Table of contents for Issue 175, Autumn 2020 in Wild

For anyone observing from outside our canoe, the scene looks straight out of an old cartoon, albeit one of impending doom. My feet are hooked in under the lip of the canoe, my body is stretched out and my arms, fully extended, reach toward a nearby sapling, my fingers wrapped around the thin trunk as I hold on with all my might. Our canoe has swung completely around, so I’m now at the back, the flooded river pulling the canoe downriver, my dad now in the front, is trying to grab another tree, so as to pull us toward the river bank. “I can’t hold on much longer” I plead to my dad. “Hold on Rol!” he calls back as he coordinates jumping from the canoe into the water, while…

The clouds slowly parted to reveal an impossibly steep tower of rock, snow and ice, a tower that would become the centre of my universe for the next few short weeks—Ama Dablam. In a landscape filled with the world’s tallest peaks, the 6,812m monster of a peak stood defiantly alone and resplendent. Upon sighting it, instantly my confidence was obliterated. Our chosen objective was to ascend the mountain via the classic Southwest Ridge, a route which takes a meandering path from the idyllic basecamp meadow at 4,500m, before rising through seemingly endless rubble-strewn slopes, past several camps and along a narrow technical ridgeline. We planned a final camp at 6,000m, whereafter the angle would turn mightily steep for the final 800+ metres to the summit. If the altitude hadn’t defeated…

The shivering did not encourage lingering. Here I was in a rock chamber polished by eons of wet weather scouring, a chamber of such beauty I could have sat and stared at its details for hours, stared at the variety of 3D patterns created by fine strata intersecting curvaceous surfaces. But I couldn’t. I was getting too cold. Sue and I had set off down this canyon with no insulating clothing, and in these permanently-shaded slot canyons, the water is truly frigid outside of summer. You may think the Pilbara is hot, and indeed it often is (Marble Bar, not too far way, still holds the world record for the longest heatwave–160 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in 1923-24). But you wouldn’t be walking far up in the summer sun,…

In India’s north, high and deep in the Himalayas, sits one of the most enigmatic, remote and beautiful cities on the planet: Leh. The largest city in the region of Ladakh—an area of jagged peaks, spectacular aridity, and moonscape vistas—Leh is a place of adventure and of beauty. But that beauty goes far deeper than the spectacular mountains that surround the city; a rich history also offers visitors an intriguing and varied cultural tapestry to explore. Buddhism is hard to ignore here. The region is heavily influenced by Tibet, and kaleidoscopic prayer flags stand brightly against intense blue skies and pure white gompas. But Buddhism is not alone in Leh; the city has an Islamic history too. And as you walk down narrow streets lined with whitewashed mudbrick walls and…

Sometimes the best experiences in the wild are unplanned. We flew to Tasmania specifically to climb an alpine route—the Mount Geryon Traverse. After four days of rain, which then turned into snow, it became clear that the conditions weren’t right to conquer the traverse. Defeated, we hiked 27km in icy rain to return to Hobart. On our final day in Tasmania we drove out to The Moai and luckily the weather held off long enough for us to climb it.” Kai Pantano, Brisbane, QLD Kai wins an OSPREY TRANSPORTER 65 DUFFEL, valued at $199.95. Designed to be tied to yaks on faint footpaths, organising your gear library at home, or packing for the biggest trip of your life, the double coated TPU Nylon Transporter Duffel will take you there, and…

I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or simply to be angry. I’d just sent out an e-message to the Wild community; in it, I’d asked readers to spare a thought for our fire-ravaged communities, and to urge our leaders to act on climate change. Soon after, I received an email in response. It was from JH. But JH didn’t want to spare a thought for those in fire-ravaged communities, or to express sorrow for the loss of wild places, or to express dismay that rainforests that haven’t seen fire in not just hundreds or thousands but millions of years have been torched. No, JH’s email, in its entirety, was this: These bushfires are not linked to climate change. Wake up. Wake up. At the time I read the email,…

Late last year, as dusk fell, on a quiet Victorian mountain road high on the Errinundra Plateau, a road on which I had not seen another vehicle for hours, I pulled my car up in front of a stand of trees. The trees were straight and tall, and perhaps, at first glance, you might think this was a nice pocket of forest. Except that all the trees were of the same height, of the same thickness, and of the same species. A sign announced an act of vandalism had occurred here fifty years ago, in 1969. But also fifty years ago, almost to the day I stood in front of those trees, an action was taken that would instigate Australia’s longest running environmental battle—the opening of the Eden chip mill.…

Dictionaries define “epic” in multiple ways. It could refer to a long narrative poem about a legendary hero. It could refer to something being of impressive size or scope. It could be slang, as in “Duuude, that was epic!” But in the outdoors sense, at least as I see it, its meaning is a little different. Epics are those adventures talked about for a lifetime and are when the real lessons of the outdoors are learnt. It’s when a standard day out goes a little sideways, like dropping your belay device on pitch 8 of 15 or getting surprised by a storm and you don’t have the clothing or the shelter because this was supposed to be an easy day trip into the backcountry. It’s also when, as I was…

There are great walks in valleys, through forests and along the coast. But nothing beats breathing in clear mountain air while hiking up and over wild peaks with unimpeded views—especially when there isn’t too much strenuous climbing involved. The ten peaks bagged on this six-day skyline traverse, starting at the Bluff and finishing at Mt Cobbler, aren’t the biggest in Victoria—the highest point, the summit of Mount Howitt at 1,742m, comes in at ‘just’ No.17 on the list. But they are, however, arguably the most spectacular, featuring rugged cliffs, knife-edge ridges and pristine alpine meadows. And the hike is almost all above the treeline. Adding to the appeal of this corner of Australia are the iconic high-country huts scattered in often useful locations, which provide some basic amenities and welcome…

OK, it’s not often a gear review starts with a language lesson, but then again, this is no ordinary gear. So let’s get to it; today’s lesson is about synecdoche (si-nek-duh-kee), the grammatical term when single words represent a greater whole. A synecdoche can take several forms, but one of them is when a product dominates a field so completely that the very brand name comes to define an entire class of products. Think of Kleenex for tissues and Band Aids for adhesive bandages. And, in the field of adventure outerwear, think of Gore-tex. The product was so revolutionary Gore-tex now serves as a synecdoche for all waterproof-breathable garments. Given the fabric’s dominance, and given, frankly, how darn amazing it is, perhaps it’s easy to believe hubris was involved when…

You’ve just woken up from a bitterly cold and uncomfortable night’s sleep. It felt like every stone and stick had been strategically placed to jab you in the ribs just as you were finally managing to drift off. That darn sleeping bag didn’t seem to make a shred of difference in keeping you warm. And now you need to roll up that bulky foam pad and strap it back onto your pack. Welcome to the world of sleeping mats. What you’d think should be a rudimentary outdoor purchasing decision—buy something soft and spongy—turns out to be anything but. If there’s one thing you need when spending multiple days outdoors, it’s a good night’s sleep. A high-quality sleeping bag is an essential first piece of your overnight outdoor kit. A close…

When we sat around that table, we didn’t think about starting a revolution. We thought about saving animals from extinction. We thought about recovering our local economies after fires. We thought about how we could protect what forest remained against more fires and climate change. The solution came in the form of a vision for the Central Highlands forests of Victoria, temporarily named the ‘Great Forest National Park’. We were the people of the Central Highlands who survived ground zero of the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009. We lost 173 lives and experienced the right and wrong responses to nature after fires. Together we created a park proposal that could future-proof our water, forests, wildlife and carbon. It could also guard against more fire whilst building new rural jobs and…

“It’s Australia,” you’ll hear people say. “There have always been bushfires.” And they’re right. Fire is hard-wired into our nation’s ecological and cultural land-scapes. It’s been a tool used by Aboriginal people for millennia, and a threat feared since colonisation for its destructive power. Fire is part of us. But that doesn’t mean that what’s occurred in this last season is in any way normal. Way back in December, before the worst had even hit, Greg Mullins, former commissioner of Fire and Rescue NSW, wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald, “The fires we are battling today started earlier, burn more intensely, have destroyed more homes and covered more ground than anything we’ve seen before in NSW. Fact, not opinion.” And it’s not just NSW either. Uncontrolled bushfires have been burning…

If you’re someone who likes adventuring in truly wild places, I believe that somewhere, deep in your being, you secretly enjoy suffering. It’s the only thing explaining why rational people willingly return again and again to do physically demanding things for hours or days or weeks on end in inhospitable places. Which is probably why, after five failed attempts to land a permit for the Grand Canyon, when my novice knowledge of rivers led me to google ‘top ten rafting rivers’, I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the world’s other great rafting adventures heads through the largest non-polar icefield on the planet. Rafting through icebergs—it sounds like paradise if you’re into suffering. The Tatshenshini River carves its way from British Columbia in Canada, into the Yukon and…

With high rainfall, steep, mountainous terrain and one third of the country protected as public conservation land, New Zealand contains world class canyoning in some pristine areas. While there are canyoning trips dotted throughout the country, the highest concentration is in Wanaka near the southern end of the South Island. Here, water the colour of Bombay Gin tumbles down deep canyons which contain huge jumps, big hydraulics and trips that range from relaxing, just-for-fun to downright nail-biting, write-a-will-before-beginning experiences. Wanaka is not a place to be taken lightly. Many of the canyons have large, steep catchments, are often snow-fed and freezing cold even in summer. Almost all require rope work, some whitewater skills and a high degree of canyoning experience. Compared to Australian canyons, the high volume of surging water…

AKUNA Directed by: Jess Colquhoun 6 minutes Spain “I didn’t think I had a future,” Will Robinson says of coming home from Iraq with PTSD and injuries. For 12 years, he endured the dead ends of medication-and-alcohol abuse and ineffective therapy. Then inspiration struck. He tackled the Pacific Crest Trail, then the Appalachian Trail, walking 3,800 miles on his own path to recovery. “Hiking gave me the ability to be the person that I always was, the confident person who was capable of doing anything,” says Robinson, whose trail name is Akuna. He’s already eyeing his next objective: The Continental Divide Trail. BROKEN Directed by: Simon Perkins 7 minutes USA Jon Wilson lost a leg to cancer at 23. He found joy some years later by developing a solitary routine…

Late last year, The North Face debuted Futurelight, a waterproof, highly-breathable membrane designed to improve on Gore-tex. Using the process of nanospinning—which we discussed in the last issue of Wild—Futurelight seems to be, when you look at it through a microscope, more air than material. It’s incredibly porous, and it’s easy to see why it’s so breathable. The cool thing is, though, that doesn’t seem to impact on its waterproofness. TNF started off using the membrane in some of its premium outerwear, like the Freethinker Jacket and Pants that we review in this very issue of Wild (see p120). But one of the advantages of Futurelight being nanospun is the ability to tweak the membrane towards several different end uses, and TNF’s engineers and designers aren’t limited to using it…

Since 1981, Wild has been informing, entertaining and educating Australian adventurers young and old. Our readers, contributors and community are what have enabled us to prosper over these past 30 years. So, if you want to pick up the latest issue of Wild, then we recommend these guys. Like us, our preferred stockists are the best in the biz; they know their gear better than anyone. ACT PADDY PALLIN Braddon P: 02 6257 3883 paddypallin.com.au paddypallin paddy_palllin NT LONE DINGO Alice Springs P: 08 8953 3866 lonedingo.com.au Lone Dingo SA PADDY PALLIN Adelaide P: 08 8232 3155 paddypallin.com.au paddypallin paddy_palllin VIC ONE PLANET Melbourne CBD P: 03 9670 7070 oneplanet.com.au oneplanetoutdoor oneplanetoutdoor PADDY PALLIN Melbourne CBD P: 03 9670 4845 Ringwood P: 03 9879 1544 Fitzroy P: 03 9973 6156…