Wild

High on the heady exposure of Malte Brun’s East Face—and perched on an eagle’s eyrie, my ski tips hanging over thousands of feet of cold air—I snapped this over-the-shoulder shot of the ever-graceful Jim Ryan as he laced turns down a hanging panel ab

“That’s it?” “What’s it?” “That.” “What do you mean, that?” “That’s all you’re having for dinner?” “It’s no less than what I have at home.” Jared had a point here; he was not exaggerating. We were both living in Japan at the time, and Jared was my re

(RRP $64.99) *LIMITED TO FIRST 200 SUBSCRIBERS ONLY WILD IS NO ORDINARY MAGAZINE. Since its establishment in 1981, Wild has been the inspiring voice of the Australian outdoors. It is a magazine of self-reliance and challenge and sometimes doing it to

Tanya Plibersek has the power to save this important site. The question is: Will she? Last month, Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek made a decision to refuse Walker Corporation’s proposed $1.4 billion development at Toondah Harbour, and th

Noongar Country Old-growth tingle forests in Walpole-Nornalup NP are under threat from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attraction’s (DBCA) prescribed-burn program, with two blocks set to be torched this year. The areas of old-growth

As I slid down the snow-covered slope, my backpack strap tightened around my neck, and I felt the familiar catch of panic in my throat. I came to a stop and tried desperately to pull off my gloves, unstrap my backpack, and get more air into my tighte

With the rising costs of lift passes and the call of the wild beckoning, people are looking outside resort boundaries for a taste of winter adventure, and the numbers of ski tourers, splitboarders, and snowshoers are growing steadily. But getting all

(Note that due to space, but not importance, much has not been covered, and there are gaps in this history that deserve filling.) TASMANIA, THE MID-1980S. Environmental activists were celebrating the victory of the No Dams campaign, a massive blockad

In the intricate dance of life, a poetic symmetry often leads us full circle, returning us to where we first set foot. In the tapestry of my professional skiing experiences, one vivid thread connects me to the starting point of my first The North Fac

“Aerial activism in our tall and magnificent forests in lutruwita/Tasmania has afforded us a unique platform from which to tell the brutal and incessant story of the demise of our forests. From the canopies and above, we have occupied these wild spac

With fumbling frozen fingers, I tug hard on the second shaky cam. My lifeline. Placed precariously into a partially frozen deck of chossy granite cards behind, it rips violently from the mountain, casting a chunk of Alaskan granite into the swirling

An image a friend shared of a foggy mountain landscape with an imposing ridgeline poking out of the fog wasn’t all that alluring, but the location’s name was another matter: “Valhalla Ranges”. Any place named after the mystic hall where Nordic warrio

(unless otherwise credited) It all began with Caroline. Once one of the last great mountaineering challenges in New Zealand’s Kā Tiritiri-o-te-Moana/Southern Alps, the Caroline Face of Aoraki/Mt Cook had haunted me for a decade. Despite eighteen year

“I’ve never seen snowshoers out this far before.” We were at Kosciuszko NP’s Mawson Hut, and we’d just made, or were in the process of making, a new friend—a backcountry skier. It was Day Four of our trip, for both her and us, and she appeared if not

TASMANIA IS A GLOBAL HOTSPOT for ancient, long-lived paleo-endemics. King Billy and pencil pines, dwarf pines, deciduous beech, Huon pines and celery-top pines survive in mostly montane, cool, wet areas, not infrequently forming clonal communities th

HINCHINBROOK ISLAND WILL QUICKLY MAKE you realise Australia is more than just beaches and red dirt. Just off the coast from Cardwell in Tropical North Queensland, the island offers a unique and diverse combination of landscapes: Tropical rainforests;

A WINTER ADVENTURE DOESN’T GET MORE SUBLIME than this: Easy walking through open woodland; an epic gorge with towering cliffs and stunning scenery; followed by serene flat-water paddling, exploratory walks and refreshing swims each balmy, warm aftern

OVERIN THE US, largely influenced by its substantial thru-hiking community, the trend to ultralight gear has been going strong for some years now. Australia has been slow to follow suit, in part due to gear conservatism here, and in part due to our s

I’ve read too many of Dan Slater’s columns. I’ve become I a UL convert. Well, almost; there are some things I refuse to compromise on. Like a decent shell jacket, one that’ll reliably shelter me regardless of the conditions. Normally, this means carr

I WAS LAUGHING THE OTHER DAY with Sam Smoothy (who’s written this issue’s cover story about skiing NZ’s 3,000m peaks) about how there’s no ski mountaineering in Australia. And yes, while he’s right, that doesn’t mean there’s no place in Oz for ski-mo

ALL TOO OFTEN WHEN I head into the backcountry, I tend to be struggling to cram everything in. Partly, well, mainly in fact, it’s because I often lug out a DSLR camera body, two or three lenses (one of which alone weighs about 1.5kg), batteries etc.

I LOVE DOWN HOODIES. They’re super light, super warm, super breathable. I’ve owned a half-dozen of them in my life, with various levels of insulating warmth, and I’ve loved them all. Down jackets, for me are a bit like your kids (if you happen to hav

PAST Outdoors offers a carefully selected range of hiking, camping and expedition equipment tailored to meet the needs of your next adventure. They also manufacture a range of ultralight shelters that can be heated with a titanium wood stove. They al

Dan wins an awesome Osprey MUTANT 22 climbing pack. It features integrated rope carry, a wide-mouth zippered opening, customisable options for carrying crampons/other items on the front of the pack, a secure and easy-to-use ice tool carry system, and