BLUE LAKE 2005

The inimitable	Bryan and Roman circa 2005	Hitchhiking attmept ...

On Thursday the 14th of July, Bryan and Roman set out on the first Blue Lake trip of 2005. We arrived early in the evening at Jim and Claire's place perched high above Lake Jindabyne. Early next morning (we had a Bryan start) after buying some essentials in town we headed for Guthega to start our annual trip to visit the ice at Blue Lake. There was sunshine as usual when we arrived at the end of the road in Guthega with much more snow than usual for this time of the year. This time we had already pre-packed our gear in the comfort of Jim's place so there was just the customary hike back from the long-term parking area before we headed of done the hill toward the flying fox. Surprisingly the snow all-around was very deep and the weather was sensational. Bryan was using cross-country skies and after I put on my furs across the river the difference became apparent very quickly. Bryan was working very hard to get up the hill and I cruised. But the regular spin class with Steve paid off and we arrived at the bridge crossing the Snowy River after only 45 minutes. There was only two of us this year and we were carrying about 25kg each including Bryan's brand new tent. The going as usually got tough but we made good time and arrived at Blue Lake just before dark about 5pm. It took us about four and a half hours from Guthega. Unfortunately the weather was closing in on us (again) and we were working hard in deteriorating conditions to cut a suitable tent space out of the deep snow. By the time we started cooking at around seven on Friday night we were surrounded by spindrift and the new tent was getting its first work-out.

Broken skies	The original crossing before the bridge	Snowy River	Solitude
Tent life	No you can't come in	Still handsome	Bryan in his element

Saturday morning was atrocious, heavy snow and strong winds and unfortunately we had rationed our fuel supply quite tight and only took two small canisters of MSR IsoPro. The conditions were very cold and we had to melt snow for water which was depleting our fuel resources fast. So Saturday morning’s priority was finding water. We left our shelter in storm conditions reminiscent of last year. Visibility was down to a few meters and we had to be careful to find our way back to the tent. We made the best out of it and went straight for the icefalls. Just like last year there were curtains of magnificent blue ice trembling from the ferocious wind. We found some shelter and took some pictures before setting off to find water. Blue Lake was frozen solid but we found a weakness to the side and hacked through the ice. We filled our fuel tanks (10 litre bladder plus platypus) and retreated back to our tent which was overshadowed by a giant cornice perfect for snow cave digging. We were pretty tired though and the forecast was not very good so we just gorged on our gourmet meals of Freeze Dried pasta and Mexican Chicken with Salami, Cheese and Olives for entrée. Spending lonely nights with a bon vivant like Bryan has its advantages! We awoke the next morning to much of the same, spindrift, high velocity winds and whiteout. Since this was meant to be a reconnaissance trip with more to come we decided to head back early and enjoy once more the comfort of Claire and Jim's house in Jindabyne.

Twins after all	What happens at Blue lake......	Tent life	The icefall
Blue lake panorama	The snow gums	Salami boy	Ready for action

We started our trip back at about 11:00AM and what was to follow would be the crux of the trip! Conditions on the way back were challenging and we decided not to climb too steep because Bryan's half-scales made ascending difficult. The wind was pretty bad and whiteout conditions made skiing treacherous. We took several heavy falls, disappearing in bottomless snow bowls which we could not see. About one hour from the snowy bridge, I took a heavy fall into a ditch which was followed by an immediate wall of ice. One of my skies snapped right in the middle and was dangling useless from my left foot. Luckily I was uninjured and could continue but now I had to carry the skies so my backpack was very heavy and since I had lost the surface area provided by my skies, I sank into the deep powder snow below my knees at every step. The going got tough and I struggled with the wait to reach the bridge. What would have taken 30 minutes of skiing took hours. I was pretty exhausted by the time we got to the snowy bridge and the thought of getting back in once piece to Guthega was very remote. Luckily Bryan saw movement in the Illawong-hut close to the snowy bridge and we were waved in for a hot cup of chocolate into the only private hut in Kosciusko national park. Originally procured by Paddy Palin this hut has a private membership who treated us very nicely. After refreshing for an hour we taped half of my left ski to my leg, which meant I would no longer sink into the deep snow. I felt like an amputee trying to follow Bryan who was moving at lightning speed with his new skies. By the time we reached the flying fox just before darkness my left leg was numb and I struggled up the last hill to reach Guthega in darkness. Getting the car was an epic in itself and Bryan had to work hard freeing the ice and trying to put on chains in icy conditions. We were very glad when we were in the air-conditioned car at last and after stopping over for some wine we dragged our tired bums back to Jim and Claire's place for a hot bath. All up a very tough and challenging trip in hazardous conditions with lots of fun.

Jindy family	Bryan with Clare	Roman With Clare and Jim

Illliwara hut rescue	Fixing broken skies

I revisited this page in October 2024 for a long due makeover, more photos from the old archives with better resolution and the memories came flodding back. Its nice to reminisce about the old trips but not for too long - lets get back out there.