Albury Wodonga's outdoor club for bushwalking (and skiing, cycling and canoeing)

Is your life worth $2?

One of the problems with experience is that you can't learn it from someone else.

Many of the BBC's members have learnt that the weather in our innocuous mountains is often unpredictable. You therefore need to be prepared for the worst.

During a recent summer a group was walking from Pretty Valley to Hotham. The leader checked before leaving Wodonga that everyone had a jacket, and advised that he had a spare one available should it be necessary. Everyone claimed to have a jacket.

The group set out from Pretty Valley in mild conditions and walked for about two hours until they were well out on the high plains with no shelter of any description, not even a tree. (See below) A big storm approached so the experienced members of the party put on their polypropylene underwear, their long pants, jumpers, beanies, gloves, and jackets. The storm arrived, the temperature dropped about ten degrees, a strong wind blew up and it pelted rain. One of the party thought that a quilted parka was a jacket, and he was thoroughly wet and cold and well on the way to hypothermia when the storm passed after about an hour, the sun came out and the rest of the day was reasonably pleasant.

That person went straight back to Albury and bought a WATERPROOF JACKET (a very expensive one in his case because he then knew that it might save his life).

You don't even need to buy a jacket, because the Bushwalking Club hires them for $2 a day. If you need one, hire a club jacket from Mountain Designs 490 Dean Street.

IS YOUR LIFE WORTH $2?

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