Kosciuszko National Park offers premier Australian alpine hiking, ranging from the 22km Main Range walk and 13km Thredbo-to-summit trail, to the extensive four-day, 56km Snowies Alpine Walk.

Key summer trails feature glacial lakes, wildflower meadows, and historic huts, with popular routes starting from Thredbo, Charlotte Pass and Guthega.

Hiking in the Kosciuszko National Park can be a joyous experience, however weather conditions can turn quickly and terrain can get treacherous without much warning.

SES Snowy River Unit commander, Malika Bailey, said it is important for all hikers entering the National Park to fill out a trip intention form with National Parks and Wildlife Services when they go into Kosciuszko National Park.

“We always encourage people to have a registered Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), and if they don’t have one National Parks and Wildlife Service offer them for use for free,” Ms Bailey said.

“I also encourage people to tell their loved ones where they’re going and when they’re supposed to be coming back.

“And obviously, check the weather and do a little bit of research of where they want to go and have a plan, including where you want to enter and leave from and also have a plan B just in case and carry a map for those longer hike adventures.”

After a very busy winter season for the volunteers at the Snowy River Unit SES, the rescues have not stopped and already the spring and summer months have received more than 20 emergency service calls, some serious and some precautionary cases.

Ms Bailey said the most common call outs include a mix of lack of preparation or misunderstanding of weather patterns in the mountains and how quickly conditions can change.

“A lack of preparedness when going hiking or off trails, as well as not doing their research beforehand, most are simply cases of people getting lost, hurt or in trouble in some sense.

“We see a mix of situations and get called out for all sorts of reasons.”

After a high volume of SES call outs during the snow season, the need for trip intention forms and PLBs has never been more important for those venturing the National Parks.

Ms Bailey said SES has noticed that more and more people are taking PLBs with them and many of their recent rescues have been such a success due to PLBs.

“We have seen more and more people carrying PLBs in the park and filling out trip intention forms with National Parks and Wildlife Services, we’ve also had a few calls from concerned community members after someone has not returned when they said they would,” Ms Bailey said.

“We will continue to push the message of the importance of these few things as we want people in the park enjoying the great outdoors and we just want them to have happy stories and return home safely.”