APRIL 2016
see more, do more, live more
Arthur’s PASS
Life in one of New Zealand’s smallest mountain towns
WIN!
a Lowe Alpine Cloud Peak pack worth $160 30 to be won!
HUT MATES FROM HELL Booze, drugs and being peed on – what’s happened to hut etiquette?
CLIMB A SUMMIT
COMMEMORATE ANZAC DAY TO
4 mountain memorials to fallen soldiers
WALKING weekends
Kaikoura and the Bay of Islands
Downward PRESSURE
How Fiordland tracks are coping with a tourism influx REVIEWED: SIX RUGGED HIKING PANTS Make your own snow
goggles The best softshells, fleece jackets and base layers Trips to Wellington’s Rimutaka Range, Central Plateau, Nelson Lakes, Fiordland and more
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APRIL 2016
www.wildernessmag.co.nz NZ $9.95 Aust $9.95 INCL GST
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contents April 2016
FEATURES
14 Outdoor Awards 2016
The nominations are in for this year’s outstanding people, huts, brands and retailers
36 Wilderness Photo Competition 2016 This year’s winners are revealed 44 Overcrowding in Fiordland
What happens when the Great Walks become too popular for their own good
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50 A slice of life in Arthur’s Pass What’s it like to live in one of New Zealand’s smallest mountain communities?
56 Live for the outdoors
A look at the impact of bequests on outdoor recreation
WAYPOINTS
24 Escape to an alpine
60 Win one of 30
Lowe Alpine Cloud Peak day packs worth $160!
amphitheatre Adelaide Tarn Hut, Kahurangi National Park
26 Worth the challenge Sefton Bivouac, Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park
28 See more
Memorial Mountains
www.wildernessmag.co.nz
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YOUR TRIPS, YOUR PIX
What did you get up to last weekend?
Simon Cushing and Allison Kilanski tramped to Sunrise Hut, Ruahine Forest Park
Jackie Bozoky visited Rai Falls near Pelorus Bridge
Loma, Marjory, and Jenny (average age 80!) visited Waihohonu Hut, Tongariro National Park
Jamie Mitchell visited the Waingawa River near Mitre Flats Hut, Tararua Forest Park
Sophie de Ville and Francesca and Emilia Hickey visited Peach Cove Hut, Northland
Marcel and Brian Driessens tramped the Greenstone Track in Otago
Tarsh Turner and Steve Holloway climbed Mt Tapuae-oUenuku
Moana Sullivan made sand castles on the way to Waihohonu Hut, Tongariro National Park
SEND YOUR PIX
Get your photo published here to receive a set of four Light My Fire Sporks – one for you and three for your friends! Learn more about Spork at ampro.co.nz. Last Weekend submission criteria can be found at wildernessmag.co.nz
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APRIL 2016
John Penney visited the Lunch Tent on the Hollyford Track
Riley Fitzgerald checked out Skipper’s Canyon from the Moke Lake Track
WILD TRACKS
G N I P P I T POINT
The Great Walks are bringing tourists in their droves to Fiordland in search of New Zealand’s greatest scenery
CINDY MCMURTRIE
With inbound tourism numbers at an all-time high and expectations of continued growth, how long can Fiordland’s track facilities hold out before a major overhaul is needed? Matthew Pike finds out
WILD TOWN
MARK WATSON
THIRTY ODD PEOPLE Arthur’s Pass is home to just 30 people, but together they maintain an active volunteer fire brigade, search and rescue unit and a wildlife trust that looks after hundreds of stoat traps to protect kiwi, whio and other native birds. What’s it like living in a small community in the middle of the mountains? Anna Pearson asked some locals
WILD LEGACY
LIVE FOR THE OUTDOORS
HAMISH CUMMING
Meghan Walker looks at the impact made by philanthropic trampers and mountaineers who have fostered outdoor recreation long after their deaths
M
ichael Taylor lived for the outdoors. Former president and avid member of the Tararua Tramping Club for more than 30 years, he was described as the ‘prince’ of the club. His death on New Year’s Eve in 2011 sent a wave of shock and sadness through the outdoors community; Taylor fell while scouting a new track on Mt Twilight in Mt Aspiring National Park. He was 60. Since his death, Taylor’s contribution to the outdoors has lived on. In his will, he left $443,000 to both the Tararua Tramping Club (TTC) and to the Federated Mountain Clubs (FMC), funding which has allowed both organisations to carry out projects such as hut development, mountain safety programmes, guideFMC’s Youth Scholarship Fund helped Caroline Bellamy and her friends complete an 18 day expedition in Mt Aspiring National Park
books and youth scholarships. Taylor was a beloved member of the TTC, and after his death his friends’ memories filled the club’s webpage dedicated to him. “He was a likeable tramping colleague, displaying unfailing qualities of fitness, courage, independence of spirit, sociability, generosity and concern for others, and could be counted on for an informed and considered viewpoint on most matters,” TTC President Peter Barber wrote. Taylor’s contribution to the club has taken form in diverse and impactful ways, including: commissioning of authors Chris Maclean and Shaun Barnett to write the club’s centennial history, refurbishing clubrooms in Wellington to provide wheelchair access and improved facilities, and establishing a route in the southern Rimutaka Range from South Saddle near
sum to have a sustainable source of funding, and it lifted us into the area where we had a reasonable level coming in.” The bequest was particularly important to FMC, as the trust relies solely on donations and bequests to continue programs that promote education, outreach, facility maintenance and safety projects. Much of Taylor’s bequest went into a funding scheme to develop a cash flow for the future, Cox says. “It was a particularly generous thing.” Over the past few years, Taylor’s bequest has made up the lion’s share of FMC’s project funding. The operations made possible are diverse: the construction of the Soper Shelter in the Waingaro Valley, the printing of a guidebook on canyoning in New Zealand, a Wilderness Area mapping project, and the establishment of Outdoors Training NZ.The bequest helped with the publication of the book Te Araroa, walking New Zealand’s 3000km trail, and even assisted in the production of a film about the life of New Zealand environmentalist Sheila Natusch. FMC also used the bequest to fund the Youth Scholarship Fund, created in 2010.Twenty groups have now benefited from the scholarship, with expeditions ranging from summiting New Zealand’s highest peaks to retracing the steps of early explorers. The scholarship, designed for trampers aged 30 and under, aims to promote knowledge and enjoyment of the outdoors, in turn attracting new members to the club. For younger applicants who may lack necessary backcountry knowledge, FMC offers to send a qualified guide on the expedition. The trip must be a multi-day tramp (five or more nights), and must be within mainland New Zealand or its Michael Taylor gave offshore islands. $443,000 to both the The most recent scholarship FMC and TTC recipient hails from the University of Canterbury. Caroline Bellamy and her friends used the funds to Mt Matthews to Kotumu. “With this we want explore dramatic South Westland terrain in to make an iconic statement about Michael’s February this year, tramping an ambitious life as a tramper and mountaineer,” says Bar- 143km in 18 days. Bellamy, along with four ber. “This route would be a magnet to tramp- other university tramping club members, ers in the Wellington region.” applied for the scholarship to help cover hut FMC, the other major beneficiary of Tay- fees, food expenses and transportation costs. lor’s estate, has since increased the scope She says living on a student budget doesn’t of its Mountain and Forest Trust’s outreach typically allow for missions of this magnitude, immensely. “It transformed where the trust so the funds from FMC were crucial to make was at,” says Owen Cox, executive member their trip happen. Bellamy chose to explore the Mt Aspiring of FMC. “We were trying to get a worthwhile www.wildernessmag.co.nz
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