This winter, Huw Kingston will spend around 50 days traversing 600km across the Australian Alps by ski, hitting the slopes at all 12 snow resorts in NSW and VIC along the way.

WAE Contributor, Huw Kingston’s Alpine Odyssey will kick off in late July, beginning at Mt Baw Baw in Victoria as he skis north through NSW to finish at Mt Bimberi in the ACT, and raising money for Save the Children’s ‘Our Yarning’ project as he goes.

 

Retracing Old Tracks

This isn’t the first time Huw’s taken on the entire length of the Aussie Alps. 25 years ago he traversed the same path as part of a larger expedition from Flinders Street Sation in Melbourne to the Opera House in Sydney, travelling by ski, foot, bike, and kayak along the way. 

‘For over 2 weeks at the beginning, I didn’t see another soul,’ Huw said. 

 

‘It’ll be a challenge pushing my ageing body through it again a quarter of a century on,’ said Huw, now 59, ‘but I want to celebrate the Australian snow country that has been so good to me for so long.’

This time, Huw’s sticking to the Alps but adding in a ride (and a warm meal) at every ski resort along the way. 

‘Most visitors to Mt Buller have travelled just 3 hours from Melbourne,’ said Rhylla Morgan, spokesperson for Mt Buller. 

‘Huw will have been navigating remote country for two weeks so he’ll be overdue for some warm alpine hospitality. We’ll feed him up, have a ski and send him on his way!’

 

Raising $50,000 For Our Yarning

But Huw isn’t taking on the traverse just because he loves the snow. Huw’s been a long-standing ambassador for Save the Children Australia, and is using the trek to raise money for the charity’s ‘Our Yarning’ project.

‘This wonderful project 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,’ Huw says.

The project is creating a free, digital library of culturally relevant education resources for First Nations kids.

‘With stories from the sea, the desert, the mountains and along the river, the books capture the imagination and hearts of children to learn to read, and to love stories that portray their own lives and heritage,’ said Dr Julie Owen, Cultural Advisor for the Our Yarning project and Nurrunga/Ngarrendjeri woman.

Huw’s hoping to raise $50,000 for Our Yarning, through general donations as well as a ‘selling off’ each of the ski resorts and other well-loved peaks and lakes he’s visiting in the High Country and Snowy Mountains. Thredbo Resort has already pitched in to protect its assets and donated the $2530 to buy back Thredbo.

You can follow along Huw’s upcoming Alpine Odyssey and help support the Our Yarning project through Huw’s fundraiser.