Originally written May 2024
We left Canberra at 10am and stopped in Cooma to refuel and grab lunch, so we didn’t arrive in Thredbo until around 2pm.
Before leaving Canberra, we checked the weather forecast. It wasn’t promising, but we decided we’d attempt the climb anyway if the chairlift was operating. That way, we could skip the steep 4km climb up to Eagles Nest.
To our delight, the chairlift was open.
Excellent plan.
Except first, we couldn’t find the entrance to the chairlift. 
When we finally got on and reached Eagles Nest, we discovered something else nobody had explained to us: you have to get yourself off the chairlift while it is still moving.
We didn’t.
So we went all the way back down to Thredbo.
We explained what had happened to the attendant, who kindly sent us back up again — this time with very clear instructions that, when we reached the top, we actually needed to get off.
By the time we finally started hiking from Eagles Nest, it was already 3pm.
From there, the elevation gain to the summit was only about 370 metres, so that sounded manageable. What I had conveniently overlooked was that it was still around a 12km return hike — plus the 4km walk back down to Thredbo because the chairlift closed at 3:45pm.
Details. 
We reached the summit at about 4:20pm.
Naturally, after getting all the way to the Roof of Australia, we could see absolutely nothing because we were surrounded by cloud.
I convinced Tabitha to wait a little while in case the cloud cleared so we could see at least some of the NSW valleys below.
Seven minutes later, we were freezing.
We gave up.
As it turned out, that was probably a good decision because I had also underestimated the final 4km descent back to Thredbo.
We ended up walking in the dark and didn’t get back to our accommodation until around 7:30pm.
So, to summarise:
We couldn’t find the chairlift.
We forgot to get off the chairlift.
We started late.
We reached the summit in cloud.
We waited for a view that never appeared.
And we walked home in the dark.
But the main thing is… we made it.
Stories Along the Way 