MountainSphere Adventures and Education in Hornsby, New South Wales | Sport & recreation

MountainSphere Adventures and Education

Locality: Hornsby, New South Wales

Phone: +61 414 633 315

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25.01.2022 For those attending this weekends navigation weekend, please check your email for a last minute weather and gear update. Should be a great weekend, some rain late on Saturday and into Sunday morning, but well camp in a sheltered spot so see you Saturday!

24.01.2022 Hi all, The below message has been sent to those who have signed up to the scheduled navigation weekend on 2-3 May. Sadly and regrettably I have made the decision postpone indefinitely the navigation weekend on 2-3 May due to the COVID-19 situation.... I considered whether the trip could go ahead with elevated hygiene, hand washing stations, social distancing and other provisions. I also considered the fact that wed be out in the bush and therefore isolating ourselves effectively from the virus epicentres. But the practical fact of the trip is that wed be spending the weekend camping together, eating together and doing group activities together. There is also the fact that much of the navigation learning requires us to be closer than 1.5m apart. For example, when gathering around the maps. I also need to work with you closely to see that you are using your compass correctly, help you set bearings correctly, and interpret subtle and detailed map features for you. This requires close examination of the map with you that cant easily be achieved under the social distancing requirements currently in effect. I hope that indefinite deferral of the navigation weekend wont inconvenience you. I know that a few of you want to do this course prior to heading overseas for some trek or trip. But I would also imagine that your overseas trip would also be in jeopardy anyway. So Im hoping that postponing the nav weekend wont mean that you would be travelling overseas before being trained in navigation. Please let me know if this is not the case and I will try to work 1-on-1 with you to come up with a viable option. Because of the uncertain future with COVID-19 over coming months, a new date for the navigation weekend has not been decided on. We can stay in touch once things improve and come up with new dates. There will be no cost to you in deferring the navigation weekend. That is, no transfer fees or rebooking fees need to be paid by you. If you dont attend a trip until 2021, and if there is a price increase to the cost of the nav weekend for 2021, then you will only need to pay the 2021 price for the navigation weekend. Or if we proceed with the trip later in 2020, there will be no change to the fee. That is to say that there is no cost to you in changing the dates of the trip. I hope you understand. It is very disappointing to me not to be able to meet you and have you on a navigation weekend. Apart from the financial cost that the bushfires and now the virus have made to my business, it is a source of great enjoyment to me to pass on the skill of bush navigation in a beautiful outdoor wilderness setting. Apart from the educational aspects, the navigation weekend is an occasion to make new friends and see new places, so Im very disappointed not to be able to do this with you. I sincerely hope we can meet and do the trip when the world returns to normal, whatever that may be in an uncertain future. Kind Regards and please stay safe.

23.01.2022 From the summit of Mt Dawson, Red Rocks.

23.01.2022 All camping including wild and backcountry camping is now disallowed in all NSW National Parks. Just in case you were thinking of isolating yourself in a tent far from anywhere ... https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws-covid-19

23.01.2022 The future for printed topographic maps. The below map for a new guided walk I am developing is no longer in print. I wrote to Spatial Services to ask if they would be willing to do a special print run for me of up to 50 copies of this map. They promptly and firmly wrote back to say they will not, and have discontinued all map printing and that by the end of next year they will not provide any hard copy topographic maps at all. So what does this mean for MountainSphere naviga...tion weekends and my other guided hikes and follow up training? The answer is in the photo below. The map at the top of the photo is the discontinued printed map from Spatial Services. The map underneath is one that I have had printed myself. It is printed on synthetic waterproof and tearproof paper and so is a little heavier and harder to fold than the "real" map (110 grams instead of 70 grams). Also, the map itself differs in some small matters of detail such as place names, property details and other features simply because the PDF maps provided by Spatial Services are just different and thats that. So, because I have chosen special durable waterproof synthetic paper, on future MountainSphere trips one of these maps will be provided to each participant for the duration of the trip and returned to me at the end of the trip. Clients will also have the option to purchase this map from me if they wish to keep it, at a cost of around $40. If the map is returned at the end of the trip undamaged then there is no charge, use of the map during the trip is included in the trip cost. If lost or damaged then you need to buy it. From 2020 this may also apply to the Wollangambe navigation weekends once my supply of these and that of Spatial Services is exhausted. A sign of the times Im afraid.

23.01.2022 Hi all, here is an update on the event schedule for navigation training weekends and guided bushwalks for coming months: 21-23 August: 3 day advanced navigation training. Bookings closed. 5-6 September: 2 day navigation training weekend. ALREADY FULL.... 11-13 September: Red Rocks, Wolgan Valley. Spectacular guided hike. 1 or 2 spots remaining. 19-20 September: 2 day navigation training weekend. Plenty of places available. This is MountainSpheres entry level trip open to all. Learn and practise the basics of navigation on a 2 day guided hike. 9-11 October: Red Rocks, Wolgan Valley. Spectacular guided hike. 2 or 3 spots remaining. 17-18 October: 2 day navigation training weekend. Booked out by a group booking.

23.01.2022 What a trip! Three amazing ladies braved exhilarating weather on a 3 day wilderness navigation adventure. Open only to those who have completed the MountsinSphere 2 day introductory navigation weekend, the 3 day advanced navigation hike is a small group wilderness experience with off track navigation practise at its core. This weekend took it to the next level with truly wintery and wild weather. With a constant cold westerly wind blowing, snow flurries were common in between... brief sunny breaks. At times there were near blizzard conditions for short periods. Throughout this time the awesome clients stayed warm and embraced the conditions, staying focused on the nav and keeping us on track. With 3 clients and 3 full days, everyone got the chance to lead a whole full day. The 3 day nav hike is where all the nav skills you learn are put into practise and click into place as you uncover hidden gems and navigate to sheltered rock gardens no matter that its cold and snowing. Huge congrats to the 3 amazing ladies. What a fantastic weekend had by all!

22.01.2022 Another great navigation weekend with another great group of people! It was windy up on the high ground on Saturday, making it hard to take the group photo, but it abated overnight as we enjoyed our sheltered camp. Sunday brought a perfect day of weather and a lovely lunch with panoramic views of the surrounding area. Happy campers!

21.01.2022 Amidst the horror and destruction is one piece of good news that is such a relief that I simply dont have words. The Wollemi Pine is saved.

20.01.2022 The Red Rocks would have to be one of the best and most scenic 2 day hikes anywhere. This was the second MountainSphere Red Rocks trip of this season and the last of 2020. Beautiful mild and clear spring weather and stunning wildflowers greeted our group of 5. The wildflowers were particularly heartening given that the area suffered the worst bushfires the area has seen in living memory only last summer. Yet the fire ravaged area welcomes the next summer with beautiful flower...s. A fun group of 5 people had time to linger long at the clifftops at both sunset and sunrise, the recent change to daylight saving giving us lots of evening light for relaxing on the clifftop with a cup of tea and home made biscuits. Who's coming next year?

20.01.2022 Fantastic winter walking and 3 days of solid navigation practise in navigationally challenging terrain. The first of this years 3 day navigation hikes for those who have previously attended the 2 day entry level navigation training weekend. Beautiful clear cold winter weather and a brisk southerly breeze accompanied us for this amazing hike.... Each client planned the route and led the navigation for a substantial leg of the walk through the wilderness. Uncovering amazing natural features hidden deep in the beautiful wilderness and camping in idyllic spots, everyone learned, practised and refined their navigation skills. A great weekend to learn, appreciate the bush, discover a little canyon, and spend precious time chilling out and catching up with friends. First and foremost, it isnt about the navigation but each other. Navigation is the skill you use to make it happen. Look out across the wild landscape and say, "I know how to find a way to the horizon and back".

20.01.2022 From the RFS website as at 19:18 today. The fire is now just 6km north of Bell and Bells Line of Road is closed. Sad as fires ravage unstoppable through our much loved bush.

19.01.2022 One of the last navigation weekends of 2020. Absolutely perfect weather on Saturday, a lovely evening, and a very warm Sunday. A great group of 8 enjoyed 360 degree views, clear blue skies, plenty of water following recent rains, and lots of navigation practise. The bush is slowly recovering from the recent bushfires and wildflowers are out and the first flannel flowers of the season were seen.... The final nav weekend of 2020 will take place this coming weekend, 20-21 November. Thanks everyone for a great weekend!

19.01.2022 Stuck in isolation? Time for some inspiration. Here is a photo of a place that I was in 2011 and which is still there now, too cold for any virus, and no people... there to carry it. Views of Pobeda Peak from high camp on Khan Tengri, Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan border. It is not of a mountain that I climbed, but from a ridge of a mountain that I didnt make the summit of. The summit was beyond me and I turned back. But in that I discovered what my limits were, and allowed me to discover ways to push beyond them. Sometimes it is in the summits not reached that we find the inspiration to go and find the next challenge and rise to it.

18.01.2022 Hi all, to those who have tried to contact me recently regarding navigation training weekends please accept my apologies for not responding immediately. I have been trekking and climbing in far western Mongolia but am now making my way home. Will schedule navigation weekends and contact anyone interested next week. If youre keen on attending a trip please message me and I will get back to you.

18.01.2022 Another navigation weekend with Women's Adventure ACT. This is the second time a group from Women's Adventure ACT has attended this navigation weekend. It was another great trip. The expected rain did not eventuate, just a few light showers. Instead, there was a windy night, some cloud, and lots of noisy cicadas. Fantastic scenery, great company, spring wildflowers and another great group of girls keen to learn the skills to be confident and independent out in the bush, off ...track and off grid. Well done ladies!

17.01.2022 Navigation training midwinter edition! A fantastic group of people and crystal clear winter skies characterised the latest navigation weekend. This navigation weekend was a lot of fun for all. We had a great campfire evening in our sheltered campsite well out of the wind. We enjoyed the soft winter light on the delicate sandstone formations. And the panoramic views gave ample opportunity to practise a variety of map and compass skills. The terrain was varied, including a mix of off-track bush bashing as well as some track and trail navigation, and gleaning as much as possible from those mysterious contour lines on the map! Whos coming on the next 3-day version of this weekend to further practise skills learned?

17.01.2022 On the weekend of 28-29 September a group of 11 ladies from Womens Adventure ACT joined me for a navigation training weekend. Such a great group of people, and whilst many found the trip pretty hard, all had a great time and learned heaps about navigation. If you dont believe it, check out the photos, theyre not faking it! I look forward to the next adventure with another group from Womens Adventure ACT.

16.01.2022 Hi folks, you wont believe it but who should the Sydney Morning Herald choose to interview about the demise of printed topographic maps but yours truly. Check out the article: https://www.smh.com.au//the-edge-of-the-map-the-steady-dec The photo of me is taken about 50m from my house, but the map Im scrutinising closely is of the Wollemi NP. he he he.

15.01.2022 Lets get back into the bush sooner rather than later. MountainSphere Adventures warmly encourages everyone to download, install and register the CovidSafe mobile app. I have. If you have any questions or concerns about the app, check the Australian Government Department of Health website, or post a question here and Ill endeavour to get a properly cited answer for you.

14.01.2022 Hi all, Because to the area of the navigation weekend has been severely affected by bushfires in December 2019, the area of the Blue Mountains National Park north of Bell is still closed. The date of reopening of this area of the park is still not known, but may yet be a month or two away.... As responsible custodians of our natural environment we also need to allow the area some time to regenerate and for ground cover to rebuild a little before impacting it with our footsteps. Therefore the decision has been taken to CANCEL the navigation weekend currently scheduled for 29 Feb - 1 March 2020. Anyone currently booked onto this weekend will have the option to rebook onto any other navigation weekend in 2020 at no additional cost. The next navigation weekend will be on 2-3 May 2020 and is expected to go ahead as planned. Worthwhile rain is forecast for the Blue Mountains and the greater Sydney region later this week. Heres hoping that this rain will quench the remaining blazes in the Blue Mountains, recharge waterways a little, and provide some respite to the bush that is yearning for moisture and the opportunity to regenerate. MountainSphere Adventures will give the bush the time it needs.

14.01.2022 Fires are now burning along Bells Line of Road and are threatening the localities of Mt Wilson, Mt Tomah, and Bilpin. The area where our navigation weekends are conducted hasnt been burnt yet but the fire is gradually consuming surrounding areas. Our thoughts are with the fire fighters and the residents of Bell and surrounding communities where our navigation weekends are held. Difficult times.... All 2020 scheduled navigation weekends are suspended until the situation abates.

13.01.2022 Geoscience Australia will stop producing printed topographic maps from 13 December 2019, and from then on these maps will only be available online. See the below article. Fortunately for us this does not affect the topographic maps we use for bushwalking, navigation training and our own trips around NSW. These maps are produced by the state government. In NSW, Spatial Services continue to provide printed topographic maps via their SIX Maps e-topo portal. Other states like VIC..., TAS and QLD also have their own government department which produces their states topographic maps. https://www.abc.net.au//geoscience-australia-stop/11566698

11.01.2022 Needless to say all MountainSphere trips in 2020 are suspended until there is meaningful rain and the parks reopen. In the meantime, what can we do? I have written a letter to the PM calling for leadership and action on climate change. Above all, business as usual is not the correct way to tackle the crisis facing this country. In my letter I say that leadership is about convincing your colleagues that the need for change is imperative, and to take them with you on the journe...y. I also told him that I am not a leftie or greenie radical. I just want a future. Its not about politics, it is about survival. If youd like to write a letter in your own words, heres the link. I wrote, printed and signed a proper letter and uploaded it as a PDF. I think that is more impactful than just entering a message in the online form. Who knows if it will make a difference but I felt I had to try. Im not normally a political activist and if anything I am right leaning. But again, it isnt politics, it is survival. https://www.pm.gov.au/contact-your-pm

09.01.2022 MountainSphere Adventures now has a featured page on the NSW National Parks website! https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au//blue-mountains-wilde

09.01.2022 The last navigation weekend of 2019 has been a great success despite smoke and bushfires burning in much of NSW. Fortunately the area where the navigation weekend is not currently affected by fires, though like much of eastern NSW, there was smoke haze. Due to the unusually high risk of fires we adapted the route so as to keep south of the Wollangambe River, thereby keeping ourselves close to safe and fast exit routes. Smoke and fires notwithstanding we had a great weekend ou...t, with a full dose of navigation training being administered. Everyone got ample opportunity to practise the nav on marked and unmarked tracks and trails, and some scrub bashing thrown in. Our campsite was in a quiet sheltered glade with natural rock gardens nearby and a small stream with a few clear pools of clean water. On Sunday we did a short hike to a high viewpoint for some more navigation practise, but due to heavy smoke haze, we headed back to Bell by lunch time. The trip concluded at Bell for some, and at the Pie in the Sky cafe in Bilpin for others! Next nav weekend is on 29 Feb - 1 Mar 2020! Then another on 2-3 May 2020!

07.01.2022 The first post-COVID post-bushfire navigation weekend! A small group of 6 of us braved the winter solstice (shortest day of the year) for a highly successful navigation weekend! It only rained at night when we were comfortably sheltered in a campsite out of the rain, and the next day unexpectedly cleared up to a beautiful sunny winters day. A great weekend with a great group of people, and despite being severely burnt in the summer bushfires, the bush was beautiful with the slow road to recovery now underway.

05.01.2022 For those attending the final navigation weekend of 2019 on 30 Nov - 1 Dec, there is chance of a little rain coming over this weekend so hopefully this will provide us some respite from the hot dry weather. Ill update you all next week once we have a forecast covering the weekend itself.

04.01.2022 Red Rocks Wolgan Valley hike this weekend! There are still one or two last minute places remaining on this hike, the last Red Rocks trip for 2020. If you've previously attended a MountainSphere trip such as a navigation weekend and are ready for a hike in complex terrain, off track with spectacular views, there is still time. Message me ASAP if interested.

04.01.2022 Im delighted to report that on the long weekend former navigation weekend veterans have been putting their new skills into practise bagging peaks!. We have Tracey from Tasmania who tacked her first off-track route up Mensa Moor in the Ben Lomond area from the western side instead of via the normal route. Meanwhile, Matt from Sydney climbed Mt Colong in the southern Blue Mountains.... Well done Tracey and Matt. From my perspective it is very rewarding to know that the skills youve learned are being put to good use and getting you out into places you would not otherwise have gone, and above all, finding your way back to civilisation again so you can share your pics!!!

02.01.2022 Hi folks, COVID restrictions are easing and we are back in business! In an effort to reschedule events to accommodate those who missed out on navigation weekends during the shutdown, and to work around ongoing park and campsite closures, below is the provisional schedule of trips going forward: 20-21 June: Navigation weekend. This is the new date for the navigation weekend previously scheduled for 2-3 May.... 3-5 July: 3 day navigation hike. Open only to those who have previously attended a 2 day navigation weekend, this 3 day hike will take your navigation and route planning skills to the next level. ONLY 1 PLACE LEFT! 21-23 August: 3 day navigation hike. Open only to those who have previously attended a 2 day navigation weekend, this 3 day hike will take your navigation and route planning skills to the next level. 5 PLACES LEFT! RED ROCKS HIKES: Due to park and campsite closures, all Red Rocks trips have been deferred until further notice. Message me if youre keen on any of the above trips!

01.01.2022 To those attending the navigation hike this weekend, the trip is ON. Please check your email for details. Whilst the recent weather and conditions have certainly been wild, it is forecast to be much more stable from now through to Sunday with a 70% chance of some rain, most likely on Saturday afternoon and evening. See you Saturday.