Expedition Team Prepare
Antarctic Heritage Trust’s Inspiring Explorers Expedition™ Mahu Whenua Traverse team met in Queenstown, New Zealand in September to prepare for the expedition they will undertake in winter 2022.
The Trust has selected a team of seven Inspiring Explorers from throughout New Zealand through an open application process. They will be a part of the first official expedition to cross the Mahu Whenua Traverse, a new 50-kilometre route through the Harris Mountains in New Zealand’s Central Otago region.
The team includes Isaac Giesen, Libby Clifton, Emily Wilson, Ana Ross, Blake Hornblow, and two students from local Wakatipu High School, Cameron Marshall, and Sam Davis. The Inspiring Explorers will be joined by Mountain Turk Club founder Erik Bradshaw and Trust representatives.
The Traverse, which runs between Treble Cone and Coronet Peak features ‘Turk’ accommodation – 26,000-litre water tanks that have been converted into huts. Antarctic Heritage Trust pioneered Turk huts in Antarctica, at our Cape Adare field camp.
The team gather to prepare. L-R: Thomas Vallietet, Marcus Waters, Sam Davis, Emily Wilson, Erik Bradshaw, Steve Schreiber, Cameron Marshall, Ana Ross, Isaac Giesen. © AHT
After the expedition (set for winter 2021) was initially postponed due to snow conditions, then due to the COVID-19 outbreak in New Zealand, the Trust took the decision to defer the expedition until winter 2022. Undeterred, the team gathered for three days of team building and skills training. After learning about the Trust’s work conserving the early explorer bases in Antarctica, the team joined guides Steve Schreiber and Thomas Vallietet (PEAK Experience) at the Remarkables ski field for mountain safety training.
On day two the team headed out for a day of ski-touring in Soho Basin along with an avalanche exercise scenario. On the final day, the team walked into one of the Mountain Turk Club’s alpine huts known as Turks. The team are already enthusiastically looking towards next year’s expedition and enjoyed meeting each other and improving their skills.
Inspiring Explorer Isaac Giesen says, “Exploration for me is life, it’s living. Every breath we take is exploration of something new and different. I’ve lost a number of friends to suicide, so for me exploration is just being a part of it. If you’ve grown up in New Zealand and looked at the five dollar note, that is the key to exploration – Sir Ed on the five dollar note.” For Inspiring Explorer Emily Wilson exploration is important because it’s about facing the unknown. “It’s about building resilience and confidence in yourself to face things you might not expect. It helps us grow as people and be better versions of ourselves,” said Emily.
The Trust thanks sponsors Queenstown Park Boutique Hotel and The Remarkables and Coronet Peak ski fields.
