"We took a large tripod, and we also had 200 metres of static rope, enough climbing gear for two parties, and that climbing gear was used to rappel down the north-west face to film Mark Savage and Mick Wright climbing it," he said. "We had about 10 litres of fuel to do all the cooking while we there."įilmmaker Simon Bischoff took the opportunity to move in some of his gear too in that provisioning phase. "That included enough food for seven people for about two weeks, packed so it would keep for a couple of months up to the expedition. The objective was to carry in the 120kg of provisions and stash it at the base of what is Federation Peak," Andy said.
The supplies were dumped in bushland along a track of sorts to the base of the peak, in good weather conditions. The bid to be first in winter by this route involved sending in the seven-member climbing team with volunteers on a five-day provisioning trip in April 2016, to take in 120 kilograms of food, fuel, climbing gear and some camera supplies.
He and Mickolas Wright took 12 hours to reach the summit. The winter in which this attempt was being made found Tasmania treading water as the state recorded its highest-recorded rainfall ever.Īs well as getting the climbing team together and leading it, Andy also had to get supplies and equipment in place to make sure the achievement was recorded by camera and drone for a now-completed documentary.Ī climber ascends the north-west face of Federation Peak in south-west Tasmania. Mountaineering legend has it that Sir Edmund Hillary declared Federation Peak as Australia's only real mountain.Īnd the Blade Ridge is one of the hardest routes up to the north-west face, and never successfully climbed until 1968, and that was in the summer. Less-dangerous routes in better conditions have ended with injuries and even deaths.Ī nurse fell about 50 metres to her death while attempting to summit Federation Peak in March 2016. He led the team that put the first climbers up the north-west face of Federation Peak in south-west Tasmania in winter via the notorious Blade Ridge, in the depth of Tasmania's wettest winter, in 2016. Climber Mick Wright stands on the Devil's Thumb on Federation Peak.
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