⛰️#36 - Type 2/3 Fun, Outside Woes, 5 Passes Video, Tent In A World First, and More.

And we are back with the 36th NZ Hiking Newsletter, sent every Thursday/Friday.

I'll let you know what’s going on in the hiking scene in New Zealand, along with other related bits and pieces I find interesting.

I’m currently finishing this in my bivvy (the Bush Cocoon from Macpac) in Ohau Alpine Village, hence the late send :p

Alright, let’s get into it.

🗒️ Track News Etc

• The Hooker Vally Track is closed! After hanging in for quite some time, the heavy rains over Easter weekend appear to be the final straw for the Hooker Valley Tracks second-bridge, which is now closed for the safety of the public. There’ll be a new 189-metre bridge built and should be ready around this time next year, but until then the Hooker Valley Track is closed (which means the Sefton Biv is inaccessible). They’ll open the track slightly further as works allow. Full press release here.

  • I’m curious to see how this will affect the paid parking pilot program that’s going to include White Horse Hill (the Hooker Valley Track car park) that’s due to launch next summer. It’s got to be a complicating factor to measure the success. More details here.

• Aussie hiking brand Zorali is doing a great effort with their community building, including NZ. If you’re in the Wanaka area on May 4th, consider joining their (free) hike to Rob Roy Glacier with like-minded people. RSVP here.

• Cactus Outdoor is putting in a good shout if you’ve got some Cactus gear with some small repairs done. At their Christchurch (May 8th) and Auckland (May 15th) stores they’ll do small repairs and hemming for free, and they’ll have Three Boys Beer & Wagyu Beef on the go for attendees. Beers and Reapirs events, that works. Details here.

• There was a death at Wairere Falls over Easter…the track is gaining a bit of a reputation of one that people get in trouble at. There’s going to be a Rahui in place until ~5th May. Apparently, people were ignoring this over the rest of Easter which is disappointing to hear.

• Earlier this month, Nemo released the worlds first 100% Bluesign tent. What is Bluesign? In short: “Every item carrying a bluesign Product or bluesign Approved label has been manufactured to strict safety and environmental requirements.” This might not seem a big deal, but it’s going to make a lot of competitors take notice, and in short…more tents should eventually become PFAS free etc. When I think of the amount of tents disposed of at festivals and the like…maybe all tents should be bluesign approved by now. Most garments can be made in a bluesign-friendly ways. Press Release here.

• I’ve seen plenty of Michael Beckmann’s epic photos of hikes in Facebook groups, but his video work is high quality too! Mount Aspirings 5 Passes Loop is a track I should have done this summer, but it just didn’t work out. I hear such great things about it…and Michael's video of the loop looks good too. Check it out below. ,

• I came across this great in-depth article from the New Yorker discussing the demise of Outside Magazine. I used to read a lot of articles from there, but it looks like I’m just one of many whose readership has dropped off with the most recent owner making big changes to the way it’s run on the front and back end. We need these magazines so hopefully they can turn it around and make Outside Magazine great again.

😹 Hiking Funny

🧔‍♂️ What I've Been Up To...

As mentioned last week, I was in the field for the Alexandra Backyard Ultra event. It’s a silly running event where you keep going 6.7km every hour until the last person is left standing. I had mixed feelings towards doing the event, part of me wanting to do it…part of me not. And it turns out the latter part of that equation was terrorizing me from the get go, leaving me struggling to motivate myself to go out each hour.

The fitness was great, and I felt like there was a PB in me if the motivation was there…but who knows, as I quit after 25 laps (167km) with just one left standing, who went on to finish the 26th lap for the win.

What did I eat? Most laps were one blissball, one Peak Fuel gel, and one 500ml flask of water with electrolytes. The latter we got into the nighttime (it was raining most of the night) the more I took in random stuff like hot chips, chocolate, and random snacks instead of a blissball.

Running that far is something not many can do, which I need to remember, but I know I have more in me…and there’s an advantage to having done a few of them previously.

It was a good dose of type 2 fun…it didn’t quite end up in type 3 fun…I think?

My recovery has been great, and I went on a sweet loop in Ohau today which I’ll tell you about next week!

Have a great week, hike it up.

As always, reply to this email (or message me on Whatsapp +642041702764) with anything and everything…I’m happy to chat.

Chur,

Jub

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