25 days till go time: An update on our Southern Alps Traverse preparations

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In 25 days, Conor, Tōrea, Maddy and I are setting out on a trip that has been over a year in planning. In a nutshell, the plan is a traverse of the New Zealand Southern Alps (Kā Tiriti o te Moana), from Arthurs Pass to deep Fiordland, over a period of 3 months. The trip will take us across glaciers, up peaks and to many of New Zealand's most remote and rarely visited locations. This post is a bit of an update on how the planning and preparation is coming along for this trip. 

Route planning

From the middle of the year, we have slowly been piecing together, a red line (or planned route) through the Southern Alps using mainly google earth. Our route aims to stay as closely as possible to the spine of the main divide, taking us through some incredible tops. A summer of perfect weather will take us through incredible places such as Ivory Lake, Bracken Snowfields, the Gardens, West Coast Neves, the Lower Balfour and the Copland, the Landsborough, Dechen, the Volta, the Olivine Range and through the Darrans, with Sinbad, the Llawrenny Range, Terror Peak and Lady of the Snows to finish. What the weather allows will be a completely different story, and we look forward to the challenges that we will undoubtedly face. To construct this route we have been using a combination of guidebooks, NZTopo maps and satellite imagery. In addition to this, we have had fantastic beta from many incredible people including Rob Frost, Alastair McDowell, Rose Pearson, Lydia McLean, Geoff Spearpoint, Max Olsen, James Thornton and Nina Dickerhof to whom we are incredibly grateful. 

This photo gives an insight into the red line for a particular section, including a number of alternatives. 


Funding

We are blown away by the incredible support we have received. A $1000 grant from the Expedition Climbers Club, a $1500 Youth Expedition Scholarship from Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand - FMC and sponsorship from Macpac, Radix, Bay Road and Harraways have made this trip possible financially.

Fooood!

A snippet of advice given to us when we were beginning to plan this trip was something along the lines of "Don't worry about the details, just get yourselves a tonne of food and get stuck in". The food organisation for this trip is an immense task. Since lockdown, earlier this year, we have had 3 dehydrators running, drying out meals, rice, vegetables, fruit and hummus to reduce their weight and improve their longevity. Furthermore, we are stoked to have the support of Harraways, who have given us 20kg of oats, Bay Rd who have supplied us with all important peanut butter, and Radix Nutrition. We are currently organising this food into food approximately 12 food drops to be stashed in huts along the way, many by foot. Enjoy some photos of Maddy and me preparing our first food drop.



 



Tom's snack planning
Tom's snack planning


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