118 replies to this topic

[spoonman]

How is this going?  I heard a rumour that it will now be timed to coincide with B2H so that these three nuts are doing H2B on the same day and high fiving their way down the field of B2H runners.  

Edited by spoonman, 18 September 2009 - 04:55 PM.

[harro]

Jesus, Joseph, Mary...I am in awe....

[Whippet Man]

OK we are on again.

Ultrarunners running through the wilderness to help save the wilderness.

This is our blog: Injinji AAWT Alpine Ultra. It will be where all the action is. Well updates about the action.

We are nearly a year older, wiser and hopefully fitter. After the disappointment of the last minute cancellation in February we have been holding our breath and trying to find a suitable window. One has opened just after christmas. So we will celebrate the new year somewhere in the alps and miss B2H but likely have the adventure of a lifetime.

I spent a little time standing in the middle of the trail where it skirts the summit of Mt Kosciusko very late on saturday night. (Long story, but I was waiting for a phone call in a small space that had reception!) The stars were so thick I felt like I could reach out and scoop up a handful of them. It was bitterly cold, and my hands shook uncontrollably despite gortex gloves, jacket and serious winter apparel. It reminded me how serious this undertaking really is. We have a plan. We have a heap of gear. We have a stack of maps. But most importantly, we have a dream. And that is to cover the most challenging trail in Australia in the best time we can manage. And hopefully our efforts will inspire others to get out and explore their dreams. And maybe we can raise some money to help preserve some of the remote wilderness still left out there: Pungalina-Seven Emu Sanctuary  

Join us and follow our adventure.  

[pbig]

I'll join the chorus.... you guys are MAD . But more significantly I am green with envy!

I was just thinking about this on Sunday as I stood at the "start line" in Walhalla. It will be a wonderful experience I'm sure and I wish each of you all the best for the adventure. It looks like we won't see you coming towards us on the B2H section, but you will just about finish on the same day.

Looking forward to following your progress on the blog.....

[Beaver]

You guys have done the training, done the planning now all you have to do is enjoy the run.

Best of luck to all and you know I'll be glued to each and every update.

Look after each other and make sure you have enough food - it is the only thing that can keep you going on those long long days.  If in doubt - pack more.

[flyingemu]

Anything that saves the emu is alright by me!
Seriously though, this is awesome. Will be watching for updates for sure.

[PeregrineFalcon]

All the best guys on this awesome quest!

[brettsrun]

Andy, Tim & Phil, you guys are amazing, enjoy the adventure, keep safe, thoughts and prayers with you for a safe journey

[Hamburglar]

I heard the "other Mellum" will be participating?

[brettsrun]

Hamburglar, on Dec 16 2009, 07:44 PM, said:

I heard the "other Mellum" will be participating?

I thought Support, but could be wrong, either way good luck to all

[chilliman]

Hamburglar, on Dec 16 2009, 07:44 PM, said:

I heard the "other Mellum" will be participating?

I didn't think it was a 4x4 ?
 740543404_3hsjj_M.jpg   28.94K   15 downloads

Ed: Added pic - (courtesy of MissZ)

Edited by chilliman, 18 December 2009 - 02:48 PM.

[Whippet Man]

Well with xmas done we will be hitting the road to Walhalla early Monday morning. We have been watching the fire watch websites and so far so good. The weather looks like being kind to us for the start. Injinji has restocked us with the latest from their Silver Series and Graded Compression lines. We hope to have a Spot beacon (I bought a next generation model but it is subject to recall!) so you can follow our progress. We also plan to get updates onto our blog as signal permits. Remember we are trying to raise money for Australian Wildlife Conservancy to give a little something back to the wilderness that has given us so much (donations link).
I feel privileged to be given this opportunity and hope we can complete what we have started. Either way I plan to have the run of a lifetime with a great bunch of like-minded runners.  

[Diane]

Have great time guys.  Will follow your progress and adventure with great interest.

Here's hoping and wishing for good weather for you all

[Koala1]

Have fun out there - it sounds like it will be an amazing experience.  Looking forward to following via the SPOT.

Stay safe
K1

[RobHall]

Great effort in organising all this, hope you all get through it with smiles on your faces and a spring in your step.  I hope this adventure is all that you hope it will be and more.

looking forward to the updates.

[Ourimbah]

Good luck guys,hope you have a safe and enjoyable run..

Can't wait to read the your report..

Massive effort....................

[Horrie]

It is Monday morning so I am guessing you guys have hit the trail. Good luck with it and hope everything goes to plan. Looking forward to the updates.

[Spud]

starts tomorrow actually Horrie. At airport now. Cheers all.

[Mick]

Good luck guys ...

[Thomas]

Whippet, Spud and Tim,

Good luck guys. Totally insane but will be worth it.  

[BlueBel]

" Such a boy thing "- lucky guys. How fit are you all and how fit will you be when this is over?

I'm so excited for you all, have a great adventure.

[kathmandu]

well, this is just the coolest gig ever. here i sit in absolute peaceful bliss, surrounded by these gorgeous alpine trees.

not sure how often we will have coverage so thought id take the opportunity and give a quick update. i passed on your wishes. the guys set off at 7 this morning and ive just met them at the first point, theyre at about 25k now.

alls good, everyones happy.

just going to load up a couple of photos onto the blog.

[buzzlightyear]

We have movement here, finally!

Wishing them good trail and weather for their adventure

[SlowManiac]

Tim looks a bit different.

Good luck all, what an adventure

[LongDistancePictures]

Great photos PsychoChook - I'm looking forward to more! Have a lovely adventure - it's a great way to be passing time.

Thinking of you all.

Cheers,

Sue

[Blue Dog]

Best wishes guys. Endure.

Blue Dog.  

[KevinCassidy]

Nice pics, PC.  What an adventure.  I'm somewhat envious!!

[Sir Runalot]

Just caught up with the blog, this is one mamoth undertaking. Looking forward to following your progress guys. Hope it all goes according to plan.

WIWT

Thanks for posting the link Buzz.

[pbig]

Hope all is going well guys!

Tough (hot) weather conditions out there today I'd imagine, and could get very interesting tonight and tomorrow with the forecast for thunderstorms...

[Beaver]

Heading to Thredbo tomorrow for a bit of running on the AAWT.  Is there anything I can leave for the fellas at the dead horse gap trail junction?

[pbig]

I see Day 2 (Wed) update and photos are on the blog. Day 3 is full packs and overnight campout tonight - hopefully not too many fireworks, and alarms set for 11:50pm to welcome in the New Year !

[Beaver]

No Tim?

[Jogger]

Beaver - beat me to it - did I miss something ? Undercover bro doing Tim impersonations ?

Just read Tim's facebook

Quote

Tim Turner did not go to AAWT 'cause life got in the way

[pbig]

latest weather warning....

Quote

TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE BROADCAST

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
for DAMAGING WIND, FLASH FLOODING and LARGE HAILSTONES
For people in the Northeast, East Gippsland, Western, Alpine and parts of the
Northern Country, Wimmera, North Central and West and South Gippsland Forecast
Districts.

Issued at 3:46 pm Thursday, 31 December 2009.

... let's hope the worst they get is very wet!

I assume from the blog that it's just Whippet and Spud out there at the moment.

[chilliman]

pbig, on Dec 31 2009, 05:19 PM, said:

I assume from the blog that it's just Whippet and Spud out there at the moment.

Last update from UCB's Spot was 5hrs ago, so not sure what that means ?

[DiscoStu]

Beaver, on Dec 30 2009, 11:18 PM, said:

Heading to Thredbo tomorrow for a bit of running on the AAWT.  Is there anything I can leave for the fellas at the dead horse gap trail junction?

I think you should leave a couple of dog's eyes with some dead horse, I think that would be fitting.

[Colin]

Beaver, on Dec 31 2009, 04:49 PM, said:

No Tim?

JoggerK, on Dec 31 2009, 04:57 PM, said:

Beaver - beat me to it - did I miss something ? Undercover bro doing Tim impersonations ?

And Slow Maniac spotted that two days ago

SlowManiac, on Dec 29 2009, 03:28 PM, said:

Tim looks a bit different.

chilliman, on Dec 31 2009, 05:47 PM, said:

Last update from UCB's Spot was 5hrs ago, so not sure what that means ?

That the last update was 5hrs ago??

Edited by Colin, 31 December 2009 - 10:29 PM.

[RMC]

I see the boys are just east of Mt Buller at the moment (Fri afternoon). 131mm of rain last night at Falls creek. Hope the creek crossings are safe enough. Flood watch out for the north east Vic today.

-------------------
FLOOD WATCH FOR NORTH EAST VICTORIA (UPPER MURRAY, MITTA MITTA, KIEWA,
OVENS AND KING CATCHMENTS)
Issued at 1:04 PM on Friday the 1st of January 2010
by the Bureau of Meteorology, Victorian Regional Office

Rainfall totals for the 24 hour period to 9am Friday over the North East
catchments have generally ranged up to 65 mm with an isolated total of 131 mm at
Falls Creek. Further rainfall ranging from 40 mm to 60 mm with higher isolated
totals possible have been forecast for Friday afternoon and evening.
-------------------

Edited by RMC, 01 January 2010 - 03:01 PM.

[IDW]

At 4pm 1 Jan, the "Spot"Lat Long coordinates put Dave on a vehicle track just past Mt Clear where the Alpine Track meets it. But no information on the web site as to the actual location of the runners.

The next two days, (maybe less as they have light packs) is the most spectacular and rugged of the whole Alpine track. "Hells Window", Mt Howitt, "The Crosscut saw", Mt Buggery, "The Razor", "The Viking" - evocative names that give an idea of the terrain.  Eventually they reach  Barry Saddle where they should then have easier going on old vehicle tracks for a few days until they reach Mt Hotham.

Plenty of walking along narrow knife edge ridges and some scrambling along "The Razor" & "The Viking". The recent rain may have been a blessing as the ridges are generally dry.


Ian

[Spud]

Spud's wife here.  Spoke to Spud at 7pm - he had good mobile reception allowing a check in with the family   .  They had just set up camp for the night.  Last nights terrential rain meant a restless night with everything getting wet.  Camping rough again tonight.  They plan to meet up with the mothership tomorrow afternoon.  Spuds says it's been slow and hard going but they are getting there.  The scenery (as you can imagine) is beautiful!

[milov]

I hear that the weather conditions are quite serious... best wishes to the boys and their support girl. They probably aren't happy little mellumites at this moment!

And I see it is UCB's birthday today... I bet you couldn't ask for a better birthday present!


milov

Edited by milov, 02 January 2010 - 07:25 AM.

[tim]

I was just talking to Dave and Kathy on their satellite phone.  The boys had a camp out last night.  The weather is pretty rough.  They are ok and moving slower than anticipated due to shit conditions.

They expect to hear from them again soon.

[IDW]

At 12:30pm 3 Jan, the "Spot" Lat Long coordinates posted on the web site, put Dave on a vehicle track in the Barry Mountains at 146 50' E, 37 5' S. Unsure if this is the location of a runner or the support vehicle but it does mean that they have crossed the Razor / Viking Wilderness Zone and have a comparatively easier 45 to 50 km section until they get to Mt Hotham, though it is a long ascent. So perhaps they could be at Hotham within 24 Hours.

Ian

[blair]

I got a text from Bro this morning saying "mellum=dnf "

Apparently, the combination of the weather and the terrain got too much. They were covering 1km per hour and were out for three nights when it should only have taken one night

[seris]

Bummer, must have been tough out there. Whippet gave us such good weather at GOW.... sorry AAWT couldn't reciprocate. Really sorry guys.

[Martin Dugdale]

It was always going to be a tough gig but if they do have to pull out then well at least they tried

[pbig]

Hard luck guys, must have been real tough out there, looking forward to the stories and pics from your adventure regardless.

[KevinCassidy]

What remarkable individuals.  This was always going to be a huge undertaking.  The terrain is gruelling enough on its own, but add to that the atrocious weather that has been dished up and the mind boggles.

Both the runners and crew have experienced and achieved something that the rest of us would not even contemplate starting.

My admiration for these adventurers [which was already very high] has risen many notches since they set out from Walhalla.

[brettsrun]

Sorry to hear guys
So much time and effort, to have the weather turn nasty
Brilliant to stand at the start line and take on the AAWT
Look forward to hearing abou the journey anyway

[Horrie]

Congratulations on the attempt guys. Only those that can dream these challenges know how far they can go. Good luck at the next attempt.