It is the perfect time to be going backcountry skiing or splitboarding, The Simple Livers with the support of Rhythm Snow Sports are about to take advantage of that and venture out to Australia's backcountry for a month to explore the area, test out some products and share some tips on 'how to' go backcountry. We'll be following their trip throughout the next month, anyone interested in Backcountry there will be a little bit of everything so keep in touch through our social media and send through any questions you may have. We are so excited to be part of this project, an amazing chance to show off just how good Australia can be and that Winter doesn't end in August.

"The whole idea of finding Kosciuszko's Secret started around a dining room table. Three of our six man adventure crew, named the 'Simple Livers', were planning an expedition into the heart of the Australian alpine region. We had a genuine desire to share it's beauty, power, challenges, rewards, accessibility, and credibility with like minded Australians by producing a film series. A five week window appeared smack bang in the middle of spring which in backcountry ski circles is aptly named the 'backcountry season'. It had appeared as though the stars had aligned nicely for us so we confirmed the dates and began planning. Gear was assembled, lists were written, film and blog ideas were discussed, short day trips were made to test conditions and fingers were always crossed on the hope of fresh snow in a season that so many punters had already written off before she had even begun. The snow came and despite the still below average snowfall we knew that so many opportunities lay ahead for us to share the Australian backcountry with other winter enthusiasts. Not many know that you can be skiing Australian snow so deep into spring when our fantastic resorts have called it a day that the summer months are literally a week or two away. Skiing chutes in November really is a thing here and thats why we are producing this series, to show others who are hungry for adventure, hungry for exploration and just hungry to go for a slide on skis or a snowboard, that you can do it for the best part of six months in most seasons.

We were getting excited at the prospect of what lay ahead, perhaps a little to much so... We soon realised that this was going to be a big mission to both organise and execute. We really needed help to not only aid in preparation for the trip but more so we needed someone to partner with us in spreading the message that Kosciuszko has a secret and others should know about it. We wanted to deepen and expand the ski culture here in Australia, that is already so tightly knit, into a brother and sisterhood of the backcountry. We got in contact with Rhythm Snow Sports who are based in Cooma and Japan. A few emails were exchanged in which we shared our visions for the trip and our desires to see the Australian backcountry scene expand and grow so that it didn't appear as some novelty but rather is was seen for the true experience it is - one of knowledge, skill, respect, sharing and just giving it a good old Aussie go. Emails progressed to phone calls and before we knew it we had partnered with Rhythm in this journey that we were about to undertake.

After the initial discussions were had, it was decided that we would base ourselves in Jindabyne for five weeks and do trips up onto the main range for a few days at a time filming, before heading back down into town to our film production facilities to edit what we had captured. Kind of like ski, camp, edit, repeat for five whole weeks during glorious weather (fingers crossed!) ... We were not complaining. Both our crew and the team at Rhythm agreed that for the trip and accompanying video series to meet its goal and be successful it had to be showcasing the Australian backcountry in a way that was all gnarly, hectic, and entertaining - something people could 'froth' over. BUT it also had to be informative so that others who wanted to get into or try backcountry skiing or boarding knew what they had to do to ensure a safe and awesome trip into the backcountry, what they needed to learn, where they could go and what gear they needed to begin that next chapter of their snow obsession. It was decided that we would produce short action films, tutorial videos, gear reviews and an over arching short film to deliver both entertainment and a supply of information for the prospective alpine adventurer.

And so with less than a week to go, we find ourselves nearly all packed and are raring to go and share the Australian backcountry with you guys as we partner with Rhythm Snow Sports. We feel a bit like Bilbo and Frodo about to set off on their adventures except I feel like our stoke and energy is far exceeding that of some ring wielding Hobbits... To follow our journey both the Simple Livers and Rhythm Snow Sports will be broadcasting via our Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat accounts so get tuned in on those to see how it all pans out!

Until next time,

Mitch, Ryan and Josh of the Simple Livers and the team at Rhythm Snow Sports."

Stay in touch at: facebook/rhythmsnowsports or facebook/thesimplelivers instagram: @rhythmsnowsports or @simple.livers twitter: @rhythmsnowsport