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Blue Lake 4-5 April T.R. 7-Apr-2009 At 3:38:27 PM Capt_mulch

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The Canberra Climbers' Association had a Blue Lake climbing weekend on the 4-5 April, 2009. The aim, apart from climbing, was to gather as much information as possible for a new version of the Blue Lake climbing guide, including lots of new photos. Blue Lake is in the Kosciuszko National Park, just north of Mount Kosciuszko itself, and is one of the highest crags in Australia.

Most of us arrived at the Charlotte Pass parking area around 9 a.m. , and headed off to cross the Snowy River and face the slog up the hill. After about an hour we crested the hill and dropped down into Conservation Creek, where there is a good flat area with running water - the perfect base camp. The weather had been threatening the night before, but it cleared to produce a fine clear day with light winds – perfect Main Range weather.

After shedding gear and setting up tents we headed over the hill into Blue Lake. The view down to the crag is very imposing.

Looking down on the back of the crag

The path to the crag is easy to find, and we were soon racking up and checking out the various lines. Most of the easier ones on Elephant Buttress were tackled first. I took the lead and headed up Gherkin (12 going on 15) – an 'Old School' twelve all the old school guys told me. Mike Law-Smith was hanging off the top off the crag and was banging off as many photos as he could before the last of the sun started to move off the crag. We did a 'yeah, pout more, you know you want it' session just before I topped out. I then belayed Lesley and Owen up.

Elephant Buttress (Dihedral Corner is on the right, Gherkin is the arete to the left of DC)

We walked off the back of the crag and made our way around to the bottom again. Most of the lines were starting to get picked off, with Ken and Ryan picking off the harder stuff.

Ken and Ryan scoping the crag

The view across Blue Lake was picture postcard perfect.

Blue Lake

As the crag moved into shadow it started to cool down a bit, though there were still climbs in the sun at 3 p.m. I started to feel a bit under the weather as I'd had some random virus all week, and thought I had recovered. The slog up the hill and first climb brought it back on, so I decided to take it easy and scout out the crag. It's amazing how different the whole place looks compared to last August when it was fully loaded with snow. I could see the cascading terraces of rock on the northern side of the crag where the ice builds up during winter. Mike L-S assured us there was potential for ice climbing before they close the road to Charlotte Pass for winter.

Northern end of Blue Lake crag

As the day started to fade, we headed back to the camp site and had dinner. I started to feel HACE coming on and retired to my lovely cosy sleeping bag before it got too cold. We woke to a very Alpine morning, with a buffeting westerly blowing cloud and mist through the camp at ground level. We all took the opportunity to stay in bed as late as possible, until the cloud level lifted and the wind dropped a touch.

Campsite

The weather cleared by early morning and most people headed off to the crag, usually after a visit to the very strategically placed porta-loo that a track construction team had left just up the track. Everyone had a very guilt free poo on the Main Range. I was still feeling crook, so I decided to pack up and head back down to lower altitudes while I still felt capable.

Quite a few of us are looking forward to the first freezes of winter so that we can get back to Blue Lake as the ice starts to form. Bring on the next ice age!!