(gun shots echoing)
(footsteps in snow)
- [Voiceover] So when you're hiking in the snow,
this is the kind of thing you want to look out for,
this massive cornice,
just one big avalanche waiting to happen.
You can see just in there,
this big overhang of hardened snow or ice
that can fall down at any moment,
so we definitely don't want to climb up that bit.
We'll go back down and then around
and over the top.
There's a few trees up there,
so there won't be any risk of avalanche
on the other side of this hill,
where the pitch of the mountainside is less than 30 degrees.
So avalanches should only occur
when the terrain is steeper than 35 degrees.
As you can see right there, a lot of this
is definitely steeper than 35 degrees,
with a huge section of ice and snow just waiting to fall.
Feathertop is there Sweety
Right there.
That is the mount, what's it called?
Feathertop
- [Voiceover] Winter camping in a snow tent.
So we have a few videos on our YouTube channel
on how to do this,
what to carry and how to prepare yourself.
Possibly the most important tool
in snow camping in a tent is the shovel,
so a lightweight aluminum,
probably only about 300 to 400 grams.
So I'll just open up the rear,
show you what's inside.
So this is a small pit I've dug out with the shovel,
there's my backpack,
so it's just a bit of a storage area.
So, by digging down, there's a nice storage.
And inside there is the sleeping area.
We can easily access the backpack
(zipper zips)
through the other door on the other side of the vestibule,
just come back this way.
So all the guy lines are buried,
so each guy line is tied to a stick
and then we dig a hole out with the shovel.
Just come in this way.
There's my hydration sack hanging in the tree.
So we put the tent here just to get a bit
of wind protection from all these snow gum trees,
that's what their called, snow gum trees.
So there we go, inside the sleeping area.
So it's a little bit messy,
we've been camped here a couple of days,
so there's a little bit of food
spilt on the ground, unfortunately.
Christina's in there sleeping.
We have hiked about 16 kilometers today,
so she's pretty stuffed.
Bit of water boiling just here.
So, I've got the fuel can buried in the snow for stability,
but also the fuel canister,
I've got a DIY EVA foam cup holder there,
so the can is not actually touching the snow,
it's being insulated by the EVA foam.
Let's just go for a walk through this way
and I'll show you the awesome view that we have.
So this is pure Alpine, pure Alpine, Australia.
So there's many square kilometers
of land there with no trees.
The Bogong High Plains, nothing can grow there,
except for a couple of little knee-high bushes
that are buried under about one and a half meters of snow.
Just take you back down,
and just down there, the GoPro's probably not picking it up
but there's a water source there, a nice creek
that we've been filling up from.
That's where we're getting our water.
Saves ourselves the trouble of melting the snow.
Melting snow is hard work.
Let's walk around this way.
Back through.
There's Christina's snow shoes.
and I forgot to show you,
I am wearing snow shoes myself.
Let's walk around this way.
So one of the big factors in snow camping like this is,
personally, I don't like to come out when the weather's bad,
so, throughout winter, I go on the internet
almost every single day and I check the weather forecast
for all the ski resorts on the east coast of Australia,
so I monitor the weather conditions all winter round.
So a lot of preparation goes into winter snow camping.
So it's probably the most extreme form of camping.
More extreme than desert, bush, jungle.
The first few snow camps that you do might be
a complete disaster, but once you get the hang of things
and you're a bit more prepared, it can be fun.
Another guy line there.
It's easily adjustable, just pull that to adjust it.
Before we go to bed tonight I just better
check all the guy lines, they're nice and tight,
because we could experience a storm.
Very easy to adjust with these line lock cleats.
We have a bit of an air vent at the top there.
Another crucial factor in a snow tent is the air ventilation
because if there is a heavy dump of snow,
the base of the tent can be buried,
even the top can be buried, actually.
That's not gonna happen tonight though,
because I'm pretty confident there's not gonna be
any snowfall for the next fews days out here,
based on the weather forecast,
from the most reliable
weather forecast website in Australia.
I'm just taking my snow shoes off,
let's just go inside.
So this is the pit of the vestibule,
so, very important factor in snow camping.
And one of the most comfortable things
about snow camping actually is you can dig
this little pit in front of your tent.
So it's best to have your pit about knee height.
You can actually sit inside your tent
and just have your feet on the ground.
So this is another piece of EVA foam,
just to keep my feet warm.
So what I do is I come in here, I sit down,
hopefully the camera is picking this up.
So, I'm sitting inside of the tent on a nice warm mat.
My feet are on the EVA foam.
Here's dinner, well the early stages of dinner,
just boiling water.
Let's see what we've got in the food bag over here.
So, to save energy, to save ourselves time,
on this trip I've precooked all our meat,
so all our meat we cooked before we came up into the snow
and we made sandwiches.
We made about twenty different sandwiches
with a full loaf of bread,
because preparing meals in the snow
can just be a nightmare,
so one tip I'd give to anyone who's heading into the snow is
prepare as much of your food as you can before you come out
but it is best to have stove, just in case.
Just in case you need to melt the snow.
So here's what I'm about to cook, Pasta Vegetariano,
hopefully I'm pronouncing that correctly.
And hopefully you're not offended
by the mess of our snow tent.
It is very warm and cozy in there.
That's what she looks like.
There's those air vents I was talking about a moment ago,
just up there, those nice little air vents.
Water's almost boiled.
So here we are, guys, back in the snow house.
I'm wearing two woolen jumpers, at the moment,
just thin ones from a thrift store,
so a lot of videos on our channel about wool
and how we pick up cheap
camping equipment from thrift stores.
So I'll be wearing three of those tonight, while I sleep,
inside my sleeping bag, there's my bag right there.
I do actually have a down jacket as well
but lately I've just been using the down jacket as a pillow
for my head.
Just swing around here, cooking a bit of rice,
to go along with the Pasta Vegetariano.
This is Bush Channel!
(upbeat music)