Meet Elise: a 24-year-old adventure guru, part artist, part mountain goat, who calls the stunning Mount Beauty region of Victoria home. To celebrate the launch of our ‘Ultimate Aussie Adventure Map’ and showcase the mind-blowing array of outdoor escapades Australia offers, we’re diving deep into the worlds of our adventure inspirations!
If you’re itching to explore more of the great outdoors, buckle up for our interview with the incredible Elise. She’s tackled some jaw-dropping adventures and is about to share her top tips for conquering her favorite spot – the majestic Mount Feathertop in Victoria. Whether you’re a seasoned trail runner or a hiking newbie, Elise’s insights will have you lacing up your boots and hitting the trails in no time. Get ready for a dose of pure adventure inspiration!
Tell us a bit about yourself, where you live, why you live where you live and what your favourite hobbies/ adventure activities are.
I’m a 24 year old artist, podcast host of the podcast Explore Your Core and adventurer living in Mount Beauty. I came across this town for a snow season and afterwards got to get immersed in climbing, mountain bike riding, highlining and hiking through the incredible alpine region that surrounds. I love the lifestyle it brings from early morning trail runs to fresh river swims, friends that get amongst it and all the weekly community groups.
1. What is your favourite adventure spot and why
My favourite spot would be along the Razorback to Mount Feathertop, I’ve been up to the summit 12 times since first going there on my first solo overnight hike a few years ago. I love the perspective it gives me- staring in the vast horizon of ever fading mountains and being able to look down at the valleys below I think it always helps me see everything from a wider lens.
2. What is it about this place that you love so much and how does the place make you feel?
It makes me feel at home. I’m often on the move and when I return back to town I often find myself returning to Mount Feathertop to truly feel at home again. The ever fading blues of the mountains and the ridgeline that exposes me bare never fails to take my breath away. Each time I return I feel it teaches me something different and whether I do it solo, with friends, leading a community hike or running I always come back down feeling a new depth to myself and the landscape.
As an artist I am drawn to the colours and plants- I love seeing the ever fading blues of the mountains in the horizon and the alpine daisies by my feet. These colours and plants have actually inspired a mural I am currently painting – a 30 metre square wall in town incorporating the sunset warmth, mountain blue hues and the native plants including billy buttons, alpine daisies and snow gum leaves to bring some of the alpine climate into town.
3. What different kinds of adventures have you done in this spot?
My favourite is to trail run it. I’ve done a few 3:30 am wake-ups to run up to the summit for sunrise! It’s also where I did my first solo overnight hike, snowboarded when it was in snow in winter, facilitated a run camp, and went up there with Her Trails. I have also held a community hike which was captured in a short film, ‘The Curious Path’, that I made with Zorali. It’s where I finished ‘Moving For The Minds’, which was a 300 km journey: I ran an ultramarathon in Kosciuszko, then hiked along the Australian Alps Track back home to raise awareness and funds for Eating Disorder Families Australia.
4. What are some of your favourite memories adventuring in this spot?
My favourite memories are the conversations I’ve had either while in the rhythm of moving our two feet on the undulating terrain below or staring out at the stars while cooking dinner. I think it’s these conversations that make me even more connected to where I live, to nature and to those I get to share the hike with. One of those moments was with my Uncle who joined me for the last stretch of the Moving For The Minds journey. When I told him about this idea he lit up, he use to be really into hiking and was one of the reasons I got into it. He had been unwell and over the last decade hadn’t pulled his hiking gear out. He dusted them off out of the garage and begun to walk with weights in his pack while I was walking on the Alps track and we got to make it up to the Summit together. It was a special moment to share as we spoke of dreams and hiking as we took in the views. He said it inspired him to get back out there and said he wanted to tick off a bucket like item- to hike in Nepal, he’s over there now currently doing that!
5. What are the do’s and don’t, or the tips and tricks that you would tell someone who was going here for the first time?
Mount Feathertop is great as a day hike and overnight hike- you can stay at Fed Hut which is only 1.5kms from the summit. The razorback is my favourite trail there but you can also go up Bon accord, Bungalow spur, Champion Spur (although that was a bit of a wild bush bash!) and North West Spur. I would recommend to take a snake bandage especially in warmer weather and not to rely on water tanks for water they aren’t always full!
6. What are the essential gear items that you take with you for this activity?
I always take my PLB (Personal Locator Beacon) for just in case and my snake bandage and portable charger. I also always make sure I have my headtorch, warm layers, Jet Boil, water (there are 2 water spots not including the hut) and a good quality sleeping bag. My friends might argue this but jars of pasta sauce, full soy milk cartons (for chai) and peanut butter usually end up there and I would deem it essential for a deliciously good time.
7. Tell us one of your bucket list adventure spots in Australia that you are dying to go and explore?
I’d love to trail run the Lara Pinta trail, its been on my bucket list for a while! And equally would love to Scuba Dive in Exmouth, I recently got my open water cert on a climbing trip in Thailand and have been dying to check out Exmouth and to SCUBA in Aus!
Follow Elise’s Adventurous footsteps and start planning one of your own! It can be as small or as big as you like, but first get your Ultimate Aussie Adventure Map, it’s the essential piece of adventure planning equipment you need all year round, not to mention it makes the perfect gift for your adventure loving friends and family!
Follow Elise on instagram: here and see her incredible artwork/ podcast instagram page: here
ALSO- see the film “The Curious Path” which follows Elise as she transforms her past struggles with mental health into a beacon of hope and inspiration. See it here
Want more adventure?
See Bronwyn Hodgins rock climbing story here
