Alpine Odyssey visit

Alpine Odyssey for Our Yarning - Huw Kingston arrives at Mt Buller on his long winter journey

In a journey expected to take some 50 days, Huw Kingston, 59, is skiing and walking the 700km length of the Australian Alps this winter and, along the way, skiing at each of the 12 snow resorts. We welcomed him to Mt Buller earlier this week!

On Saturday, two weeks after setting off from Mt Baw Baw, Huw Kingston arrived at Mt Buller, as thick snow fell, having skied across from Mt Stirling. These marked the 3rd and 4th snow resorts of his Alpine Odyssey.

'I can't deny it was rather nice on Saturday night to have my first hot shower and soft bed in a fortnight' said Huw from Mt Buller where he is being hosted by the resort. 'I doubt I'll ever again make that much effort to reach a ski resort!'

It has been, as expected, a tough first few weeks. Heavy rain early on washed away the snow at lower elevations and brought its own challenges. Thick bush did all it could to tangle Huw's skis carried on his pack and one horrendously slippery log crossing across a swollen river was memorable. A rib injury added to the challenge. Huw pushed hard on very long days, particularly in this past week, desperate to traverse the infamous Crosscut Saw before the weather broke again.

'You get what you get in an Australian Alpine winter, but for sure it felt like my skis were a form of crucifix carried on my pack not sliding under my feet. A ski crucifix heading to the 12 ski stations!' Huw continued. 'It was certainly nice to put them on as I approached King Billy and Mt Howitt, but then it was crampons, metal spikes for my boots, all the way along the Crosscut Saw'.

The Crosscut Saw, as its name suggests, is a series of rocky pinnacles joined by a very narrow ridge and it is undoubtedly the most challenging winter ridge traverse in the Alps.

'The weather indeed broke just after I got across and a mixture of rain and sleet soaked me to the bone. A couple of days later I finally reached Mt Stirling, a cross country ski area, and enjoyed the trails there, before coming across to Mt Buller.

After resting up on Sunday, I enjoyed a great day on the Mt Buller slopes on Monday, skiing here for the first time.'

On Monday I enjoyed some lovely runs at Mt Buller, my first time skiing here, among the most stunning of ice formations dangling from the snow gums. How easy it is to climb mountains with chairlifts. I also found myself skiing with an idol, not of mine, but a Hindu god, in celebration of tolerance and understanding. The things you do and a nice link to my long history skiing in the Indian Himalaya.

Huw's journey has a strong Indigenous link given he has set out to raise $50,000 for Our Yarning, a wonderful project that produces books for Indigenous Australian children, written and illustrated by Indigenous authors and illustrators, telling their stories, stories that are so important to retain in Australian culture. Our Yarning is a project of Library for All, a fully owned entity of Save the Children Australia, a charity for whom Huw is a long time Ambassador.

With over $35000 of his $50,000 target raised already, Huw is very hopeful of exceeding it. https://our-yarning-save-the-children-huw-kingston-fundraiser.raisely.com/

As part of the fundraising, you can 'buy' each of the resorts. Mt Buller is still available!

Yesterday Huw headed back into the wilderness for the push on toward resort No. 5, Mt Hotham, possibly arriving on the weekend, although with further heavy snow forecast, progress could be delayed.

His Alpine Odyssey aims to raise $50,000 for Save the Children's Our Yarning project.

Learn more here about the Alpine Odyssey