By Tessa Mapstone
IT IS not the tallest mountain in the world, nor even the tallest in Australia, but fewer people get to the summit of Tasmania’s Federation Peak than the summit of Mt Everest.
Yet an intrepid team set out to summit the peak – described by Sir Edmund Hillary as “Australia’s only real mountain” – during the wettest winter on record.
“Occasionally an idea comes to you, and you have no choice but to pursue it,” one-time city-slicker, now Tassie mountain guide and filmmaker, Andy Szollosi said.
“It refuses to disappear.
“No matter how terrifying, irrational or ludicrous it may seem – there is nothing for it, but to begin.”
That is just what he, along with climbers Mark Savage and Mick Wright and film team Simon Bischoff, Dan Haley and Olivia Page, did.
The plan was to ascend the most aesthetic line on Federation Peak.
For most rock climbers, there are enough deterrents about this route to rule out a summer ascent, when conditions are relatively favourable.
The rock is loose, gear placements are limited, the route description is vague and the tough alpine vegetation that hangs onto the rock face with death defying resilience creates a whole new set of problems for the climber to negotiate.
To attempt to scale Federation Peak in winter, when the storms of Tasmania’s notorious south west blow in with full force, and the rock face is saturated (or frozen), may appear purely idiotic.
Yet, for this team of misfits, this trip was the adventure of a lifetime.
Mark Savage had already attempted the route in winter 24 years previously.
In 1992, as a young man with much confidence and perhaps not so much experience, he went out to Federation Peak with the idea of climbing Blade Ridge, and failed miserably.
Perhaps it was this experience that led him to predict a “less than 1% chance of successfully climbing the Blade”.
Winter on the Blade is one of six inspiring adventure films screening at The J on April 20 when the world’s most prestigious mountain film festival – the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour – comes to town.
It promises to be a night of short stories that prove life is what you make it, festival director Jemima Robinson said.
“These films prove there is still a lot of space on our big planet for new expeditions, unclimbed peaks, unknown destinations, and true adventure,” she said.
“We all carry crazy dreams of walking, riding, or skiing across the world; this festival lets us meet the people who make theirs happen.”
Whether cycling across 43 countries paddling a hand-made canoe down the Ecuadorian Amazon, or climbing Tasmania’s notorious Federation Peak in winter – Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour stories are chosen to celebrate more than outdoor exploration.
They also celebrate the character-building that adventure inevitably sparks: inner explorations of mateship, trust, and how we value one another and our world.
Banff Mountain Film Festival will have you will be planning your next adventure before the credits roll.
2018 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour screens at The J on April 20, 7pm. Tickets at thej.com.au
