DAPHNE Longman points to a tree near the bottom of the chain up to Hansons Peak.
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‘‘That’s where they found David,’’ Mrs Longman said.
‘‘He was wrapped around a tree just like that.’’
Mrs Longman was 21 when she found out her younger brother had died of hypothermia, and while she has learnt to cope with his death, it hasn’t stopped her and her family from walking up the mountain to spend the night every anniversary.
This year was extra special. It has been 50 years since David Kilvert, 14, and Ewen Scott, 26, perished in a blizzard on Cradle Mountain.
The pair were part of a group of 16 Riverside High School students and three teachers who had journeyed to the mountain on May 16, 1965, for a five-day walking adventure.
All the students and teachers are remembered as heroes.
The last that students saw of Mr Scott and David was the teacher carrying an exhausted David down the mountain on his shoulders.
Mr Scott’s body was found about 100 metres from the Dove Lake car park.
Both died from exposure.
Mrs Longman said she couldn’t say exactly how many times she had walked to the Scott-Kilvert Memorial Hut since.
‘‘To us, it’s always been a magic place,’’ she said.
‘‘Paul, my other brother who has passed away now ... was a shuttle bus driver up here.
‘‘David’s ashes are scattered on the mountain, so I think he felt as if he was with David when he worked here.’’
Twelve members of the Kilvert family, the youngest being eight and the oldest Mrs Longman, 72, walked in to the hut to spend the night.
It is no easy walk, even on a good day.
It is steep and icy and a chain is even in place to help walkers climb one section.
That chain was not in place 50 years ago.
The track was also impossible to see back then due to snow, which survivors say was up past their knees at some points.
Members of the Launceston Bushwalking Club joined the family on the walk – the club helped build the hut 50 years ago – as did past students, family and friends of Riverside High School.
Grade 10 students Ryan Gregson, Grace Mitchell and Sophie Burgess, all 15, walked the track from Dove Lake to the hut and back again on the Saturday with their parents.
‘‘I think it’s really important to have Riverside representatives up here being part of it,’’ Sophie said.
‘‘We’ve always heard of the Scott-Kilvert Memorial Award (which the school presents annually) but it’s never seemed real until now.’’
Ryan said he couldn’t have imagined exactly what it would have been like for the students.
‘‘It would have been exhausting: we’re tired now,’’ he said as they were halfway through their return to Dove Lake.
ABOUT 40 people camped out at the hut and in tents around it, drinking whisky and celebrating the life of Ewen Scott and David Kilvert last Saturday night.
Mrs Longman said her mother would have been extremely pleased that the hut was still being utilised, located about halfway between the Waterfall Valley Hut and the Dove Lake car park.
‘‘I just think it’s important to remember that people gave their life, but it was worthwhile because this hut is the thing that was made,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s a lovely memory to have.’’
Launceston Walking Club walk co-ordinator Carolyn Farrar said the first time she ever stayed at the hut was when her mum, Margaret Farrar, and herself visited from the mainland, before she moved to Launceston.
‘‘As it turned out, we actually met the sister of Ewen Scott, who was also staying here,’’ Ms Farrar said.
‘‘They told us about the connection ... so it’s always been a special place.’’
The 50th anniversary walk was the 100th walk Carolyn had organised for the walking club.
She said the Scott-Kilvert Hut was her favourite to stay at.
‘‘It makes us all realise how lucky we are to have places like this to stay,’’ she said.
Others who stayed at the hut overnight included Phillipa Walker, a grade 8 student at the time of the tragedy and the daughter of the then principal John Walker; Jane Deeth, who was also a grade 8 student at the time; John Chick, who was one of the original teachers on the walk; and past and present Riverside High School teachers, family and friends.
FOR the surviving students and teachers of the Riverside High School 1965 walk, last weekend was the first time many had gathered to talk about the experience.
Six of the surviving students and teachers John Chick and Rosemary Goodsall, nee Bayes, attended the memorial ceremony at Dove Lake car park at 2pm.
About 150 people attended.
The ceremony was an emotional experience for all, with Mr Chick giving his first speech since the event.
‘‘Love one another,’’ his speech concluded.
‘‘That is what came through (on the walk).’’
Walk survivors Mark Whittle and David Bennell also gave speeches at the ceremony, as did Chris Brooks (husband of Karina Brooks, David Kilvert’s younger sister), Riverside High School students, principal Greg Morgan and Liberal Lyons MHR Eric Hutchinson, whose father helped build the Scott-Kilvert memorial hut.
A minute silence was held to remember the two ‘‘beautiful souls’’ that were ‘‘plucked away’’.