Very Ice To Meet You!

Australia is not famous for ice climbing destinations. But in winter, a small part of the Snowy Mountains manages to transform itself into a small replica of places like New Zealand. There is only a small time window each year that a visitor has to experience the icy cliffs, and if conditions are right, to climb them.

Although we only knew each other from mutual interests on Facebook, Noel McBurnie, a climbing enthusiast from Queensland arranged to fly to NSW to share a weekend of climbing and snow camping. After looking at our options given the short time that he had in NSW, we decided we should see Blue Lake in its winter setting, and maybe we would sample it's famous ice climbs too.

He arrived in Canberra on Friday afternoon, but because I had to drive from Sydney after work and then travel to Canberra to collect him, it meant the poor fellow was waiting in a Subway restaurant outside the airport for around 6 hours! So when I collected him later that night I knew I owed him one,  big time! 

We stayed overnight in a caravan park south of Cooma. That night a huge meteor lit the sky. For me it felt like a good omen.

Friday saw us have a relaxed start, then off to Guthega where the snow shoe walk in to a base camp high on the sides of Mt Twynam, began in earnest. The snow was firm , but the wind was icy! The mountains hid their secrets. 

My pack, loaded with 60m of rope, climbing gear, ice axes and crampons tipped the scales at 23kg (or more, I gave up worrying about it). My progress was slower than Noel’s, who was recently well primed after summiting 6189m Island Peak in Nepal, and almost bagging nearby 6476m Mera Peak as well.

He was always well ahead of me!  After 3 hours or so, we made it to what seemed to be a well protected base camp site behind a group of snow gums. Some other XC skiers had also found this spot.

Overnight Noel's bag broke a zipper, and so he had to make do in minus 6C temperatures. By stark contrast, my bag was fine, in fact I overheated a bit! But I don't think that it was a very comfy night for him...

Saturday was a bluebird morning, so we set off following the Everest mountaineer Allie Pepper, and some of her mountaineering course clients up over Mt Twynam to Blue Lake. 

We arrived at the top of the cliffs that line the lake, swapped snow shoes for crampons, and then dropped into the lake shore. The setting was spectacular!

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Magnificent milky waterfalls of ice cascaded over the bluffs. Cornices threatened from atop the ramparts of the cirque.

Avalanches have happened here and people have died, so it's a place to respect and take care in. We dropped down to the lake shore to survey our climbing options.

First up, an attractive ice gully beckoned to us. We weren't really equipped to go for a full on ice climb so opted for some interesting snow (and ice) gullies.

 It was trickier than it first looked, and we went up in turn,  both unroped. Being up there with no protection was maybe a bit crazy but exciting. But it meant that every hold had to count, the ice and snow up there was inconsistent and every hold had to be tested. I was glad I wore a helmet! With the amount of ice pellets raining down on me while below Noel as he climbed above me. 

Our time in the cirque was a bit limited because of the amount of travel time we needed to get back to camp,  so next up we decided to exit via Glissade (otherwise called Elephant) Gully. It looked straight forward enough. Noel figured it was OK to do it un roped as well. 

It all started OK. However the higher we got, the steeper it got. And steeper and icier. Noel found himself in a pickle with sheets of verglas and loose snow, preventing his progress, He seemed stuck. He called out for me to get to the top and top rope him out of there. I thought this was a fair call, but I wasn’t yet out of trouble myself! Plus the weather seemed to be getting worse at that stage…

The slope was so steep now at about 60-70 degrees,  and at 70m or so above the lake, it  wasn’t a good place to take a fall.  But I worked out that a traverse to the left might get me into a better place to climb out. My feet slipped despite crampons, and it took multiple attempts to secure the ice axe to get out of the steep pinch. There was a lot of bubble like rime ice about.

 By the time I clawed my way out, Noel had figured out his escape moves and seemed to be out of danger.

 We  then re grouped at the top and got back onto snowshoes for the long walk over the ridge to base camp. 

The weather wa sbecoming pre frontal now, and the mountain was changing from a blue sky wonderland to a frozen expanse of white outs and increasing winds. But the descent to the camp then became a pleasant sunny jaunt down the hill, so it wasn’t so bad at all. Later that night a howling wind of 80km gusts and driving snow blew in from the west.  I spent the night listening to the amazing orchestra of the tempest outside my little (3 season) tent.

We walked out the next morning through gluggy conditions and flurries of snow. That 4kg of rope was a beast, and it had never left it's bag! I was happy to see the Guthega carpark again! I compensated Noel his long wait on Friday night by shouting him lunch at a yummy deli in Cooma. A gourmet burger has never tasted so good!

Even though we had never met before other than through social media, it was great to spend a weekend with someone so passionate about winter mountaineering as Noel. He has aspirations to climb the world’s highest (and nastiest !) peaks, and judging by his strength and determination during the weekend, I am sure he will succeed. I'll certainly be watching his future mountaineering career progress with great interest!