by Hallu » Tue 31 Mar, 2015 9:48 pm
Harder how ? Physically ? Mentally ? In what conditions ? Depends on the snow and the gear available too. Soft snow, strong gradient and freezing temperatures are pretty much the hardest thing you can encounter. Add the strong winds you usually find on top of hills and you're done. We could say Northern Australia in the wet season (heat, humidity, mud), but almost no one bushwalks in that period. And summer in the desert ? Well I tried it, and actually it's more the flies that are annoying than the heat : if you got enough water it's fine. If we assume it's a sunny day, well in summer people bushwalk early in the morning or late in the afternoon anyway. Just like (sane) people wouldn't bushwalk when the avalanche risk is at its max. In that sense, putting everything in perspective, I'd say snow beats it. You gotta learn how to ski or snowshoe, you need cold weather gear, it's exhausting with all that gear, it's cold, and progress is slow. Runner up to me would be mudfields in Tassie, but it's not in the poll. Beach walking is pretty exhausting too, and destroys you mentally coz you feel like you'll never see the end.