Trips
VMTC offers overnight trips and day walks, on weekends and Wednesdays, to cater for all levels of interest. There are also trips for skiing, cycling, canyoning, kayaking, liloing, and extended walks, longer than a weekend, which may involve travel across Australia and overseas.Social Events
On the third Thursday each month, VMTC organises presentations on trips, conservation talks and ‘how to’ sessions on navigation, safety and equipment. In addition, there are special nights, where we meet for a film and dinner too.
VMTC members are also active in:
Bushwalking Victoria, the peak body of bushwalking clubs Bush Search and Rescue Victoria (BSAR), conducting land-based search and rescue activities under direction from the Victoria Police Search and Rescue Squad, and Bushwalking Tracks and Conservation (BTAC), which keeps walking tracks and trails open, and also considers strategies for tracks and trails that will keep the future of bushwalking in Victoria alive.Join us at any of these social nights and trips.
History
The VMTC was founded in 1948 by 31 members. The current membership has grown steadily and is now over 200 people.
During the 1950s and 1960s, VMTC members went on many remote and extended trips to the Victorian Alps. Food was carried in by cattlemen and collected from prearranged meeting spots.
Trips also went to Southwest Tasmania. Lake Pedder, Federation Peak, and the rugged west coast were favourites, despite thick scrub and poor maps. Light aircraft helped walkers get to the sandy beaches of Lake Pedder and drop off food in remote locations.
These walks meant VMTC built significant expertise in bushwalking. In 1955, the club helped establish the police search and rescue squad, which became BSAR.
As access became easier, the VMTC included more weekend and day walks in its program.
Today, VMTC runs trips to all states and territories across Australia, including Kakadu and the Kimberley. Cheaper airfares made international trips possible, with members organising walks in the European Alps, Sweden and Norway, the Americas, the Himalayas and into South East Asia.
With these adventures in the past and the present, VMTC looks forward with confidence to many more adventures in the years to come.