The NZAC Intro to Backcountry Skiing Course (IBSC) is a four-day course designed for strong intermediate (or better) skiers with excellent aerobic fitness wanting to get a good grounding in ski touring so they can go experience the winter backcountry by themselves.
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.
(April – June 2021) The Banff Mountain Film Festival is the largest, and one of the most prestigious, mountain festivals in the world.
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.
