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🚩 Back in late June we took advantage of a fine

🚩 Back in late June we took advantage of a fine, and mostly windless day to go and bag Mt Taylor, Mount Somers Range. At 2333m this trampers peak is the highest in the Canterbury Foothills and one of the ten ultra-prominent peaks in NZ.

🚴🏼‍♀️🚴 Bike & Climb proved a worthwhile strategy, although we hadn't realised quite how low the snow was in the Lake Heron Basin, which slowed down the 9km ride in to Double Hut (we camped) a bit. The next day it took seven hours to get to the summit with most of those spent trudging upwards in crusty or deep powdery snow. Hard work, but the view was fantastic, with snow lying low over the Canterbury ranges.

❄️ It was dark and sub-zero for the ride back out, and Hana fell over in the stream while carrying her bike, which her pack and ice axe then caught on. So she couldn't get up and got partly saturated while I hurried back across to lift the bike. Her clothes were freezing solid by the time we reached the car for a late drive home!

🎥 See the Reel for more...

#mounttaylor #winterhike #hakatereconservationpark
#lakeheron #hakatere #winterbeauty
#canterburynz #canterburyfoothills #wintertramp #biketoclimb #seebetter

A few shots from a very rainy portrait session at

A few shots from a very rainy portrait session at Godley Head with Laurence Mote for a story in @1964journal 📖

With Huw Kingston, Laurence is on a winter 2025 quest to cycle the length of New Zealand, linking 25 skifields along the way. They've got skis in tow and plan to catch a few turns at every skifield. They're raising funds for Save the Children - read more @alpine_odyssey_aotearoa & follow along here: @huwkingston @speckofdust

Winter Bike & Climb Mission up Mt Taylor, Hakatere

Winter Bike & Climb Mission up Mt Taylor, Hakatere Conservation Park.
This 2333m peak is the highest in the Canterbury Foothills and one of NZ's ten Ultra-prominent Peaks.

#biketoclimb #bikeandclimb #ultraprominentpeak #mttaylor #hakatereconservationpark #winterhike #bikepackinglife #explorebybicycle

Double Hut beneath the bright winter Milky Way and

Double Hut beneath the bright winter Milky Way and the Canterbury Foothills. Hakatere Conservation Park, Ashburton Lakes.

This is one of several classic musterers' huts along Te Araroa - each one unique.

20mm | f1.8 | 20 sec | 5000 ISO

#shelterfromthestorm #newzealandhut #backcountryhuts #doublehut #cabin #astrophoto #hakatereconservationpark

I do enjoy a bit of characterful back country sign

I do enjoy a bit of characterful back country signage. I grew up guided by signs like this on my early tramps - signwork that's somehow complimentary (if not awkwardly at times) to its environment and reflective of it, rather than intrusive and homogenous.

#kahuranginationalpark #signpost #trampingtrack #backcountrysigns #gordonspyramid #typography #semiotics

Kahurangi National Park 🌿 These shots are from

Kahurangi National Park 🌿
These shots are from a cruisy, short (2 night) tramp starting/finishing in the Cobb Valley back in early January. We walked into Balloon Hut via Lake Peel along with a bout of heavy rain. Then the next day to the amazing Gridiron Rock Shelter (photo 1) with a side trip up Gordon's Pyramid for views of Mt Arthur on the way. Day three back to the Cobb via the Upper Takaka and Bullock Track.

#trampingnewzealand #hikinginnewzealand #trampnz #explorenewzealand #tramping #kahuranginationalpark #gridironrockshelter #gordonspyramid

To avoid the inevitable lack of appetite and palat

To avoid the inevitable lack of appetite and palate fatigue during bikepacking races I carry a mix of sweet and savoury food in @revelatedesigns Mountain Feed Bags, which also work great for carrying drinks and bigger food items like pies and bakery treats 😋. Here's a few of my tips for eating well during events.
#ridewithrevelate #revelatedesigns #bikepackingtips #bikepackingbags

With the Great Southern Brevet out of the way (and

With the Great Southern Brevet out of the way (and the inevitable 3-4 weeks it takes me to recover from those things) my next summer goal was to fit in a trip to the Darran Mountains; my first in two years.

If you're not familiar with 'the Darrans', they're the range of mostly diorite (granitic) peaks you drive through on the Milford Road, between The Divide and Piopiotahi/Milford Sound. The Darran Mountains hem in the north side of the highway, and to the south lie the Earl and Wick Mountains. Climbers tend to refer to all the peaks within a few hours of either side of the road as 'the Darrans'.

It's my favourite place to climb in New Zealand. The hard, fine grained rock is amazing to climb on, as well as being varied in style. There's a lifetime's worth of peaks and routes just within a day's walk of the climbers' base at Homer Hut, let alone the adventure that awaits when you venture into the central part of the range, where just getting there demands a head for exposure, a nose for route finding and a dash of commitment.

While my last two trips have traversed the central region, this one was mostly Homer-based, with one overnight trip up to Moirs Mate & Mates Little Brother, with a bivvy on top of the latter.

Routes climbed: Lucky Strike (7p, 20), Mechanical Failure (4p, 23), Pipe Dreams (10p, 21), Eureka (4p, 20), East Ridge of Mt Talbot (4p 17 + long scramble/solo).
Routes bailed off: Gypsy Heart (too cold ❄️), Vindaloo (too hot 🔥)

#rockclimbingnewzealand #darranmountains #fiordlandnationalpark #thedarrans #moirsmate #cleddauvalley #milfordroad #newzealandclimbing #gertrudevalley #southlandnz

Alpine rock climbing adventures in the Darran Moun

Alpine rock climbing adventures in the Darran Mountains, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand.
I had a great week there in early March with Liam Dangerfield.

Routes climbed: Lucky Strike (7p, 20), Mechanical Failure (4p, 23), Pipe Dreams (10p, 21), Eureka (4p, 20), and the East Ridge of Mt Talbot 🗻 Failed on Vindaloo (4p, 22, sandbag 🤔) and made a mess of my leg.

We also had a fantastic bivvy on the summit of Mates Little Brother.

ℹ️ All these routes are in the new @nz_alpine_club Darran Mountains Rock guide just launched last week.

#darranmountains #alpinerock #nzclimbing #rockclimbing #fiordlandnationalpark #climbingrocks

I've camped above the treeline in many places arou

I've camped above the treeline in many places around the world. But in the Southern Alps, the tussocks, tarns, tone of the land and the densely forested ranges make 'tops' camping a distinctly New Zealand experience.

Sometimes it starts with spotting some tarns on a map. With the seed for a potential campsite sown, you walk all day, perhaps from the glacial blue of a river, up through the bush on an impossibly steep spur. A tussle with subalpine scrub earns you easier travel on fine screes of schist and basins of golden grass.

Valleys lost in dark shadow and warming light around you signal the end of the day. The tarns are spotted. Tents pitched. Water collected. There's no other humans in sight - maybe not even within a day's walk. If you've timed it right you can wander, unburdened, perhaps with a camera in hand, and take it all in as the sun sinks into the Tasman.

Photos taken for @mountainjourneysnz during a guides training weekend - Central Westland, NZ.

#campingadventures #campingtrip #trampingnewzealand #trampingnz #purenewzealand #explorenewzealand #centralwestland #southernalps #exploreonfoot

Otso Fenrir Stainless / Great Southern Brevet Bike

This set of images (I'll post a couple more sets)

This set of images (I'll post a couple more sets) is from a @mountainjourneysnz guides' training weekend that I photographed during autumn 2024. Owner and chief guide Rob Frost got me onboard to document both the beautiful landscapes that Mountain Journeys undertakes its trips in, and also the type of terrain that these tops and trans-alpine trips cover, as well as the experience in general. Hanging out in the hills with this group of people for a weekend was a pleasure, and we got pretty lucky with the weather! 🌞🌑

Location: Waitaha Valley to Karnbach Ridge, Central Westland

Mountain Journeys specialise in guided off-track trans-alpine tramping in the Southern Alps.

#mountainjourneys #trampingnewzealand
#trampingnz #centralwestland #karnbachridge #newzealandnatural #newzealandpics

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Blog
Alaska to Patagonia
Countries
- New Zealand
- North America
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  - Mexico
  - USA
    - Alaska
    - Arizona
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    - Colorado
    - Idaho
    - Montana
    - New Mexico
    - Wyoming
- Central America
  - Guatemala
  - Belize
  - Honduras
  - Nicaragua
  - Costa Rica
  - Panama
  - Cuba
- South America
  - Colombia
  - Ecuador
  - Peru
  - Bolivia
  - Chile
  - Argentina
- China
- South East Asia
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