FEDERATION: AUSTRALIA'S ADVENTURE PEAK
This is the story of a
tortuous
love affair, lasting now for over 30 years, involving Australia's
finest
mountain and a "new Tasmanian", who came as an immigrant climber from
Europe
and became infatuated with what he saw.
FEDERATION PEAK is at the hub of Tasmania's charismatic south-west wilderness and was climbed for the first time in 1949, only four years before men first reached the pinnacle of Mount Everest.
KEVIN DORAN came to Tasmania in 1971 and has mounted more trips to Federation Peak than anyone else, reaching the summit on a record 21 occasions.
You don't have to be a
bushwalker
to share the excitement of this relationship. Although much bushwalking
lore is included and many hints can be gained from the book, it is
essentially
non-technical in the main, and a glossary is provided as a backup. The
many people throughout Australia who have visited Fedder or are
planning
a trip to it will find this publication compelling reading,
particularly
with the text so well supported with maps and colour photographs.
The book explains in detail the topographic outline of Tasmania's south-west and how Federation Peak sits at its core. Background is given to the early exploration of these areas, from the first sightings of this alluring but broodingly dangerous mountain in the distance, through the original attempts to find a way to reach it and then to successfully climb it, including the difficulties and tragedies along the way.
An outline is given of the
author's
background in war-time Britain and his developing love of
mountaineering
and climbing. It progresses to his first meeting with Federation Peak
after
emigrating to Australia and the start of his affair with the mountain.
The book details his various trips to this unique and challenging
destination, including initial exploration, the developing
relationship,
the bitterly harsh and frigid winter expeditions, solo adventures, and
alternate approaches and failures (from the unusual to amusing). It
concludes
with deep reflection on what this overall journey has meant to the
author
and where it may go from here...
The author introduces many
great
characters who have accompanied him on pilgrimages to Australia's
mountain
mecca and the book is dedicated to one such identity: the late Ossie
Ellis,
a long-time resident of Tasmania's Cradle Valley and co-founder of
Pencil
Pine Lodge. This has now become the Cradle Mountain Lodge - a
world-famous
retreat and tourism icon.
Back
to
the Federation basecamp
