Playing around is always risky business but in the outback it is necessarily a seasonal affair. The grid below highlights in grey the seasons when activities in this book can be flirted with. Common sense would dictate that the duration of a season will vary year-to-year depending on about a gazillion factors like climate, snow pack, greenhouse gases, participants’ abilities and conditioning. Whenever planning an excursion factor in current conditions rather than just blindly following the guidebook. After all, there is a big difference between visiting a mountain top in July and October. Plan for the worst-case scenario every time and you should be able to avoid serious trouble.