Thoughts on people booting directly up a couloir you intend to ride while you are skinning towards it???
Were you going to boot pack it? If so, first in best dressed. If not, remember that booting up allows you to assess the snow as you go.
No i was skinning up a valley towards the ridgeline, i was walking along the ridgeline to enter it. Face i was skinning was the same aspect and elevation.
I dunno, it's hard. Objectives are objectives and speed is key. You also never quite know what folks are planning to do, from afar.
It's a crowded world, even bc, so we consider this vector in our routes, actions, deeds, needs & goals. We are not alone.
First time its ever happened to me. First time ive ever seen anyone else ski the face. I was a bit pissed at the time. They werent the nicest of people, they all stopped near a member of our group, didnt speak to us other than to ask us the name of the place they were and when they saw a member of our group fall in the line and us start administering first aid they said nothing and skied away...
Thinking more about your experience noted above, the best we can do is strive to set good examples & educate when an opportunity presents. Change is driven by leadership & example.
If there's easy access outside of boot-packing the couloir then take that. It's always better to have a blank canvas. Whilst it's handy to assess the stability while climbing it, there are alternatives. I prefer to have a pretty good handle on the stability before I put myself in a couloir either ascending or descending. Boot packing etiquette should be taught. It does my head in seeing mindless twits boot packing straight up the best skiable pitch. Keep to the sides and minimise your impact. From there on in, I agree with Majikthise.
Saw a few people boot pack the Elevator on a relatively crowded day last spring. Probably the same group that camped right in the middle of Club Lake...
Couple of boarders and couple of skiers boot packing Paralyser straight up the middle of the remaining blank canvas on Saturday. At least the boarders boot packed somewhat to the side and on a line less likely to be someone's objective. And skiers (if you're on here), I had no intention of stealing your line. You were there first. You didn't need to rush.
Yeah the problem with "climb what you ski" is that, if conditions are a bit dangerous, you're in the firing line for hours, as opposed to a few minutes if you go around the back. Even if it's green light conditions, if it e.g. turns to sheet ice at the top, you might be stuck in a exposed spot where it's very hard to transition to crampons or take skis off or whatever. Going around the back also uses less energy, and can be faster too. The modern trends seem to be for people to bring rope or cord to do a slope cut on belay and/or cut a cornice to test stability.
gee a communication crisis has gripped the Backcountry... the social norms of traversing the fall line..maybe we need CB radio band to foster improved relations between parties....
Was thinking about doing an overnight in Cootapatamba Hut or Seaman's Hut in a few weeks. What is the collective etiquette wisdom of dossing down in Seaman's? with a mat and bag? I know BC folk have slept in Cootapatamba, but have seen comment that Seaman's is meant for day use and emergency overnight... I figured if I don't make a mess it shouldn't get anyone too offside, but interested in what the BC Knowledge Council reckon.....
More comfortable in a tent than in either hut. Also, best to ensure you are carrying some form of adequate shelter in case others are already filling the hut. And watch out for landmines around both huts. Have fun.
I've slept in Seamans Hut. The others considered it emergency conditions more or less, there was serious wind, and one tent had already been destroyed that weekend. I tell you @ecowain it was pretty bloody cosy in there with the stove going and the floor covered in sleeping mats, rather than in a tunnel tent flapping so loud in the gale you could barely talk. The thing is, it's a poor exposed place to camp. Good place for an emergency shelter, but if you go down either side of the ridge towards one of the Snowy River branches, it can go from very windy to practically calm in a few hundred meters!
As mentioned, 'officially'. Seamans gets a fair bit of use, as you would expect. Coota is not as pleasant, so not as much. Both have a perimeter of landmines unfortunately, but expectedly given they are a magnet to first timers.
Yeah if you head south/skier's right a couple of hundred meters off the road, it's more sheltered down there, and you might be able to keep the hut within walking distance for dinner & drinks inside.
Be aware you are not expected to carry out the land mines of others. Tho at Seamans you will see and smell and we very much hope you will not touch, taste or feel them.
maybe they could do a second story to the Rawsons Pass Dunny...and put a decent hut in there...bit breezy but one can do wonders with rock,concrete and thick glass windows..but then Parks don't want u too have too much fun .. a miserable experience seems to be at the top of their agenda in visitor management... oh Vicco where we have glorious huts with real wood stoves in top localities...
Steve, Steve, Steve, you know we've got a shite load more huts above the snow line than you Mexicans have, with luverly wood stoves and dunnies ---- just not on the MR
boys at Cleve Cole must love the NSW guys trying to equate the two areas.... some body is sure to be sitting in front of the stove at CC reading a book with their feet up while others on Main Range are putting on brave face in their little tunnel tents!!! all of NSW huts are not on MainRange or close by on access tracks..except for Seamans/Coota and Illawong... Schlink Corridor is miles other side of Rolling Ground....but Team Bears do miss Fatso at Valentines(takes some beating) NSW is like fly in fly out scenario subject to weather windows...rip stop nylon no match for brick and mortar /or the new metallic look or post modern Westons/Ropers designs.. but suffering is all part of the mountaineering experience we read... we just got to build our huts bigger in vicco...that Schlink Hilton was the right concept though at KNP in its earlier days.. but you gotta hand to KNP they do have the highest non functional dunny on the mainland Aus(well at least in winter)Rawsons Pass Super Dunny...
well the fishing will not be too crash hot if the floaters get into streams from snow melt...those descriptions of the turds around Seamans sound horrific....glad to be down here in Vic Alps was there a portaloo at Seamans this year....or are KNP still discussing the finer points of turd management???
It is pretty gross in the spring melt. However I did some research, and apparently if it was buried properly in the snow, the freeze thaw cycle kills all the nastys. But still......studies in Tasmania show that poo buried in the ground takes two years to break down, so....
Yeah, I tend to agree with this. Especially since the most avalanche prone couloirs are generally fed by big start zones above - booting the couloir won't tell you so much about the start zone in many cases, and if it does go while you're booting up, well...
Was out at Club Lake yesterday ... coming across the camp grounds near the base of Lee near some rocks I saw a beanie. Went to pick it up, hmm that is a little heavier than I'm expecting. Look 2ft away and a land mine is sitting there too. Promptly forgot about recovering the beanie to clean up the general area and got on my way. If you're not prepared to carry that sh*t out don't stay overnight!
Also after Team Bears recent Forum interactions can we include in this thread if it has not been covered already.... Posting untruths.....and then failing to correct such postings. Now ...so the moderator does not misunderstand this post. This does not reflect on any posts or post above mine in this particular thread. Again this is not aimed at timbat..... So we are not guilty on any personal attack here Mr.Moderator!!
Maybe not the best BC etiquette for mountaineering in the greater ranges. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/09/man-arrested-attempting-climb-everest-without-permit/ His FB page has some entertainment and rather deluded supporters. Looks like he climbed partway up Pumori without a permit too. I was completely taken in by his explanation that on arriving at EBC he found out that he was unable to afford a permit to climb the peak...not. Go crazy Cave Man!
Gov liaison officers shoulda let him go, and then run a book on how far he gets, rent out deck chairs, provide the pop corn, sit back and watch, Darwin awards candidate.
Yep, there's no flapping in the Bibler/Black Diamond with a snow wall. Rather that than sleeping in a hut anyday!
