Innholdsfortegnelse for August - September 2021 i Adventure Magazine

I don’t really know many hardcore female trampers, a few, but not many. We know loads of other sportswomen, but not many trampers. On Facebook, the seeming hub of all things, there is a tramping group, and it is excellent, really helpful. People post images and ask questions, and it's engaging and interesting. So I put on there, quite casually, a post asking, if there were any women who would like to write about their tramping adventures, either on their own, with friends or family. Well, that opened up my eyes to a range of things; • How many female trampers there are out there! • How serious are some of those adventures are! • How keen they were to write and share their adventures! We were overwhelmed with interest,…

"My stomach was a mixture of nerves and excitement as I surveyed the vast open space around us. I had watched the Mountain Safety Council’s route video several times, checked the latest weather reports, spoken to the DOC staff at the Nelson Lakes Visitor Centre and secured my personal locator beacon, however I knew nothing was certain in this unpredictable alpine environment." “I want to be the leader!” Miss Six announced, pushing past me in her determination to be in front. Momentarily off balance with my heavy pack, I narrowly avoided twisting an ankle on the sharp rocks and silently swore while cracking a bright smile. “Good for you, sweetheart!” Better to let her set the pace while the enthusiasm is still flowing strong, I thought as I tightened the…

The wind and snow is whipping at my face. I’ve readjusted the stiff frozen fleece buff around my neck and mouth, desperately trying to protect myself from the -20 degree bitter wind. Adrenaline is still pumping through my body but I know I’ll start to get cold soon. As I strain my eyes a little, I can barely make out the outline of the cable car station about 200 meters away through the thick snow storm. I am at 3,900 metres on the mountain. The weather set in quickly and it is the end of the ski day at Saas Fee in Switzerland. Precisely the time when most accidents in the mountains happen. The last cable car to the bottom of the mountain is in 10 minutes. I trudge back…

I recently watched a youtube movie entitled, “Her Way” (check it out on the Adventure Website) which introduced a woman who had an overwhelming passion for running. The preface at the bottom of the clip, read as follows: "Chinese-born Nancy Jiang moved with her family from Ma'an Shan to Auckland, New Zealand when she was five. She studied structural engineering and today is the only female engineer in her firm. Small in stature and needing to prove herself in the workplace, she found her release through a love of trail running in the mountains above Queenstown, despite having been told as a kid that “Chinese people do not run.” Inspired by not only her passion for running but also her determination to smash down stereotypes, we reached out to Nancy…

"I've been lucky to visit over 50 of New Zealand's huts since I've been here and many of those were on solo missions." I grew up in a part of the US where you could drive for miles on a straight, wide road and the most interesting thing to see were funny billboards on the side of the highway. The Great Lakes State of Michigan is in a unique place which experiences extremely cold temperatures and plenty of snow. With a max altitude of 600 metres, it’s not exactly the endless landscape filled with glacial rivers and mountains that New Zealand is. I had always been up for a challenge, and learning to hike and find my "zen" in the mountains brought me to a place of new opportunity and…

An eighteen-year-old princess, who paints his (yes, his) nails and dyes his hair bleach blonde, embarking on an adventure trip with his family, sounds like a plot for a bad 80s movie. After being homebound by Covid-19 for the last year and a half, most people would love the idea of an adventure in the deep South, campervanning from Christchurch to Queenstown, stopping along the way to soak in the incredible outdoors that New Zealand has to offer; unfortunately, I am not most people. My past record indicates I would rather be at home in my warm bed doing next to nothing for days on end, rather than throwing myself into -5 degree weather and 6am alarms. I have always been a ‘reluctant’ adventurer, scared of most of what the…

Where? Mt Roy, Wanaka, New Zealand. Why Am I Here? While I was racing professionally as a stand up paddle athlete, each October I would make the trek back across the Pacific to the Southern Lakes of home. I would long to stand upon the tops of hills and recalibrate the inner compass after a year spent traversing the globe. It would heal my mind and recenter my soul. There was the added bonus that it would form the base of my offseason preparation and give my mind and body a break from the relentless grind of the repetition of paddling. While nurturing my soul, I was also conditioning my mind and body. I would throw myself into this time of year knowing that I was preparing myself to raise…

A few years ago, before Covid-19 put a hold to everyone’s travel plans, we visited Estes Park in Colorado. It was here that we experienced Via Ferrata for the first time. It allowed us to experience the thirll and excitement that only a dedicated rock climber, with years of experience, would feel. So when legendary climber Harry Kent, announced the completion of Cloud Ladder, the steepest and most vertical Via Ferrata route in the US, we were pretty excited about the news. Located less than hour and a half drive from Denver, at the footstep of Rocky Mountain National Park, the new route is part of The Alpine Jewel, a private adventure destination. The new route compliments the highly-acclaimed, original Estes Park Via Ferrata route called, Peregrine Ridge (est. 2017),…

" Fueled by disappointment at my flakey friends, and determined to have a good time (if only to prove a point), I caught the last town-bus of the day, persuading the driver to make a special drop off at the trailhead. I climbed the damn mountain alone: it was awesome." The word 'alone' often comes with negative connotations; for many, to be alone is to be lonely. But alone is not a feeling or a consequence, it is simply a reality. You can tramp with Tami and Jerry and Lee, or you can tramp alone. For me, tramping alone didn't come as a natural evolution in my outdoor experience; it was born of necessity. On a post high-school OE in 2018, I wound up working at a café in the…

“But now, when times get tough, I will remind myself of that moment near the end …, when I cried fat tears of relief and overwhelming pride. The challenge was unprecedented but I made it to the other side”. – Stephanie Holmes, Adventure South NZ traveller. The epic journey from the West to the East coast of New Zealand’s South Island is a bucket-list adventure for many Kiwi’s and Adventure South NZ’s guided, four day, Coast to Coast Hike Bike and Raft trip has made the challenge even more attainable. The itinerary is broken into four stages; a 65km cycle from Camerons Beach on the West Coast to Ōtira; a 30km hike through the Deception and Mingha River Valleys over the mammoth, yet stunning Goat Pass; 40km of rafting down…

"Adventure racing had attracted women of all ages, shapes and sizes, and from all over the country." I was first introduced to Adventure racing back in 2008 when a friend stumbled across an advertisement for the Autumn Challenge. It was a women’s only event, organised by 5x Adventure Racing World Champion, Nathan Fa’avae. What appealed to us back then, was the idea of challenging ourselves across a range of activities, but unlike other multi sports, adventure racing was all about teamwork, and that struck a chord. Our team of three were from different parts to the country and we followed a training programme laid on by Nathan and his team and caught up once a month to train together. Another appeal of the race was the fact that it was…

As the world starts to slowly reopen, and as travellers start deciding where that first trip back out in this big beautiful world is, it’s time to consider Papua New Guinea. One of the most culturally rich countries in the world, it is home to over 8 million people who speak more than 800 different languages. It’s hard to believe that all of this rich culture is right on our doorstep. Add to that an incredibly untouched natural paradise, paired with adventures that could even challenge your wildest dreams. It’s a place that is so raw and real, that it’s the kind of country that travellers spend their lifetime trying to find and hold onto. To give you just a taste of what you can find in PNG, here are…

Being the only person in a place so powerful, so beautiful, and so vast, is a humbling experience that reminds you just how insignificant you are, and just how rewarding (and sometimes necessary) it can be to be alone. Then, to be a photographer in a place so powerful, beautiful and vast, is an opportunity for magic. That’s what solo overnight hiking trips are for me. They are a way to recoup and restore my mental energy, as a vessel in the continual spiritual awakening I found I had begun in my late 20s, as well as being a space, my chosen space, for which I can create more than I consume. The hike to Earnslaw Burn Glacier, what I would pitch my tent under for the night, is a…

Caitlin Fielder has spent most of her life doing some form of activity. She grew up in the mountain biking capital of New Zealand, Rotorua, before moving to Mount Maunganui to completer her Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biological sciences, drawn by the hands-on approach and the chance to scuba dive as part of her degree. Growing up she enjoyed playing soccer, netball, waterpolo and boxing. By her own admission “I wouldn’t say I was particularly good at it, in no way was I bad, I was fit, but probably never showed the 110% commitment necessary to go the extra mile.” That was until she found ultra-marathon running. After reading Lisa Tamati’s ultra-running book, something seemed to resonate with Caitlin and in 2016 she entered her first 50km ultra event,…

What does tramping mean to you? To me, tramping, walking, hiking, rambling, ‘mum walks’, whichever words you choose for a life outdoors, they have not always been comfortably in my lexicon. Probably due in no small part to that last one – ‘mum walks’. Understandably that won’t translate to many people, actually I’d be very surprised if anyone outside of my immediate family gets it and if they do, I’d love to hear from them. ‘Mum walks’ are the name given by me and my two siblings to the seemingly endless and directionless rambles (tramps) my Mum would take us on as a family when we were younger. We would be on a caravanning holiday on the coast or somewhere in the countryside near a campsite that offered electricity and…

17 year old Jenna Hastings fell in love with bikes when she was just 6 years old when she first started BMX racing. One of her earliest memories is sitting in the grandstands at the North Island Championships, held in her hometown of Rotorua, and the awe she felt as a 6 year old watching the championships. Since then Jenna has gone on to make a name for herself in the sport of mountain biking and we got to chat recently about her passion… Can you tell us a little about yourself? I am 17, I'm year 12 at school, and I live at home with both my parents and my younger brother and sister. As you know, I started BMX racing when I was 6 years old, and instantly…

I found myself in limbo during the winter of 2020, in-between jobs in a strained covid economy. And so, I did what any outdoors person would do with a large amount of free time on their hands. It was time to pack-up my belongings and hit the road. It was time to leave behind home comforts and go adventure-seeking. A long and ambling winter road trip finally took us down to the bottom of the South Island. And by us, I mean myself and my friend Emma, who luck would have it was just as into the outdoors, and launching themselves into any opportune adventure, as I was. Sometimes even more so than me. We had spent the road trip encouraging each other to go surfing in the brisk winter…

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Founder of Vanuatu inbound adventure tour operator, Wrecks to Rainforest, Mayumi Green is a trailblazer in adventure tourism in Vanuatu, and an avid adventurer in her own right. She founded Wrecks to Rainforest to create tailor-made packages for adventurous travellers seeking unique and exciting adventure experiences in remote parts of Vanuatu. Mayumi’s knowledge of Vanuatu and its people stems from her travels all over Vanuatu’s islands, including Tanna, Efate, Malekula, Pentecost, Ambrym, Mota Lava, Rah, Vanua Lava, Gaua, Torres islands, and in Espiritu Santo where she resides. Aside from helping visitors to have adventures in wild Vanuatu, Mayumi’s business has helped many small businesses and communities in remote parts of the country to earn income and get valuable experience hosting adventure tourists from all over the world. Mayumi Green first…