Wilderness February 2022

I’ve heard several tales of people coming to harm on the Robert Ridge Route in Nelson Lakes National Park, especially when snow and ice are present. One that sticks in my mind is the weekend a tramper waded through snow on the less exposed Speargrass Hut route (taking advice to avoid the icy Robert Ridge) and on arriving at Angelus Hut found two others in residence. One proclaimed the Robert Ridge Route to be dangerous. The following day, the weekend crowds arrived and it was a miracle no one died. One tramper ended up in a snow hole up to his armpits, another slipped and sliced his leg with a crampon. Near dark, there were reports of 11 trampers slowly making their way along the ridge. Most didn’t have ice axes…

HUTS AND BABIES When I see stories on the cover or contents page about getting into the hills with a young family (January 2022), I skip straight to them as I’m the mum of a 10-month-old. I am yet to read one that tackles the tricky questions about sleeping in a hut with a baby: Does your little one sleep through the night? (Ours doesn’t!) Or if they disturb other trampers, what is the reaction? (I’d be surprised if anyone thinks crying is no worse than snoring.) Where do babies sleep? (Because I don’t imagine a porta cot is carried.) My worry about other hut users’ enjoyment and other practicalities of sleep is the main thing holding us back from doing an overnight trip. I would love to hear the good, the bad…

Get your photo published here to receive a Victorinox Escort keyring pocket knife worth $22. Learn more about Victorinox at e.ampro.co.nz.…

New DOC facilities this summer Trampers and campers may notice a range of upgrades and new DOC facilities this summer. A new shelter has been built on the Heaphy Track, replacing the old Lewis Hut, near the confluence of the Lewis and Heaphy rivers. The shelter will provide emergency accommodation for people travelling between the Heaphy and Mackay huts as sometimes the river can be too high to cross safely. The old Lewis Hut was demolished. It was in poor condition and prone to seasonal flooding and erosion. Also in Kahurangi National Park, a new viewing platform has been built overlooking Mirror Tarn as part of $5.7m of upgrades in the Ōpārara Basin. The track to the tarn has also been extended and the Ōpārara Arch track surface has been improved. A new…

Hamish Fleming (31) and Alastair McDowell (30) have completed an incredible mountaineering feat. In a continuous expedition lasting 31 days, the pair climbed all 24 of New Zealand’s peaks over 3000m. The friends were the 12th and 13th climbers to summit New Zealand’s highest mountains, a quest that normally takes a lifetime to achieve. The previous record was in 1989 when guides Erica Beuzenberg and Gottlieb Braun-Elwert ascended all 24 peaks within a single winter season. McDowell and Fleming refused to use helicopters or motorised transport during the month-long expedition. But they were not merely peak-bagging; they were undertaking an ambitious journey against the odds, into the unknown. It was an open-ended adventure where failure was likely. Before they started climbing, food was flown to strategic alpine huts and also carried by…

31-day expedition by Hamish Fleming and Alastair McDowell. November 13 – December 13, 2021. 1. Mt Sefton (3151m) 2. La Perouse (3078m) 3. Mt Hicks (3198m) 4. Mt Dampier (3440m) 5. Mt Vancouver (3309m) 6. Malaspina (3042m) 7. Magellan (3049m) 8. Mt Teichelmann (3144m) 9. Mt Graham (3184m) 10. Silberhorn (3300m) 11. Mt Tasman (3497m) 12. Lendenfeld Peak (3194m) 13. Mt Haast (3114m) 14. Mt Haidinger (3070m) 15. Torres Peak (3160m) 16. Glacier Peak (3002m) 17. Douglas Peak (3007m) 18. Minarets (3031m) 19. Mt Elie De Beaumont (3109m) 20. Mt Hamilton (3025m) 21. Malte Brun (3199m) 22. Aoraki/Mt Cook (3724m) 23. Mt Dixon (3004m) 24. Mt Aspiring/Tititea (3033m)…