Wild

editor’s letter

To every thing there is a seasonWhen I began working on Wild in late 2014, I believed I was making a big move away from the world of corporate content marketing that I had worked in so far. I wasn’t disappointed.Working on a publication like this affords a unique perspective on the field of publishing. Gone are the heady days of the 80s and 90s when almost every household maintained subscriptions for three or four mags. Today, we consume content from a broad variety of platforms, rather than simply reading our favourite publication.Yet, in this noisy world of ‘online-only’ and ‘digital-first’, the continued and generous support of Wild’s community has helped to shield the magazine from these winds of change. Coming to recognise and understand this support — a support…

photo spread

THE GREEN ROOMPhotographer: James McCormackCamera: Canon 5D MkIIILens: Canon 16-35 f2.8L1/25; f 2.8; ISO 1000Dave McLoskey in the Green Room, Claustral Canyon, NSW. Timing is everything in terms of getting the greens to pop in a canyon. You want the sun overhead, but on bright days, the contrast is too great and the colours get washed out; on cloudy days, however, the entire sky acts as a magnificent softbox.TUNNEL OF SNOWGUMSPhotographer: Andrew BarnesCamera: Nikon D750Lens: Nikon 24-120 f41/200; f 4.0; ISO 125Walking under the snowgums on the Bogong High PlainsSLACKLINING TO THE SUNPhotographer: Ryan SleimanCamera: Nikon D750Lens: Nikon 24-70mm f 2.81/2500; f 2.8; ISO 400Paulo Ritter woke up super early on Monday to enjoy the sunrise at Mount Arapiles in Victoria. This highline is 220m long across to the Pharos…

wild shot

Andrew Howieson, VICPrize Osprey Manta AG 28Andrew wins an Osprey Manta AG 28, valued at $239.95. Designed for lightweight day or even overnight hiking, the Manta includes Osprey’s LightWire frame, mesh backpanel, BioStretch harness and AG hip belt for on-the-go comfort.SUBMIT A PHOTO OR LETTER TO THE EDITORFor your chance to win a quality piece of outdoor kit, send your photo or letter to contact@wild.com.auTHE FRAGILE TARKINEThe Tarkine is a fierce and fragile beauty. My wild walking partner and I recently celebrated 25 years together by exploring her charms. We walked from Temma to Arthur River, kayaked down the Pieman, climbed Mt Donaldson and explored an old-growth myrtle forest at Philosopher Falls. It was a week of Dombrovskis wonder and Kafkaesque confusion.However, we weren’t prepared for the extent of damage…

aerogel - frozen smoke that keeps you toasty warm

Even thin layers of Aerogel can block incredible levels of heat flowI know, I know. This is a piece in the technology section, and it’s about a development so retro, so old there’ll be Wild readers whose grandparents who weren’t yet born when it first came into being. But that doesn’t mean it’s not exciting, nor potentially revolutionary.I’m talking about Aerogel, developed by NASA in the 1930s. (Talk about a lead time; eighty years until this tech is finally filtering into the outdoors gear market.) Anyway, what the boffins discovered back then was that—by combining a polymer with a solvent to form a gel, and then by replacing all the liquid with air—they could develop a product with the lowest thermal conductivity of any known material.Here’s a way of picturing…

the north face - ventrix jacket

Every outdoorsy person who’s ever ventured into the cold knows the issue: if you put on enough gear to keep you warm when you’re standing around, once you get active, you begin overheating. And that’s the last thing you want. Not only is getting sweaty uncomfortable, the chilling effect once you stop moving can, if the conditions are cold enough, be highly dangerous.Solving this issue has long been the holy grail of cold weather gear design. Enter The North Face’s Ventrix™ technology. It may not solve the issue entirely, but it is a substantial jump in the efforts to do so. Here’s how it works: Essentially, the insulating layer—a polyester stretch synthetic—has dozens of laser-cut vents that open and close with the wearer’s movements. In a relaxed state—i.e. when the…

what’s it like at the top of everest? not so great for growing chickens

Jon in the 70s in Arapiles on No Exit, grade 25On the 28th of May thirty years ago, Jon Muir stood completely alone on the summit of Everest, taking a leak.“People talk about the relief they feel at reaching the top of Everest,” he says to a captivated crowd at a recent and rare speaking event hosted by World Expeditions, “but my relief was something else.” Despite guiding infrequently these days, the 57-year-old still knows how to get a laugh out of his punters. “I’m sorry, but that’s my truth.”Muir describes himself as a ‘simple’ man but from the outside, he’s a smash of colour and contradiction. A larrikin but a loner, a leader but a recluse, he’s a muscular bear wearing a kilt, with a kindly-voice, an unruly beard, and…