Just a quick update for this activation. I took advantage of being up at Mt Buller for Inter-school ski races to activate this straight forward summit again. As in previous activations, I took the summit chairlift and then hiked up to the summit proper with my downhill skis over my shoulder.
The wind was moderate, but enough to make setting up the squid pole a bit tricky. I tied it to the double-black warning sign which provided a solid base.
Setting up my EFHW to cover 80m through 20m allowed me to sit on the edge of the summit ridge with the radio resting on my pack.
I checked VK-portalog and saw that Peter VK3PF had spotted on Mt Strathbogie on 20m, so I quickly turned on the KX3 and heard him S9+10 via presumably ground wave. I worked Peter and then John ZL1BYZ on 20m. I then spotted and worked another five callers on 80m and 40m. My last contact was Rod VK7FRJG on 40m. Halfway through the contact, a gust of wind knocked the antenna off the top of the squidpole and I completed the contact with the antenna lying on the snow! Surprisingly Rod could still hear me!
The photo gallery below has a few shots of the spectacular views from this summit in winter.
Fantastic photos David! Looks like you are on quite a slope there in one shot.
Yes, it’s quite steep below my feet in the operating position. It’s the very top of a run called “Fanny’s Finish”, one of the hardest runs at Buller. I skied back an easier way though!
Once again spectacular photos David. Like the trailling ice pattern on cell tower on the summit pyramid. Summit looks ‘pointy’, to use some technical SOTA terminology. 73 Paul VK3HN.
It’s more of a narrow ridge line than ‘pointy’, but plenty wide enough to walk along safely.