Bushwalk Australia

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some feedback on a day trip to the Mt Bogong summit via Staircase Spur in the next week or two (pending weather and COVID).

I've done a reasonable amount of multiday apline bushwalks, particularly on and around Mt Bogong, although mostly during summer. I've also done a week long ski tour (with a bushwalking group) around Falls Creek and Bogong highplains, so my winter experince more limited.
My map and compass navigation is pretty good, but I also carry a Garmin Explorer+ (GPS and PLB) and am quite familiar with this area of the mountain.
Would I be correct in saying I'd need snow shoes and poles? If it's icy above the tree line I'll just abort mission so I don't think an ice axe would be necessary. From memory, once past the treeline, Staircase Spur is a little steeper and narrower than Eskdale so if I have difficulty on the way back down, I'll divert down Eskdale spur and deal with the extra ~4km to the car at the bottom.

Please let me know if this is way out of my depth and suggest some alternative winter trips so I can get some more experince. Cheers

Hi htoby,
I don't know about snow shoes and poles, but there are pole lines on the spurs near the summit of Bogong.
So you wouldn't need a map and compass on a clear day. The tracks below the tree line are easy to follow, hard to do.
I wouldn't recommend going to the summit on a crappy day.

You can get Avenza app & GetLost free topo maps if you want to check your location on a phone.
My recollection of those two spurs is both are steep, the Eskdale is *&%$#! steep after the junction with Granite Spur track and Staircase is a bit rocky below the Gadsen memorial down to the tree line. But I did it in December (up Eskdale, down Staircase) in nice weather until Bivvy hut when the heavens opened.

https://www.ski.com.au/xf/threads/mt-bo ... st-4709036
That photo on that ski forum link is of me on the Mt. Bogong Summit in August 2016.
Take an ice axe, micro spikes or crampons if you are not taking snow shoes.A whippet ski pole could work as an ice axe but when you really lean on it in a real self arrest on ice it could snap in two :-0 .
I have been up Bogong in August a number of times and only made it to the top once in winter because it became too sketchy.

That photo from the ski.com.au site at the summit you've linked to is awesome.
The only thing that would make it better is to be in boardies, thongs and a wife beater.

August is much different to June. Much less icy in June. Cover is good at the moment and you should be OK with the last steep bit above the tree line on the Staircase. Going down Eskdale and then the track back to Mountain creek campsite is a good idea. It is a good day trip but a long day. If you are sensible enough with the conditions then it is worth a go but agree it is not worth doing if you are going to be in cloud at the top (or worse). Timing could make it hard to get a weather window and a COVID window at the same time if you are in Melbourne. Good luck with it. Certainly take some poles with a snow basket at least and snowshoes with a crampon toe as a minimum.

]"Certainly take some poles with a snow basket at least and snowshoes with a crampon toe as a minimum."[/i]

Yes. I agree.

Overlandman linked to an ABC story featuring the MSC organization.
It has first hand reports/predictions of snow conditions in Alpine areas. Might be useful: https://mountainsafetycollective.org/

I met some walkers at Mtn. Ck. last Sunday who said the snow is knee deep at the tree line on the Staircase spur.