Mountain Info

Safety Tips

The Victorian alpine environment is a beautiful destination for your warm weather holidays and it's a venue for many challenging and exciting activities including bushwalking! However the Victorian Alps can be hazardous if visitors are careless or irresponsible, so planning and preparation are the keys to having a safe and enjoyable alpine experience.

Planning
When planning your trip to the alps, select a resort or area which caters for you and your group's needs as facilities vary widely between resorts and various parts of the Alpine National Park. It is important to prepare your vehicle, organise your clothes and equipment, improve your fitness, organise lessons, take special care with children and arrange to leave details of your trip. If you plan with care and you'll have a terrific time.

Driving on Alpine Roads
Extreme care is required when driving on alpine roads as weather conditions can change quickly, and at any time of the year you could experience fog and even snow. Please drive to the conditions.

Clothing
Alpine weather is notoriously unpredictable and a fine sunny day can quickly deteriorate into cold, wet, high wind or blizzard conditions. Your clothing must be versatile and you should have ready access to protective clothing.

Skin and Eye Protection
Sunburn can be a serious problem - even on cloudy days. In addition to protective clothing, always use a good sunscreen with a high SPF and protect your eyes with high quality sunglasses. On sunny days wear a wide brimmed hat to protect your face.

Food
Food provides energy for movement and for maintaining your body temperature. The risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar level) can be reduced by having good meals, maintaining fluid intake and stopping when tired. Popular high energy foods include nuts, chocolate bars, hot drinks, soups, cheese and dried fruit.

Trip intentions
Let someone know before you go. Check in when you return. Trip Intention forms are widely available from resort administration offices and police stations.

Pre-season Fitness
Start your training well before your trip, especially if you are planning to do one of the longer walks. Training sessions must be regular and frequent - at least 3 times per week. Always warm up before an exercise session. Children, as well as adults, benefit from a pre-season fitness program.

Children
It's important to consider what your children are capable of when doing longer walks. Children also lose body heat more quickly than adults, so ensure they are adequately dressed for the conditions. Carry plenty of water and snacks and rest as required.

Equipment
Always check your equipment before using it. 

Environment Care
The Alpine environment is fragile. Please treat it with care and respect, so that others may enjoy it after you. Make sure you use waste and recycling bins. Please DO NOT discard cigarette butts, general litter, apple cores etc into our alpine environment, this pollutes higher catchment waterways. Whatever you take out with you should return with you.