Alpine Ascent

It's great having Cath and co living just around the corner....almost like we are back in Perth! We are slowly getting back into a running routine that fits with both families timetables. Inspired to do more adventures for fun, we signed up rather hastily for the 25km Alpine Ascent with just over a month for preparation!

Guthega was the perfect spot as a base for the weekends adventure. Saturday morning dawned still and clear an ideal start. Cath and I left the other still sleeping and drove around to Perisher where we boarded a bus bound for Charlottes Pass Village.

We lined up with the 270+ runners all looking very fit and well kitted out. I'm sure if there was an award for largest running pack, I would have won it! There was a large list of mandatory equipment that we were required to carry although no-one actually checked it.

We rolled out on our way at 9.30am and were walking within the first kilometre up the steep hill to join the main road!! It was a short distance along the tarmac, to the start of the real trail, the Main Range loop.

The fire trail took us slowly up for a few km before we crossed the Snowy River and then the real Snowy river. From there it was a steep pinch to Seamans Hut from where we could see the top of Mt Kosciuszko. Cath visited the highest toilet in Australia at Rawsons Pass before we continued the short climb to the top of Australia.

Of course we paused to soak up the views and take the obligatory selfies along with the crowd! Back down the main path, we peeled off on to a single track heading towards Muellers Pass. We contoured around Mount Northcote where the picturesque Lake Albina came into view. This section of the run was the most beautiful.

A short time later, I required food for more energy! I tried to force down a hot cross bun with some success. Carruthers Peak loomed in the distance looking rather big! As we began the slog to the top, we cheered on the first of the 50km runners who was on their return loop!

The views from the top of Carruthers Peak did not disappoint although we were keen to continue our journey towards Blue Lake and didn't stop for long. The descent off the peak was challenging and we both nearly ended up on our faces. At the turn off to Blue Lake we were relieved to not have to make the descent down to the lake on our weary legs. I'm yet to see Blue Lake on a nice day!

It was 5km from Blue Lake to Charlottes Pass. The paved path was awful to run on. In many places it had buckled with the pavers were everywhere. Thankfully it wasn't the whole way however the steep descent back to the Snowy river meant our toes were getting hammered, quad burning and hips stiffening up. It was rather painful but we did our best to plod on.

The Snowy river crossing was refreshing as we walked through the water not bothering to try and keep our feet dry! On the other side, it was an extremely steep 1km walk to the top - our slowest part of the race with a 16min split! Back on the road, we managed to get going again with the final few kilometres seeming to go on forever. We crossed the line in 3h56min happy to snuck under the 4hr mark and beat the first 50km runner back! An awesome day out and so glad to have done the trail run. Looking forward to the next adventure....