The Highway Clem Cadario sets a NZ womens cross country record
I
’ve been quietly dreaming about this flight for a long time. I spent countless hours looking at the map imagining what it would look like from the air and where the thermals would be. After a while the obvious line to take stood out like a highway!
I have been in these remote mountains in the past; hiking, climbing and skiing so I appreciate the effort it takes to get there. This dream has remained in a little part of my head for too long to let go, I had to fly “The Highway”. I suppose the great Virus of 2019 was not a complete disaster: work slowing down opened up new objectives, ambitions and more opportunity for things that I never really took the time for, notably XC flying in New Zealand. It has always been a hard balance flying tandems and taking the time off to fly solo. Usually I dedicate my time off to climb mountains but this flight had become an obsession and I was looking for a new kind of adventure. I was determined to start from Speed Peak as it is only a short 15 minutes drive from my house and
Above; Crossing the Shotover towards Mt Greenland
a great start with its easterly facing launch. Speed Peak is actually an unnamed knob above Moke Lake, point 1495, that has been unofficially renamed many years ago by the late Ben Letham, who started doing winter speed flying laps there before work on early mornings and the name stayed since. It would also be ok to call it Steep Peak! as it’s a pretty vertically demanding hike that leads you to the best possible thermals to start your adventure. I have been up there many times in winter and summer, flying solo, tandem or just hiking, but this day was a bit different. It took me an hour more than the usual, I was in the wrong head space, my pack felt heavier than normal, I was tired and I was moving very slowly. Despite a great forecast, the sky was not very inspiring, it looked stable and blue.
To top it all off I even forgot to take my lunch from the car. Nothing really felt like this would be a great flight. Luckily I was not alone, my friend Thomas “dragged” me up there and made it feel less painful with his ongoing jokes and positive attitude. It was just a bit annoying that he ran out of water and I had to give half of mine:) (But he did make up for it by sorting out the worst line mess I have ever seen on a glider!; )) Feeling deflated we sat a little while on launch, discussing options, considering flying back to the car and just going to work, the bail out option it was just one of those days, it didn’t feel meant to be. It was already getting quite late when we heard on the radio that familiar voice, “I am crossing to Mt Aurum, it’s on!!!” Thanks Ben K! You gave us back the little thing that was missing that day. Fired up, we hurried to get ready as all we wanted now was to be in
the air with two options in mind: If it feels on then we will head up “The Highway” and try to get to Makarora which is almost 100km through some really remote country. Option 2, go towards Glenorchy and up the Rees Valley which was less likelihood of a 12 hour walk out. We finally got airborne and what a relief! I instantly forgot the last few hours of struggle and was ready for a great adventure. It was on, very on, the clouds were popping everywhere and there was no longer any doubt, the Highway was laid out in front of us! The first crossing was the hardest because it was quite long, also this is where you decide to commit and you won’t turn back from there. Past this crossing was just a matter of following the ridges and the clouds in the heart of great mountains, lakes, rivers and sheep. I was so happy when we reached Mt Aurum, finally! It is quite an intimidating mountain with its rocky sharp summit. It is also the “half way mark” where it is faster
Left; Flying above the French Alps in Annecy where she learnt to fly Below; Track of the ‘Highway’ Makarora
Lake Wanaka
12 A i r b o r n
Lake Wakatipu
