Nihon-ban ōtorūto no sukī jūsō or Ski Mountaineering the Japanese Haute Route. April/May 2026. Day 5. Sugo Nokkoshi to Kurobe-goro. Leaving the Pine Martins to their squalor we’d another big day ahead -starting with a leisurely 2.30am start and another 21km and 1700m vertical. Spring timing is for the longer days and reduced snowpack. Mid winter and we’d be in the dark with too much snow to climb through. The early starts are to fit the objectives into a day and to mitigate the risk of avalanche. Safety hinges on the early starts—traveling when the snow is frozen overnight and finishing before the sun heats the surface too much. Spring snow avalanches occur as temperatures rise and snowpacks become isothermal, melting and weakening the bonds between snow layers. You’re often seeing these in the photographs - wet loose ‘sluffs’ and wet slabs triggered by heat, rain, or the sun. Climbing and skinning is best in the morning when all is frozen and best of all is a descent when the snow has softened. Mythical Mt Yarigatake 3180m punctures the distant range - Japans 5th highest mountain has the famous form of a spear. It looked impossible that we’d be there in 2 days. Highlight of the day was Japan’s longest ski descent on as near to perfect spring snow! It’s days since we’d seen a soul we marvel in a country as populated as Japan there’s such great wilderness. Seeing occasional ptarmigans (snow chooks!) and bear prints.
@nmbw_architecture_studio@alice.hawki@scottsmithy@versus.stkilda #leica #leicaq2
Nihon-ban ōtorūto no sukī jūsō or Ski Mountaineering the Japanese Haute Route. April/May 2026. Day 4. We’re off and Pine Martins. Up at 2am for a 3am start, today was going to be a big day - 22km and 1800m of vert. Maybe hell is the ascent? With headlamps on it was a climb up and over Shishidake 2741m with a ski descent on ice and a sharp climb with crampons and ice axes to a 45 degree ski descent again on ice but with frozen avalanche debris thrown added difficulty. Hell IS the descent!! With it all ‘no fall’ I didn’t take a photograph till well after sunrise and the 3rd easy ascent for the day. We could see Mt Yari - the Spear in the distance, it was hard to process that was where we’d be going and beyond. We had permission to stay over, in the closed for winter, Sugo Nokkoshi Hut. However without permission a couple of Pine Martins had been in residence. It was like a scene from Transporting. The Pine Martins had broken into the shop and eaten all the caffeinated energy bars and then partied & shat everywhere. Really felt sorry for their wayward activity - they can’t have felt good and made an unbelievable mess that the owners will have to somehow clean up come summer. It was a big job boiling snow for water - thank-you Ken & Kei for your unfailing energy and skiing & mountain craft second to none.
@nmbw_architecture_studio@alice.hawki@scottsmithy@versus.stkilda #leica #leicaq2
Nihon-ban ōtorūto no sukī jūsō or Ski Mountaineering the Japanese Haute Route. April/May 2026. Days 1-3, Tateyama Worship ie not falling into hell. We’re in Japan for just the 4th winter traverse of the Northern Alps of Honshu from Murodo to Kamikoch. Acclimatising in Murodo ahead of the traverse the immediate challenge of knocking some of the rust off was overwhelmed by concerns of ‘climbing worship meditation’. In the Edo period (1603-1867), believers thought that worshipping Tateyama from Mine Honsha shrine at the top of Oyama enabled them to avoid falling into Hell. Hell is actually a sulphur belching volcanic lake. All good, we kept out of the lake but exhausted ourselves with long climbs, forever ski descents and a few chances to don ski crampons or ice crampons & wield ice axes for some technical climbing. Views to the Sea of Japan and the Japanese Alps going on and on.
@nmbw_architecture_studio@scottsmithy@versus.stkilda #leica #leicaq2
Falls Creek, Easter 2026. Smooth, odd and beautiful. Trees, as boulders and boulders as trees. I’ve looked at the Village Bowl a thousand times and never seen it so. Happy Easter.
#leica #leica75mmsummilux #fallscreek #australianalps
Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges 2025. Land of the Ngarinyin and Bunuba peoples. 560 million year old landscape belonging to the world’s oldest continuous living culture - 65000 years and counting.
#leica #boab #kimberley
2025 Gold Coast Marathon, July 6. Finished 3:19.39. Starting to Robert De Castella’s rousing speech which included ‘Pain is temporary, A Marathon lasts forever’, ‘the harder the struggle the greater the reward’, his reminder that the race starts at the 30km mark and that ‘2500 years ago, Phidibedees the Greek soldier, in running from Marathon to Athens gave his life for his people’. Thanks Deek!!!
At 6.15am with Deek’s word reverberating and with 13000 other runners the gun went off. For 24km all went to plan - 4.15kmin pace and fuelling/hydration with the impeccable support of my cousin Murray. Then 6km short of Deek’s ‘the race stats now’ my wheels fell off. I just couldn’t push like I usually can, nothing was broken or particularly hurt - it was like my tyres were flat. I put it down to having a cold - I’d been laid out and had a day in bed last week. So change of plan, slow down and jog it in, enjoy the run, soak up the atmosphere. While disappointed that I couldn’t run to what I consider my potential, I had fun and still finished with a Boston Qualifying time. Was 2042 over the line out of 12704 and 30th in my age group. Always gratitude for just being able to run. Deek also said ‘Some might say that it’s easier to be the runner than the runner’s family’. Thank-you my family and friends for your unflappable support, tolerance and love.
@versus.stkilda@run2pb@upthereathletics@districtvision@gcmarathon
Award Spotlight: Northern Memorial Park Depot shines at the 2025 Victorian Architecture Awards
We’re incredibly proud to celebrate one of our most meaningful and technically exciting projects, the Northern Memorial Park Depot, which has just taken home an impressive four accolades at the 2025 Victorian Architecture Awards, presented by the Australian Institute of Architects.
Designed by the brilliant minds at Searle x Waldron Architecture and delivered by Building Engineering for The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, this mass timber operations hub was recognised with:
🏅 Victorian Architecture Medal (the highest honour)
🏅 Melbourne Prize
🏅 Commercial Architecture Award
🏅 Commendation for Sustainable Architecture
From concept through to completion, this project set out to redefine the civic workplace and we’re proud to have played a role in realising that vision. Our contribution included timber engineering consultation and structural glulam truss optimisation, ensuring high-performance and elegant construction outcomes. We also provided a detailed LOD400 model to support CNC fabrication and uphold the architectural integrity of the design.
The jury praised the project’s ability to deliver a sustainable, warm and uplifting environment, one that supports the people working in emotionally challenging roles with a space that is both beautiful and efficient. With extensive use of timber, the building achieves a low-carbon footprint without compromising on architectural impact.
Congratulations to all of our project partners on this well-deserved recognition. We’re honoured to be part of a project that continues to push the boundaries of what sustainable civic architecture can achieve.
Project Name: Sages Road Depot
Location: Glenroy (Melbourne)
Developer: The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust
Builder: @bldg.eng
Architect: @sxwarchitecture
Structural Engineer: @opsengineers
Timber Engineering and Design: @ergodomus_timber_engineering
Certifying Engineer: Global GCE
Photographer: @peterbbennetts
We are thrilled to share that the City Recital Hall Renewal has received the Interior Architecture Commendation at the Australian Institute of Architects NSW Chapter Awards.
It is such a pleasure to see this project recognised for its transformative interventions that have helped this venue pivot towards a broader offering and audience that includes both classical music alongside contemporary music and events..!
As lead Architectural design consultants, @archeroffice thanks our team, the Institute Jury, and our Clients, City of Sydney Council, and City Recital Hall for their vision and perseverance in delivering this project, in collaboration with builders Baseline Projects and Maxam Co.
Photos: @peterbbennetts@cityrecitalhall@cityofsydney@archeroffice@baseline_projects@maxamco@jensen_hughes@jha_consultingengineers@katebanazi
Mingela Polo Residence
Though technically complex, the construction and detailing throughout are refined to the point of effortlessness. Tapered concrete floors and razor-thin eaves to the north, east, and west evoke the aerodynamic precision of the Concorde—sleek, weightless, and improbably refined.
Architecture @fgrarchitects
Architectural concrete @steelfox_melbourne
Photography @peterbbennetts
