⛰️Avalanches, New Hiking Lists, Track Updates, Lost Huts & more.

Author

Jub Bryant
September 26, 2024

And we are back with the 6th NZ Hiking Newsletter, sent every Thursday.

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.

Note: I’ve changed where I send the email from, so the format might look slightly different (the logo will change again).

Alright, Let’s get into it.

In This Weeks Edition...

p.s. If this is your first time reading the newsletter, you can read about me here.

🆕Macpac Is Opening A Flagship Store In Chch

Macpac has continued to open stores in NZ and Aussie, and the 100th Macpac store is opening in Christchurch on September 28th (Northlink location). This is a massive store and will be the flagship store. If you‘re in the region, there will be opening deals, competitions, demos, boot fittings, and samples.

You can get more information on the Facebook Event Page.

🗻 It’s Avalanche Season!

A triggered avalanche under controlled conditions. Source: NZTA/Milford Road Alliance.

It’s avalanche season in the mountains around the country, and this week it seems something avalanche-related is popping up most days (one, two, three).

With more people starting to dust off their hiking gear as we leave winter, don’t let friends go on silly hikes when you know there are potential avalanche risks. The Routeburn is one people often want to do before the Great Walk season starts. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for most people…

Two things you can do before you go hiking next:

🌋 A New List Of Hikes To Tick Off

If you’re someone who needs a goal to motivate yourself, or your friends to get out for a hike…then you might want to tick off the newly announced Geological Heritage Sites.

These are the world’s most significant geological sites according to the International Union of Geological Sciences (700+ experts made the list).

The five sites in New Zealand are:

  1. Maruia Falls

  2. Muriwai megapillow lava flows

  3. Ruapehu Volcano

  4. Rotorua's geothermal fields (Ahi-Tupua)

  5. Fjords and towering sea cliffs of Fiordland

You might need to get creative in regards to ‘hiking’ to some of these, but you can work with them. You can see the full list of 200 sites here.

🏰 To Save The Chateau Or Not?

Discovering an old hut built 96 years ago. Source: Dan Steele

The future of the Chateau Tongariro Hotel in Tongariro National Park took a hit this week when it was announced that the process of fielding potential interest in commercially operating the hotel was halted.

This upset people, with most of people (me included) not wanting to see the building boarded up. There must be a way. This pesky earthquake-proofing stuff is one barrier for sure. But hopefully, miracles do happen, everyone is transparent about what’s involved and we can settle in for a beer at the Chateau post-hike again sometime soon-ish.

In what is a bit ironic, less than 100km away, Ruapehu resident Dan Steele got his hands into the thick scrub to discover a roadman’s hut built in 1928 (the Chateau opened in 1929). He’s intending to restore the hut as he hates seeing history going to waste (source).

Will the history of the Chateau go to waste?

In the meantime, you can sign this petition for the chateau.

😹 Hiking Funny!

⛺A Legit Tent Packing Tip

I stumbled across this YouTube short the other day, and it’s a legit good idea you might find useful! I’ll give this a whirl when I have a compression sack on me.

It’s one of those times where you think…why didn’t I think of that?

🗒️ Other Track News Etc.

  • The epic Te Waihou (Blue Spring) Walkway near Hamilton will reopen in November after closing last year. Source.

  • From November 1st the huts and campsites on the Caples and Greenstones Tracks will need to be booked (bookings open mid-October). Ugh.

  • Mick Abbott from Federated Mountain Clubs spoke on Radio New Zealand about the “Love our Huts and Tracks” campaign. You can listen to the 9-minute segment here.

  • If you see a turtle in the wild, DOC wants you to take a photo and record it on the iNaturalist or Find-A-Pest app. I think of hedgehogs and turtles in the same way…they seem harmless but then have to remember they are pests in NZ.

  • If you own a Garmin inReach, you might have changes to your subscription fees.

  • It looks like Queenstown is getting some more new trails in a few years time, below Coronet Peak.

🎁 A Couple Of Competitions To Enter

  • Salomon x Alton Trailblazer Giveaway - enter here - Aussie & NZ residents (entries close Sept 26th)

  • Win a $1,000 Merrel Prize Pack - enter here - (entries close Sept 30th)

  • Kea's Kiwi Spring Adventure $1,200 Giveaway - enter here - NZ Residents Only (entries close Sept 30th)

🧔‍♂️What I've Been Up To

I went on some great trails in both Kyrgystan and Tajikistan this week. But the highlight has to be, what I believe is the most popular 3-day hike in the country, the Ala-Kul Track, Kyrgyzstan.

Ala-Kul Lake from just below Ala-Kul Pass

There was waterfalls, glaciers, alpine lakes, river valleys, fall colours, hot springs, horses and more. Above is one photo I took, but a quick Google will show you how epic it all is.

Two weeks left before returning to NZ!

---

Have a great week, hike it up.

As always, reply to this email with anything and everything…I am happy to chat.

And send this to your friends and encourage them to sign up here: https://nzhikingnewsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe 

Chur,

Jub