After a close call occurs during a club outing, the North Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club (NOTMC) recognises the need to offer winter skills training for its newer members. With support from a FMC Training Grant, they organise a backcountry training weekend with a well-respected mountaineering and ski touring guide.
With winter in full swing, Alastair and mates seek out a new challenge – a summit of Couloir Peak in the Arrowsmith Range.
The 'Big 50' inspires Andy to expand beyond fastpacking and tackle a new type of adventure -- ski touring. After taking an alpine skills course, he and his mates head to Ball Pass in Mount Aoraki.
Simon Bell travels to Wanaka to become a full-time climber. His family recalls the special time they time spent together and Simon's mission to climb as many Great Peaks as possible.
After speed climbing in Europe, Alastair McDowell is inspired to try it again in New Zealand -- this time traversing the three peaks from the Hooker and returning via the Tasman for a total distance of 53km and 4000m of vertical gain, all in 24 hours.
Alastair McDowell joins a mountaineering trip organised by the Canterbury Mountaineering Club. Using Empress Hut in Mount Cook/Aoraki as his base, he embarks on a weekend of icy adventure.
The only true recourse for sandfly bites? According to Uncle Jacko, it's stoicism. In this edition of UJCC, he considers sandfly bites, why he doesn't enjoy solo tramping, and an alternative floor plan to the traditional snowcave.
Work could wait another day for Alastair and Elisha, as they decide to traverse Mount Oates in Arthur's Pass.
Where in New Zealand lies 'God's Own Wet Zone?' Former MetService Ambassador, Bob McDavitt, explains in layman terms how to understand orographic precipitation, freezing level, and the best recipe for snow.
A lost booking, new washout, and a summer sleeping bag in alpine conditions...? Despite a very cold night and some unexpected terrain, Penzy Dinsdale completes her first and much anticipated mountaineering trip with the NZ Alpine Club.
Finding their hut frozen solid was not enough to deter Alastair and his team from successfully completing a double summit of Shark's Tooth on Mt Taranaki.
Guided by a full moon and clear skies, Alastair McDowell and his team embark on a visually charged journey -- an overnight moonlit traverse through the Craigieburn Range.
In this edition of Uncle Jacko’s Cookery Corner (originally featured in the November 2015 FMC Bulletin), Uncle Jacko covers a wide range of topics from DOC's orange track markers to the 421 different Scottish words for snow.
There is nothing quite like the the silence of the mountains in winter, the clarity of the Milky Way in the crispy cold air, or an alpenglow on a snowy ridge.
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