Outdoor and Environmental Studies Alpine Camp

Camping in the snow at Mount Stirling

In Week 8, Students from the Unit 4 Outdoor and Environmental Studies classes excitedly embarked on their Alpine cross-country skiing camp to Mount Stirling. For about three quarters of the students it was the first time they got to even see snow, making it an impressive feat that they we able to survive camping for 3 days in it.

We met at School on Sunday afternoon the drove to spend the night at a school camp near Alexandra to do our final equipment and food checks and go through the final plan. On Monday morning we headed up to Telephone Box Junction at the base of Mount Stirling where we got fitted out in some skis and then got shuttled up closer to the snow line. Once we reached King Saddle Hut we attached out skis to our packs and hiked a few kms to our campsite called the cricket pitch. There we set up our camp and home for the next 3 days. We used the tents that are set-up there over winter and made the most of the giant group tepee that had a fireplace and cooking stove in it.

On Monday afternoon we all had a skiing lesson to get our skills up for a big day trip the next day. On Tuesday students chose what level of challenge they wanted with some students choosing to brave the blustery conditions and head up to the summit of Mt Stirling, some students opting to go visit Bluff Spur Hut and others exploring around King Spur Hut. While at Mt Stirling, students studied the past conflict of cattle grazing in the Alpine National Parks. While cattle grazing doesn’t occur at Mt Stirling anymore, we were grateful for all the huts that we could shelter in that the cattleman built in the years gone by. Tuesday night became an emotional and special evening as we all realised that this would be the final night on camp for everyone! We all shared our highlights from the year and reminisced about all the special memories we have from the subject.

On Wednesday night we headed back down the mountain and finished off our time with an education session with Craig Jones, a long time local in the area who spoke about the management and environmental issues in the areas. A massive thank you to Paul Micah-Sullivan who came along to help make the camp happen.

~Jess Kruske, OES Teacher

Students highlights from the Unit 4 Outdoor Environmental Studies Alpine Camp:

“When we all stacked it down the hill and all just laughed at once”. Mia O

“Watching everyone fall over going down a hill, and also when it snowed on Tuesday morning.” Hannah C

\

“Getting up early to watch the sunrise on the last day, standing in silence watching the sun rise over the mountains”. Camille G

“Waking up to it snowing and sharing hot chocolates and warm drinks in the tepee”. Mia I