14/12/2025
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฝ ๐๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ ๐. ๐๐ผ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ธ๐ผ
(๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ. ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ป๐ป๐บ, ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ. ๐๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ข'๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ - ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ญ, ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ #๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐๐ข๐บ)
Two weeks after my climb on Mt. Kosciuszko, I am reminded of why and how I gave up reaching its summit.
Mt. Kosciuszko is part of the Snowy Mountain Range, which is the highest portion of the much bigger Australian Alps. Mt. Kosciuszko or Kozzy for short is not only the highest mountain of the country, but also of the Australian continent. As such, it forms part of the Seven Summits which is the highest mountain on each continent. The prospect of reaching one of the seven enticed me to attempt to climb Kozzy.
Upon arriving at 9:00 AM at Charlotteโs Pass (one of the jump-off points for the mountain), I was immediately greeted by the rain. As soon as I alighted my cab, I got soaking wet. Since I was climbing solo without any guides and I didnโt know anybody in the area, I looked for shelter and found the comfort room as my temporary respite from the weather. I put on my poncho, though at this point it did not serve to keep me dry since my clothes and even jacket are already wet, I just wanted to wear it as extra protection from the cold. I was already having second thoughts on my climb since it was having a very bad start.
There are three main paths to the summit: Thredbo Path which is the easiest and shortest, Summit Walk which is the second-longest, and Main Range Walk which is the longest and most challenging trail. I chose Main Range Walk of course. Not out of hubris, but because I wanted to have the ultimate Kosciuszko experience. Even when I saw four other hikers better dressed than me for the cold choose Summit Walk, I still chose on doing the Main Range Walk.
Twenty minutes into the climb, I had a real challenge. There were two river crossings with relatively strong currents that went just below my knee. I had no other option but to cross it. I didnโt only got my shoes, socks, and feet wet, but they were freezing because the water was icy cold. Walking afterwards became such a chore โ I had the stamina but my legs were very cold.
During my walk, I made several stops behind large rocks to shelter myself from the strong winds and keep myself warm. I forgot to layer because I knew it was summer in Australia. I was only wearing a thin dry-fit shirt then my down jacket, and both were already wet. My underestimation of the localized weather in Australiaโs Snowy Mountain Region proved to be a costly mistake.
For the first two hours of my climb, I bumped into several hikers that were already coming down. They all mentioned that they aborted their climb and just stopped by the lake lookout because the weather was so bad. They couldn't endure the cold and the winds so they decided to give up. Seeing this made me lose my confidence and I was already very tempted to go down with them. However, I pushed through.
Then came the real obstacle within the 3-km mark. There was a very narrow path by the side of the mountain that was covered in thick ice and snow. To its right is a ravine that led to a massive drop. I tested the path but it was too slippery so I gave up. My heart was broken from the prospect of spending a lot of money and making tremendous efforts to plan for my climb without ever seeing the peak of the mountain. But, safety and human life is always paramount so I gave up and decided to return to my starting point. However, two young Australian hikers caught up with me. They too, wanted to summit Kozzy that day. I explained to them the situation of the slippery path. They tested it as well and came to the same conclusion. However, as they are young and strong, they tried to climb over this section to avoid the snow altogether. It was a steep climb with no end in sight. The visibility was already poor due to the presence of whiteout (blowing snow). After 15 minutes of not seeing the young hikers return, I decided to follow them. We all met each other at the top of the hill and decided to join forces in climbing Kozzy. Of course, the mountain could not simply let us do that.
After two more river crossings, it started to hail โ ice pellets were dropping from the sky. The young hikers had the proper gear so I was lagging behind them. I could sense that they wanted to go ahead and leave me so I told them to just go and walk at their own fast pace because I had to go back. I gave up once again. While I was climbing down, regret crept in so I foolishly decided to climb back up again. After half an hour, I ran across the two Aussie hikers coming down. They said that the snow was thicker and impassable at the top so they decided to go back. If these much stronger and younger people deemed the path impossible, I know it was something that I could not also do. Instead of wasting my time and strength, I finally decided to go down with them. So yeah, I gave up again. And worse, I had to cross the river again but this time the water level was already above my knees.
I reached the jump-off point by past 1PM. I went inside the comfort room to get my bearings and think of my next move. The young hikers already went home. Nobody else was climbing during this time for it is already too late.
I made a bold decision to still attempt to summit the mountain by using the second longest route which is the Summit Walk. Once again, I ran across a lot of hikers coming down warning me not to push through anymore because as theyโve said verbatim โ โItโs rough once you get high.โ, โNobody reached the summit because the wind was so strong.โ, โItโs raining sideways mate.โ. I thanked them for their concern and said that I will still check If I can do it but I will abort if the conditions do not permit me to do so.
The trail, for the most part, was open. There were no trees to break the wind or snow. Hikers had to feel the entire brunt of the weather while hiking. Whatโs worse, there were no other hikers following me. I was all alone. In fact, after passing one famous landmark which is the Seamanโs Hut, I saw no other human being climbing up or going down. I walked and walked, stopping for a few seconds to stretch my feet, toes and fingers because they were freezing. When I saw the junction point that stated that the summit is only 2km away, I was ecstatic. I regained my confidence that I will reach the top of Australia,
What followed is a very challenging trail that really tested my physical and mental fortitude to their limits. The video illustrates the thick snow that I had to climb to reach the summit. I carefully traversed it, placing one foot over the other until I finally reached Heaven, the peak of Australia!
At the summit, I had to take quick photos and videos because I was already shivering. After taking a quick snack, I proceeded to descend which also provided lots of challenges. However, since I already reached the summit of Kozzy, that provided fuel for me to climb down. I even used the third path which is Thredbo Path so that I can say that I utilized all three paths of Kozzy, thereโs no need for me to come back. Once again, I was all alone hiking the mountains.
Upon descending the mountain, I met with some rescue patrol and I learned that they rescued two hikers because they were unable to come down already. They told me that nobody summitted Kozzy on that day so they were surprised when I showed them my picture at the summit.
I am thankful and proud to have done this feat. But of course, I always consider the lessons that I have learned from my shortcomings. First โ never underestimate any mountain. I know that it is summer in Australia but I should have still prepared my apparel and emergency provisions for harsh conditions. This leads me to my second point โ the mountain makes its own weather.
So what pushed me to the summit despite giving up several times. There are two things. First, I am mentally tough. If I set my heart out in doing something, I will exhaust all efforts to finish it. But of course, this mental fortitude is not just willpower. Itโs also comprised of intelligent decision-making. I knew the portions of the mountain that I dared not cross thatโs why I looked for alternative routes. Second, my body is physically trained for hardships. I play sports everyday and I have tons of hiking, long-distance walking, and cycling experience. These two things, my will and my strength, propelled me to reach the highest point of the continent of Australia.
And on that fateful day, no Australian stood higher than me. ๐
