Kosciuszko - Part 3: Decide when to go / checking the weather

Welcome back!

So you have trained, maybe done a few adventure races with our good friends at Maximum Adventure and you are ready to climb Mt Kosciuszko!

The best season to walk to the top of these two mountains is between April and November. 

The weather is more stable and warmer at this time, but severe storms, strong winds and even snow are possible any time of year. You need to be ready for cold, wet and windy conditions at all times (and pack accordingly!). 

Summer temperatures range from -1° to 30°C while winter goes from -12° to 10°.

Just check the pictures below to get an idea of how the weather can change within 24hrs:

Start of the track on Saturday  

  

End of the walk on Sunday

We started the walk with really sunny and warm weather and wore shorts and tee shirts. The very next morning, it was raining, windy, colder and foggy. 

A gore-tex/waterproof jacket (my loved one - above - is a Kathmandu Armstrong that I use for all my outdoor activities (running, adventure racing, etc.) to stay dry and a fleece to stay warm are must haves! I will go through the gear you need to pack with you in detail in a next post. These pictures are more to show you practically what to wear and what to expect!

The weather will clearly be the main deciding factor in choosing “the” weekend to go to the Kosciuszko National Park.

I would recommend checking it regularly using the great Bureau Of Meteorology (BOM) website and the forecast for the Perisher Valley area:

http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/forecasts/perisher.shtml 

As you need to drive the Friday afternoon, I would suggest making the call to go there on the Thursday afternoon after the latest update from the BOM (generally the BOM issue a forecast update around 4/5pm). 

Being Thursday, you can then do late night shopping to get last minute items or food you need for the trip... and pack! 

In the next post, we will talk about how to get there!