A daring winter's tale: Our Young Adventurers of the Year tackle south-west Tasmania in its harshest season

摘要

RGER CHAO and Stephen Fordyce were close to West Portal, a peak of more than 1100 m in the Eastern Arthur Range, when south-west Tasmania's winter weather slipped from bad to worse. They lost visibility and the track, then, in heavy mist and with darkness looming, discovered a line of cairns. The way became rockier and steeper, until they were hauling their packs over and under soaked boulders turning slippery with ice. "I don't know about Roger, but I felt pretty nervous," Stephen recalls. "It was one of those times when you know you have the capability to deal with a situation, but that the best outcome will probably be unpleasant, and the worst, dire."