Mount Feathertop

Mount Feathertop
	Mount Feathertop from the summit climb
height	1922 m
location	Victoria , Australia
Mountains	Great dividing range
Coordinates	36 ° 53 '42 " S , 147 ° 8' 12" O Coordinates: 36 ° 53 '42 " S , 147 ° 8' 12" O
First ascent	1853
particularities	second highest mountain in Victoria

The Mount Feathertop is located in the Australian Alpine National Park in the state of Victoria . With a summit height of 1,922 m, it is the second highest mountain in the state. It is usually snow-covered from June to September. Unlike its neighboring mountains, Mount Feathertop has steep summit slopes.

Its proximity to the ski area around Mount Hotham makes it a popular destination for touring skiers. Along the summit ridge is formed in the winter a cornice . Its collapse has already resulted in the deaths of people standing on it. Old snow that remains in the summit gutters in spring looks like feathers - hence the name of the mountain (Eng .: spring summit).

history

Mount Feathertop was named after Jim Brown and Jack Wells , cattle herders from Cobungra Station , in 1851 . They were the first to systematically explore the Bogong High Plains .

Dr. (later Baron) Ferdinand von Mueller was the first to climb the mountain. Little did he know that the mountain had already been given a name and suggested that it be named Mount La Trobe (after Charles La Trobe , then governor of Victoria and von Mueller's employer). Members of the Bright Alpine Club conducted the first winter ascent in September 1889.

In 1906 a trail was laid out from Harrietville , which followed the existing bungalow Spur Track . A simple shelter was built along this path on a flat spot below the tree line. In 1912 this shelter was replaced by the Feathertop Hut .

vegetation

Giant eucalyptus forests cover the lower slopes of Mount Feathertop up to a height of about 1,000 m. The snow eucalyptus dominates further up . Above the tree line, which is around 1,800 m, you will find predominantly alpine bush and grassland.

Ascents

Snow on the Bungalow Spur Track near Federation Hut

The ascents to Mount Feathertop are:

Razorback North Track
Razorback South Track
Bon Accord Track
Bungalow track track
North-West Spur Track (Tom Kneen Track)
Diamantina track track

After forest fires, the ascent via the East Ridge Track, the North-East Spur Track and the Champion Spur Track was sometimes possible, but in the meantime these trails have overgrown again and are rarely used.

Summit ascent from the Melbourne University Mountaineering Club hut in winter

The shortest and easiest ascent route is via the North Razorback Track , but it is very exposed along a ridge and is dangerous in bad weather. In summer you can drive up to 4 km to the mountain, but in winter this road is closed, so the length of the hiking trail is 7.3 km.

The South Razorback Track is very popular in summer, but also a promising ski tour in winter. It begins at Diamantina Hut on the Great Alpine Road near the Mount Hotham ski area. The trail is very flat, but it can also be dangerous in bad weather. On this way the summit is reached after 11 km.

The Bon Accord Spur Track begins in Harrietville and leads up to the Razorback, where it meets the South Razorback Trail at the Big Dipper , about 1.5 km from Diamantina Hut .

The Bungalow Spur Track also begins in Harrietville at an altitude of 480 m. It was created for pack horses to feed the Feathertop Bungalow and climbs slowly and continuously for 9 km to the Federation Hut . From there it continues for another 2 km to the summit. Along the way, he records the North Razorback Track, the South Razorback Track and the North-West Spur Track.

The Tom Kneen Track along the northwest ridge is steep and difficult to walk . It starts at Stony Creek and after 7.5 km it reaches the Melbourne University Mountaineering Club cabin . From this hut it leads over the western flank of the mountain and meets the paths from Federation Hut to the summit. This route was named after a skier who died in an avalanche on Mount Feathertop in 1985.

The Diamantina Spur Track ascends from the Kiewa River West Branch for 4 km before meeting the South Razorback Track about 3 km below the summit. The trail offers great views of Mount Feathertop, but climbs steep to very steep and requires some climbing over loose scree.

Mountain huts

Federation Hut after snowfall in early May

At Mount Feathertop there are two intact mountain huts and ruins of several other huts.

The Federation Hut was originally built in 1968/1969 by the Federation of Victorian Walking Clubs and is located on the tree line at the top of the Bungalow Spur Track at Little Feathertop . In 1988 Ian Stapledon renovated the cabin and paneled it with wood, but burned down in the 2003 forest fires and was rebuilt by Parks Victoria in 2005 .

In 1966, Melbourne University Mountaineering Club built a large cabin up on the northwest ridge. The material for this was brought in from the end of the road via the North Razorback Track. The cabin was designed by Peter Kneen , a senior year civil engineering student at Melbourne University. His brother died 19 years later on Mount Feathertop in an avalanche. The hut originally had a shiny silver exterior, but was then painted green. The hut has a unique dome-like appearance and offers a large bedroom on the first floor.

The Feathertop Bungalow , where guests could sleep and eat in summer and winter, was built in 1925 but burned down during the Victoria bushfires in 1939 and was never rebuilt. The site can be seen from Bungalow Spur Track, but today there are few remains of the bungalow.

Accidents

Victoria Minister of Tourism, Tim Holding , disappeared on August 31, 2009 while hiking Mount Feathertop on his own. Sixty people were looking for him that evening, including members of the police search and rescue team, the Bush search and rescue team and the state emergency team. On the morning of September 1, 2009, he was found unharmed. He stated that he slipped on an icy slope and slipped into a gully. He no longer knew where he was and visibility was poor. So he waited for rescue, using a reflective rescue blanket for signals.

Graeme Nelson , a 56-year-old doctor from Eden , southeastern New South Wales , died on August 24, 2011 while skiing with friends through the Avalanche Gully on Mount Feathertop. Dr. Nelson presumably slipped on the ice and fell 700 m down an icy slope. Even before his fellow mountain climbers had come down to him, he was dead.