Seaman's Hut
April 27th 2010 22:54
At the age of 12 my mum made me walk a 19km journey through the Snowy Mountains of NSW during the Easter break. I ached and whined and even though it was Easter and only a couple of months before the snow season we encountered abundant snow, gale force winds, treacherous climbs and occasional fear that we would be lost forever in massive fog and cloud embankments.
But one place gave me a big smile and hope, it was a hut built in the middle of nowhere that was placed there as a salvation for lost, weary and close to death hikers who might be stuck in a blizzard with nowhere to go but a frozen death. It is Seaman's Hut. For some reason I have been obsessed by this hut since I was 12 and this week - close to the 25th anniversary of my first visit I headed back to the hut with my mum. This time she was following but keeping up quite well.
This hut was built in 1929 by the NSW Tourist Bureau, having been financed by the American parents of Laurie Seaman. Seaman with Evan Hayes, perished in a blizzard on 14 August 1928.
Seaman was found on 9 September, very near to the current hut site, where he had waited for Hayes. Hayes body was found above Lake Cootapatamba, lying on his skis. The spot is marked by a cairn. This spot is less than 2ks away. Now we get to walk it most of the way from Thredbo on a metal walkway that keeps your feet raised from any wet ground. We can also do it in Summer while still wearing the most advanced clothing around to keep you warm. Back then they probably did not even realise there was a summer. These guys ascented to Kosciusko in the middle of winter with probably nothing more on them that what we would wear to an Autumn BBQ.
The deaths of Laurie Seaman and Evan Hayes on 14 August 1928, were the first skiing fatalities in the history of the Australian Alps. As Hayes and Seaman approached the summit, other skiers in the area saw fog envelop the summit (shortly before 1pm) and reported the onset of blizzard conditions with gale force winds and minor amounts of sleet. The two skiers were not seen alive again, despite a very extensive search. The body of Laurie Seaman was found on 9 September 1928 in amongst rocks about 30m off the Summit Road about 2km east-north-east of the summit. This is close to the location where the memorial hut, financed by his parents, was subsequently built by the NSW Tourist Bureau in Autumn 1929. The body of Evan Hayes was found with his skis in early 1930, near Lake Cootapatamba, south-east of the summit pyramid.
Searchers reported that there was only one set of ski tracks on the summit although the photos recovered from Seaman’s camera showed both men at the summit cairn. It seems that Hayes skied to the summit and Seaman walked up the final climb above Rawson Pass to the summit. After taking photographs of each other at the top, they apparently became separated. Seaman appears to have followed the snow pole line back to where his body was found and where he was apparently still waiting for Evan Hayes to return when he passed away.
The ski tracks seen by the searchers the next day, suggested that Hayes lost the pole line in the fog and was pushed off-course in a south-easterly direction towards Merritt’s Lookout over-looking the Thredbo Valley, by gale force winds from the north-west. Hayes apparently realized his mistake and followed his ski tracks back to Rawson Pass where he seems to have missed the snow pole line once more in the fog and headed south, away from the Summit Road, rather than east. In the wild, blizzard conditions reported on that afternoon, such an error is understandable.
The hut was renovated after a fire in 1938, and has saved the lives of countless people since.
The hut is 7m by 3m in the interior and consists of two rooms. The walls are massively built of granite stones, and lined with fibro. The floor is wooden and the walls are pierced by small windows. A wood stove is installed, despite a scarcity of firewood and is stocked by the NPWS with a stack of wood that reaches the roof. The roof is made of flat iron sheets.
The hut is meant for day visitors and night emergency shelter but the amount of hikers and campers out there these days has seen it used more regularly for campers on a regular basis. Apparently the night before our visit it was packed with campers who found it much more comfortable than their tents during the torrential rains. Another courtesy has slipped at the hut and that is that visitors are requested to bring a can of tinned food to leave in the shelter in its storage cupboard. These tins of food can mean survival for people in the immense storms that blanket the area without notice. I left a tin of condensed milk but sadly the hut's storage cupboards were empty and no doubt the tins of food are stolen and used by the recreational campers.
Seaman's Hut is only 3.4ks from the summit of Mt Kosciusko or 1.7ks from the base area and also the site of the highest toilet in Australia. It is a moderate walk from the top of the "all year operational" chair lift from Thredbo or a lot longer from Charlotte's Pass, although this walk has a lot more to offer. On the day we did the walk we decided to forgoe the hike to the top of Australia's mountain as the top was pepperred with tourists and it appeared we would battle for a spot on top. The top of Kosciusko is actually quite an anti-climax but worth it to say you have been there. I do recommend the extra 3.4ks return to Seaman's Hut - a place I consider the best housing in the country.
But one place gave me a big smile and hope, it was a hut built in the middle of nowhere that was placed there as a salvation for lost, weary and close to death hikers who might be stuck in a blizzard with nowhere to go but a frozen death. It is Seaman's Hut. For some reason I have been obsessed by this hut since I was 12 and this week - close to the 25th anniversary of my first visit I headed back to the hut with my mum. This time she was following but keeping up quite well.
This hut was built in 1929 by the NSW Tourist Bureau, having been financed by the American parents of Laurie Seaman. Seaman with Evan Hayes, perished in a blizzard on 14 August 1928.
Seaman was found on 9 September, very near to the current hut site, where he had waited for Hayes. Hayes body was found above Lake Cootapatamba, lying on his skis. The spot is marked by a cairn. This spot is less than 2ks away. Now we get to walk it most of the way from Thredbo on a metal walkway that keeps your feet raised from any wet ground. We can also do it in Summer while still wearing the most advanced clothing around to keep you warm. Back then they probably did not even realise there was a summer. These guys ascented to Kosciusko in the middle of winter with probably nothing more on them that what we would wear to an Autumn BBQ.
The deaths of Laurie Seaman and Evan Hayes on 14 August 1928, were the first skiing fatalities in the history of the Australian Alps. As Hayes and Seaman approached the summit, other skiers in the area saw fog envelop the summit (shortly before 1pm) and reported the onset of blizzard conditions with gale force winds and minor amounts of sleet. The two skiers were not seen alive again, despite a very extensive search. The body of Laurie Seaman was found on 9 September 1928 in amongst rocks about 30m off the Summit Road about 2km east-north-east of the summit. This is close to the location where the memorial hut, financed by his parents, was subsequently built by the NSW Tourist Bureau in Autumn 1929. The body of Evan Hayes was found with his skis in early 1930, near Lake Cootapatamba, south-east of the summit pyramid.
Searchers reported that there was only one set of ski tracks on the summit although the photos recovered from Seaman’s camera showed both men at the summit cairn. It seems that Hayes skied to the summit and Seaman walked up the final climb above Rawson Pass to the summit. After taking photographs of each other at the top, they apparently became separated. Seaman appears to have followed the snow pole line back to where his body was found and where he was apparently still waiting for Evan Hayes to return when he passed away.
The ski tracks seen by the searchers the next day, suggested that Hayes lost the pole line in the fog and was pushed off-course in a south-easterly direction towards Merritt’s Lookout over-looking the Thredbo Valley, by gale force winds from the north-west. Hayes apparently realized his mistake and followed his ski tracks back to Rawson Pass where he seems to have missed the snow pole line once more in the fog and headed south, away from the Summit Road, rather than east. In the wild, blizzard conditions reported on that afternoon, such an error is understandable.
The hut was renovated after a fire in 1938, and has saved the lives of countless people since.
The hut is 7m by 3m in the interior and consists of two rooms. The walls are massively built of granite stones, and lined with fibro. The floor is wooden and the walls are pierced by small windows. A wood stove is installed, despite a scarcity of firewood and is stocked by the NPWS with a stack of wood that reaches the roof. The roof is made of flat iron sheets.
The hut is meant for day visitors and night emergency shelter but the amount of hikers and campers out there these days has seen it used more regularly for campers on a regular basis. Apparently the night before our visit it was packed with campers who found it much more comfortable than their tents during the torrential rains. Another courtesy has slipped at the hut and that is that visitors are requested to bring a can of tinned food to leave in the shelter in its storage cupboard. These tins of food can mean survival for people in the immense storms that blanket the area without notice. I left a tin of condensed milk but sadly the hut's storage cupboards were empty and no doubt the tins of food are stolen and used by the recreational campers.
Seaman's Hut is only 3.4ks from the summit of Mt Kosciusko or 1.7ks from the base area and also the site of the highest toilet in Australia. It is a moderate walk from the top of the "all year operational" chair lift from Thredbo or a lot longer from Charlotte's Pass, although this walk has a lot more to offer. On the day we did the walk we decided to forgoe the hike to the top of Australia's mountain as the top was pepperred with tourists and it appeared we would battle for a spot on top. The top of Kosciusko is actually quite an anti-climax but worth it to say you have been there. I do recommend the extra 3.4ks return to Seaman's Hut - a place I consider the best housing in the country.
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