Stories from a Path Less Travelled
n the past fortnight as we come to grips with the new normal of 2022, it feels like we got a brief warning.... then the reality of the Big O penetrating the community in New Zealand truly hit. As the shockwave of moving into the Red setting of the traffic light alert system reverberated, a progressive disturbance to one and all involved in any kind of organised event large or small has been felt the length and breadth of the land.
The proliferation of data and the use of data is an incredible tool, but when you factor in the fact that we are humans and NOT robots, and that personality traits play a role in our relationship with data we have to start to question our relationship with the need to measure.
Rustic, quaint and quintessentially kiwi. A year ago I wrote a story for Adventure Magazine about the allure of the back country huts that inhabit the high alpine landscape of NZ. One year on and the virtually closed borders of New Zealand have seen a significant uplift in interest around outdoor recreation. From the Department [...]
It's no secret that I've done a lot of different pursuits on the sport and recreation front (the professional front also). I'm a strong believer that diversity of skills enables you to have the agility that is needed in our present era where the only constant is change. The more skills you learn, the faster [...]
Riding bikes in winter is cold. Bloody cold. Cold enough to make you want to stay inside. I've been on an ever evolving mission to work out how to better combat the chilly temperatures of winter to ensure that the fun things can still be enjoyed to a maximum so when some friends quizzed me about what to wear...I went down a rabbit hole and it seemed only fitting to share it with a few more of you. Caveat - this blog is evolutionary. Should other game changing pieces of kit be found, that may be added at any point in time.
That late August morning, I had misjudged where I was and had taken one turn too many as I arced turns of white dusty chalk promptly proceeding to be bluffed and launched at pace off the precipice of Chute 7 at the very top of Treble Cone's Motatapu Chutes having had zero intention of going in there that day. Without any intention of being where I was, I embarked on the ultimate tuck-n-roll extravaganza over anything and everything in my path to come to a stop no less than 450 vertical metres below where I had unintentionally launched.
In full yard sale style, by the time I had ground to a halt I was minus anything that could be ripped off with the impact including goggles, gloves, poles and skis.
“What’s my name?” What seemed like a moment ago, I was arcing turns in the hunt for windblown stashes of chalky goodness and now I’m trying to comprehend what has just happened. A couple of minutes passes by. “What’s my name?” asks the Patroller in a Canadian accent. I’m strapped in a blood wagon surrounded [...]
It's been one hell of an adventure since leaving London all those years ago. One thing is for sure, the desire to continue to be 'relentless in the pursuit of adventure' will continue to be my inner compass. Life is more than competition or a race, it's a game - and you get to choose [...]
Because sometimes you just need to get lost in some all time epic views....
It's hard to articulate in a couple of words just how the landscapes of New Zealand's Southern Alps and it's surrounding countryside will make you feel. Majestical, towering, moody, brazen. These are snow capped mountain ranges with lakes and braided rivers weaving a path at their feet. While it would seem that anywhere and everywhere [...]