Wilderness July 2019

OUTDOOR GEAR IS AMAZING. It is technical, functional, durable and even fashionable. But one word you can’t quite use to describe it is green. And I don’t mean the colour. As we discover in our story ‘Microfibres, macro problems’ (p62), fleece and other synthetic garments are shedding microfibres into waterways every time they’re washed and even while we’re wearing them in the hills, leaving microscopic traces of ourselves behind. Outdoors people are generally pretty good at leaving no trace, but can we honestly say we’re leaving only footprints when parts of our clothing, no matter how small, are being detected in glaciers and finding their way into the ocean? No-one means for this to happen when they go tramping or put on a load of washing – I suspect most…

THE FEW GIVING THE MAJORITY A BAD NAME It’s a sad fact that any backcountry hut three hours or less from a road end, particularly if the walk is not too strenuous, will suffer from some sort of abuse. After years of hunting and tramping, I have also found the further one tramps into the hills the better the people that you meet frequenting the huts become. I sympathise with your author Hazel Phillips who recounted negative experiences with hunters she met at Oamaru hut (‘Second hand socks and snowy tops’, June 2019). I have seen this type before. They always come in groups of two or three and it seems they are unable to hunt solo or walk in any further than three hours. They take up most of…

Get your photo published here to receive a tub of Storm Leather Cream to waterproof, condition and shine your tramping boots. Learn more about Storm at ampro.co.nz. Last Weekend submission criteria can be found at wildernessmag.co.nz…

MORE THAN 1000 TOURISM operators are suspected of operating illegally without a concession or breaching concession conditions and 30 aircraft operators are being investigated following a DOC crackdown. The department has been policing concessions at popular tourist sites in the South Island for the second year in a row last summer as part of an increased focus on compliance. Under the Conservation Act, any commercial operation on conservation land requires a concession. The maximum penalty for flouting the law is five years imprisonment or a $300,000 fine. Over the summer, staff checked the concessions of transport and guiding operators at sites in Central Otago, Queenstown, Fiordland, Haast and South Westland. Out of 3542 checks, there were 816 cases where operators were breaching their concession conditions and a further 163 were…

WANAKA-BASED ASPIRING GUIDES has been sold to a local couple. Vickie Moses and Lukas Kirchner bought the 25-year-old guiding business in late May. Both have lived in Wanaka for nine years and though they are keen outdoors people, the purchase is their first foray into the guiding world. Moses is an organisational development consultant and Kirchner is a plumber. The couple have two sons, Jeremiah and Samuel. “The reason both of us ended up in Wanaka is because of the outdoors,” Moses said. “We both climb a lot and Lukas is a very accomplished mountaineer, ice climber and backcountry skier.” The couple intends to have a hands-off approach to running the business for the next two years. “The team is doing such a great job without us poking our noses…

‘WAIHEKE CHAMPION’ GARY WILTON has been acknowledged for his contribution to walking access. The island resident received an Outdoor Access Champion Award for his work in building the Te Ara Hura track network. The 100km track explores the coastlines, native bush and historic sites of Waiheke Island, and is divided into four areas of differing character; Headlands, Beaches ‘n’ Baches, Forest Heart and Far End. Wilton, who is Auckland Council’s Waiheke parks advisor, said his team contributed around 20 per cent of the linking tracks, but most of the network was pre-existing. “We’ve got more tracks per square kilometre than anywhere in New Zealand. Nowhere is more than 2km from a public road or walking track – they really criss-cross the island,” he said. “There were pioneers before me out…