BLUE LAKE 2006
Ice Climbing Impressions...
It all seemed too good to be true. Looking up
from beneath the curtain of ice was needless to say,
inspiring and a little daunting. After a solid hour's
warm-up of shovelling snow for the level platforms
on which to stand the nerves had been pretty much
put to rest.
Everything seemed new. From the simple task of
how to strap on crampons, to how to use an ice axe
for different tasks, I felt like I was constantly
taking things in, all the whilst trying to take in
the views and what lay ahead. But when the moment
arrived and you got to flick your wrist and feel the
ice axe tip sink with that satisfying 'thuck' into
the ice it was full steam ahead.
You wanted more and more and more. And that's
what it seemed like we got. A whole afternoon of passing
time on a slab of bluey green ice. Sometimes all you
had in your head was 'technique', other times it was
the sheer brilliance of the moment and towards the
end of the day, the pump was all you had space in
your head for.
Without a doubt I'll be back. Here's cheers to
ice on the rocks! - Jules
Trudeau - 4 Sep.2006 -
 This
year’s annual Blue Lake trip was originally planned to take
place from the Thursday the 13th of July to Monday the 17th of
July but was postponed due to bad weather reports to the
following weekend. This time a team of 5 people including
Bryan, Jules, Patrick, Will and Roman left for Blue Lake from
Thursday the 20th of July to Monday the 24th of July. We took
off from Will’s house in Sydney at 14:00PM on Thursday the
20th of July and arrived at the local pup in Dalgety (about 30
minute drive from Jindabyne) at about 20:30PM. After renting
gear for Jules from Paddy Palint at Nuggets Crossing at 7:30AM
the next morning we arrived at about 8:30AM at Guthega to
start our trip. Since we had backed our bags the previous
night at the pub, preparations went very smooth and we started
our trip for Blue Lake at 9:52AM sharp. There was almost no
snow around Guthega and we had to carry our gear all the way
to the Snowy River Bridge (just over one hour) and beyond
until about the third tree line above the bridge. Most parties
arrived after 4 hours at the mouth of Blue Lake at around
about 14:00PM. Setting up 3 camps in reasonably deep snow
(Bryan/Will, Patrick/Roman, Jules) took over one hour but left
enough time to go for a little exploration of the conditions
around the Lake. There was plenty of snow and lots of ice
falls with a particularly prominent ice-wall high above the
Lake to the North after gully number three. Conditions were
warmer than usual and there was absolutely no wind with cloudy
skies. Water was available from the mouth of the lake even
though the lake was frozen solid. Day one ended with a warm
meal prepared outside the tents and expectations for the
adventures of the next day. 
The
choice for day one was clear – the dominant main icefall
to the North high above the lake. After a leisurely
breakfast we geared up for ice-climbing and set out
along the lakes rim to reach the access point for the
ice-fall up high. We got into our harnesses in gully
number 5 and started free-climbing the steep snow slope
below a crux rock band, which would lead to the final
snow field below the icefalls. We decided to free-climb
this section with ice-axes only and the short rock traverse
wasn’t as dangerous as we thought. The snow-field wasn’t
too steep and after a short climb we arrived at what
amounted to this season’s most conspicuous ice-fall
at Blue Lake. A well formed continues and solid ice
wall between 60 and 80 degrees about 10 to 15 metres
long. After building anchor points and digging out massive
belay ledges Roman led one pitch of beautiful ice to
establish the first top-rope. Climbing was relatively
easy on compact ice and top rope ice-screws were sufficient
for the anchors. Bryan and Patrick established top-rope
number two with a selection of friends at the right
of the steeper section of the ice-fall. After the top-ropes
were set up we basically took turns climbing steep ice
all day long. Particular accolades go to Jules who lost
his ice-climbing virginity and continued to cruise all
day long. After a long and tiring climbing day we retreated
to camp by traversing around the dangerous rock spur
up high, descending prominent gully number five instead.
Day number two ended with freeze-dried dinner, a casket
of red-wine carried laboriously by Will and a secret
stash of chocolate provided by Jules. 
I
should note at this point that special thanks should go to
Patrick our cinematographer who lugged a vide-camera up the
mountain as well as Bryan who carried photographic equipment
to record all the team’s adventures.
Day
number three dawned with patchy but windless skies and
relatively warm morning temperatures. After breakfast we split
into two groups. Bryan, Will and Jules set out cross-country
skiing towards Watson’s Crag and Patrick and Roman climbed
Couloir Number 2 at Blue Lake. Conditions at Blue Lake were
perfect for mountaineering – no wind and patchy skies. After
gearing up at the steep entrance to Couloir no.2 we climbed
the snow-slope to the 5 metre-wide entrance of the gully.
Although we brought ice-climbing gear, ropes and belaying
devices we free-climbed the ever steepening and narrowing ramp
without setting up belay points. The snow was firm and
iced-over so ice-axes and crampons worked particularly well.
We climbed with skies on our packs and the extra weight meant
that the steeper part of the gully felt very treacherous. The
Couloir topped out at a huge steep snow cornice with
commanding views of the lake below. We took some pictures and
before joining our team-mates on the trip to Watson’s Crag,
Patrick skied down the ice Couloir number 1. We dumped our
climbing gear at Blue Lake and caught up with the second team
to head for Watson’s Crag. The approach took about two hours
and we chose an approach that circumvented the deep trough
behind Blue Lake. After a quick lunch we checked out Watson’s
Crag but decided that it was time to turn-around because the
weather looked very suspicious. Taking a shorter direct line
to return to Blue Lake we ended up downhill skiing the perfect
deep trough behind the lake in excellent snow conditions. That
night we arrived somewhat early at camp around 16:30PM and
enjoyed the last hour of sunshine with snacks at our
camp-site.
Day
four started early at 6:00AM with white-out slowly creeping
up on our base camp from Little Twainam. After a scrumptious
breakfast of chocolate-coffee and muesli we broke camp and
where ready to leave Blue Lake just before 9:00AM. Conditions
worsened as we descended up the steep slopes trying to stay
high. Navigation became increasingly difficult and finding
the proper way was tricky indeed. However due to good snow
conditions we traveled relatively fast and skied as close
as possible to the bridge across the Snowy River, even though
there was very little snow above the slopes of the river.
After a short lunch around 11:00AM we walked the last stretch
to Guthega in a blistering pace set by Will. It took only
one hour to get back to Guthega with very heavy packs. Once
we loaded the car, returned the gear to Nuggets Crossing
and dropped Bryan off at the snow-tube we got ready for
the long drive home.
Roman 28 July
2006 | 
