together a.
haha Yeah i agree! Clearly @Any doesn't.... He managed to extract himself from the Yotei adventure this time last year too! (there were a few drunken decisions that night!) I don't think Any was that drunk this time... but hey if he doesn't wanna go bc with too awesome females then thats his loss!
[QUOTE="zac150, post: 4205688, member: 25259 As an intro ski board I like heading to munyang (Guthega power station) late Friday and walking from the power station to horse camp. Most of the time you can walk till about 1km from the hut so it’s easy enough to do. The following day take the aqueduct track to whites river, set up camp and then spend the afternoon on the hills around the hut. Next morning head back to the car via the other aqueduct.[/QUOTE] That is what I suggested but of course I am from VIC., so my suggestions do not count ;-P.
That is what I suggested but of course I am from VIC., so my suggestions do not count ;-P.[/QUOTE] I never said anything against your suggestion, I just elaborated on the plan. Heading into horse camp by itself on snow shoes with a snow board on the back would be boring as xxxx, I know this is not what you were suggesting but. I simply put the locations into a basic trip, one I’ve done on numerous occasions.
I never said anything against your suggestion, I just elaborated on the plan. Heading into horse camp by itself on snow shoes with a snow board on the back would be boring as xxxx, I know this is not what you were suggesting but. I simply put the locations into a basic trip, one I’ve done on numerous occasions.[/QUOTE] Yes, indeedy Whites River hut would be more interesting for a snow boarder but on BC XC skis one could ski up to the Schlink Pass,visit the huts en route and go back to Guthega Power station car park in a day. The return trip would be fast and fun on skis. If the OP learned to XC ski then accessing snowboarding terrain would be quicker and easier , even just for a day trip. However once on the planks and moving well on a day tour then it begs the question: why would you take a snow board as well?
So my overnight hike for next weekend is cancelled, which is a surprise to no-one I'm sure BUT I have found what seems to be a pretty good deal on some split-boarding items online, for $1550 for the board, bindings and skins: Burton Family Tree Anti-Social Splitboard 2019 147cm Burton Hitchhiker Splitboard Bindings 2020 S Burton x G3 skins S Should I do it?!
What length solid board do you ride? The Burton boards all come with the pucks/hardware to attach the bindings, right? Overall it looks pretty good - I'm currently debating about getting a 160cm Deep Thinker to try against my existing 157cm, given my 90kg bulk A split setup would be awesome, but may be a bit of a stretch.
My solid board is a Capita Paradise 145cm, which has at times seemed a little chattery at speed so I thought maybe it was a bit short at times, but could be the flex as well. The Burton size guide is 54-82kg for this size board, and I'm around 70kg before pack so I figured that was probably ok? What do you reckon? And yes that board comes with pucks, which I *think* means it doesn't need anything extra to attach those bindings
Conventional wisdom for splitboards is to size up 5cm from a park board, and potentially a little bit from an all mountain board. @LMB is going to be more authoritative than me on this tho - my information is all theory, as I missed out on the chance to go on an adventure with Let's Split last year. :'(
In principle yes, but I could not vouch for that deal being value. How much to boards and bindings cost? Also let's look at skin options. @DPS Driver do contour do split board skins? And are your boots compatible with the binding?
I found the board for $700, which is pretty cheap from what I can tell. Bindings are exxy at $580. Do you just mean size? From the size chart it is a unisex binding suitable for womens boots size 7-9 and mine are a size 7, so I imagine that is compatibility as far as I can tell...
Just a question, I know little about boards but it's a question I would ask for any tele or AT set up.
Yes it is a good question, I will try to contain the impulse excitement and do more googling and asking. Even since my last post I've found some women's specific Spark bindings, which may be better since some reviews of the Burton Hitchhiker ones say the Highback (being unisex/mens) is uncomfortably high on a womens calf
