A report on the 2024 Vic Backcountry Festival

If you’re an Aussie backcountry skier, there is literally no bigger gathering of the tribe than the annual Victorian Backcountry Festival, which ran in 2024 from August 30 to September 1. I made the pilgrimage down from NSW to Mt Hotham for the event notwithstanding the forecast for – well, there’s no sugarcoating this – crappy conditions, which quite frankly, turned out to be even crappier than expected. Despite it being the end of August, usually a prime time for skiing, the lack of snow was stark, and wind and rain was on the horizon. 

But you never would have guessed that conditions were less than stellar given the positive vibes at the opening party on the Friday night. Well over a hundred festival participants gathered around, either catching up with old friends or making new ones. And while the conditions the following day proved to be as wet and windy and wild as expected, a whack of groups (some on skis, some on splitboards, some on snowshoes) guided by members of the VBCF volunteer crew, braved the weather to head out for tours in the morning. And yes, despite the conditions, nearly everyone returned with big grins, as if they’d just returned from an epic powder day.

That was followed after lunch by a lecture by Alpine Search and Rescue on building emergency snow shelters, followed by a prac class. There was also a talk by the climate change activist organisation Protect Our Winters (who Wild has profiled in the magazine previously), along with a navigation skills session.

Saturday night saw the main party, with rocking tunes and lights and Bright Brewery supplying drinks. There was cheese raclette, arancini, and hot dogs too, as well as a massive raffle that included subscriptions to Wild. Rijan Young led a radical game of Simon Says, with more than 100 participants. Emily Small gave an insightful talk on the barriers some men sadly place on female participation in the outdoors. And the Aldi OneZ saw a sneak appearance too; if you read the Gear Review section of the Spring 2024 issue of the magazine, you’ll know what I mean. The turnout for night was great; I suspect the good times accounted for some late turnouts the next morning. 

Speaking of which, the weather on the Sunday went from bad to truly heinous; blasting winds and poor viz meant plans for most tours had to be abandoned. The day wasn’t a wash, though. There were loads of opportunities for education, with all kinds of useful workshops conducted. Here’s a sample: 

• Making improvised splints 
• Making backcountry snow conditions observations 
• Making a good backcountry coffee 
• Using rescue sleds 
• Alternative alpine adventures 
• Coiling ropes 
• Avalanche beacon use and search techniques 

In the evening, the event wrapped with a handful of great events. There was a showing of Patagonia’s awesome film ‘Mind Over Mountains’; a talk on the history of Hotham; Buff Farnell (who’s graced Wild’s pages many times over the decades) gave a talk on the local backcountry community; and local legend and head of ski patrol Bill Barker spoke about some of his trips and gave an avalanche case study. Meanwhile, everyone ate and drank courtesy of Patagonia, who picked up the tab. 

There’s no getting around the fact that conditions at this year’s festival weren’t great. But that didn’t stop everyone having an awesome time. I’m not making this up; there were so many smiles, and such a strong sense of community. The camaraderie was incredible! Thanks so much to the volunteers of the VBCF crew who made this happen. I can’t wait until next year! 

James

PS Thanks to Ineos for the loaner vehicle, too. I actually doubt I would have made it home in my little Subaru Impreza; I decided to take the back roads north of Omeo home so I could sneak in a tour up in Kosciuszko NP, and the wind had caused literally dozens and dozens of trees to fall across the road. I lost count after fifty downed trees, some breaching the entire road. I never could have got around some of them had I not been in the Grenadier!