They traversed around the eastern end of “Jagungal spur” (which runs east from Mt. Jagungal) and around the headwaters of the Geehi River, before reaching the crest of the Main Range near the Bulls Peaks; crossing en route, the old Kalkite Road (marked by snow poles) that headed west to the Grey Mares Mines. Passing cup and saucer hill, they followed the valley of the Valentine River upstream to its source and then on to the Tin Hut at about 1pm. There they had lunch and a break, having covered 15 miles in about five hours. They lightened their packs by leaving their “sleeping bags and all extra weight in the form of food, etc., and made the final dash for Pounds’ Hut, from which we can get home in any weather. Slowly and with frequent stops, for our muscles are feeling the strain, we climbed to the top of Gungartan (6,776 feet)” and ran down to the saddle at the head of White’s River. About 25 years later, the Snowy Mountains Authority named this saddle “Schlink Pass” in recognition of Dr Herbert Schlink’s role as a skiing pioneer.

The expedition continued along the Main Range on the crest of the Granite Peaks. “Then all of a sudden the old god of the mountain makes us understand that he is not to be conquered so easily, and envelopes us in a blanket of fog which robs us of all sense of distance and hides from us such well known landmarks as the Perisher, Mount Tate and Gills Knobs.” Photo No. 16, taken from Tate East Ridge, shows a typical late-afternoon fog (with a clear sky above) rolling over the Main Range at Pounds Creek.

“We must feel our way along to the Consett Stephen Pass, that landmark which will lead us to the Guthega River, the Snowy and home.” The last part of the run down the Guthega River was done in the dark but their progress was helped by the Snowy River being frozen over, “no stripping and paddling in the frozen, turbulent stream” and they followed it upstream to the hut. “Five tired men drop into Pounds Hut (35 miles in 12.5 hours), eat like wolves, throw themselves on the spring mattresses and sleep until 11 o’clock next morning. Next day 15 miles home, with luncheon at Bett’s Camp seems child’s play.” A group photo (Photo No. 17) was taken after lunch as they neared the Hotel Kosciusko and journey’s end.

Pounds Creek Hut provided Frank Leyden with overnight shelter on 22 August 1945, after his group skied down the Tate East Ridge to the Snowy. His diary records that the hut was in good condition with 6 beds and five mattresses. The fire effectively heated the hut. There were 5 chairs with backs, 2 good tables, billies and some cutlery. Photo 18 shows the vast extent of ideal skiing terrain serviced by the hut, which cannot be seen in the photo, but is about 5km from where the photo was taken.

When Frank returned next ski season (7 August 1946), the hut was almost uninhabitable, with melting snow in the ceiling cavity dripping water onto the mattresses, beds and floor, where it had refrozen. The many blizzards in 1946 must have been blown snow under the roofing iron and into the hut’s ceiling cavity. The hut’s frame and cladding were intact (Photos 19 & 20).

The interior of Pounds Creek Hut remained in a dilapidated state until the Kosciusko State Park Trust in 1955, approved of Pounds Creek Hut being incorporated into the larger Illawong Lodge which John Turner and the Ski Tourers Association proposed to build on that site. The lodge had to be built without the benefit of motor vehicle access. A dam had been built on the Snowy River at Guthega (it is just visible in the background of Photo 20) which meant that anything that was too big to fit into a rucksack, had to come by boat to the upstream shore of the man-made lake.

Building materials could then either be manhandled the remaining 1.2km to the Illawong site (Photo 21), or placed on a horse-drawn sled. “The manager of the Chalet at Charlottes Pass offered the services of Mick, who was a most suitable horse indeed, except that it was usually necessary to find Mick, catch him, bridle him and get him over quite rough country to Illawong before starting to make use of him. In the end, about half the materials were sledded in and half were carried. Nor was the sledding without incident. Mick had two speeds – stop and run. Sometimes no amount of coaxing would move him; at other times he was off like a shot with his driver struggling to keep up and prevent the sled from overturning.” [Twenty-One Years of the AAC, 1971]