Its been a while coming but finally here it is, the second teaser for the Backyard and Beyond movie.

The Backyard and Beyond team would like to welcome Tony Rac on board.

Tony is a climber/artist/photographer/accountant from across the ditch in Sydney. Tony has spent a number of summers both climbing and filming in the Aoraki Mount Cook National Park, and considers New Zealand his second – if not first – home. Despite the unlikely mix of being both an artist and accountant, Tony brings a strong skill set to the filming and editing portion of the BAB project.

The BAB team is currently involved in the post production phase of the documentary. This is likely to still take some time, and the final product will not be completed until next year. However, the BAB team will soon release some short trailers highlighting the project. Keep an eye out!

Whew! All members of the BAB team are back in Christchurch, and trying to make sense of ‘normality’. Things like flushing toilets, endless food choices, clean clothes and armpits, and so much space indoors all feel rather overwhelming. Not to mention the noise, and the rapid travel of everyone and everything seemingly without awareness of surroundings. The assimilation back into society isn’t going particularly well just yet.

How to describe the trip? Words seem so inadequate, so limiting, so misleading. Superlatives wouldn’t scratch the surface. We only hope that, in time, the video will do justice in capturing our experiences.

To the stats, or things that can be quantified: We biked nearly 200km in three days from Christchurch, across the Canterbury Plains, to Erewhon Station near the head of the Rangitata River. From there we started hiking up the Havelock Valley and managed to locate an exciting version of Twilight Col in a whiteout. There appears to be a discrepancy on different maps as to the actual location of the Col, but our version worked out fine thanks to Jamie’s route-finding ability.

After dropping into the Godley Valley, we climbed again above Godley Glacier, camping near Trident Tarn for an attempt on Mt D’Archiac that didn’t happen. We hardly even saw the summit. Deteriorating weather chased us back down valley and up over Armadillo Saddle into the Murchison Valley. Traversing a terrace on the western side of the Liebig Range proved challenging in the rain, but we still squeezed in a first ascent of Mt Conrad’s West Face in a five hour weather window.

12 days after leaving Erewhon Station we reached Mount Cook Village, just before the worst storm of summer hit. Half a metre of snow fell on our proposed route over the Mt Scissors slabs into the head of the Landsborough Valley.

After waiting for six long days at the New Zealand Alpine Club’s Unwin Lodge (thanks heaps to wardens Chas and Katrina for putting up with our morose pacing) we changed plans and plugged over a snowed-up Jamieson Saddle into the Dobson Valley. Usually a doddle, new snow meant the Jamieson required two attempts to cross. Not wanting to repeat the drama, we avoided Tragedy Col, instead walking around 35km in a day down the long, long Dobson, and then round into the start of the Hopkins Valley. By now, the weather window had squeezed shut, with gale force northwest winds buffeting us during travel up to Huxley Forks Hut, and then heavy rain and rising river levels before Brodrick Hut. Our satellite phone died, meaning the end to weather forecasts.

Yet the following day we still managed to push over Brodrick Pass and into the Landsborough Valley. Smiles returned as we felt the journey was, finally, back on track. The smiles widened after crossing the Landsborough River and discovering our food stash (thanks heaps to Becky and DOC) just above Pass Creek. We celebrated by taking a rest day and eating as much as we could. It rained again.

Reaching the Upper Otoko Pass proved considerably more challenging than expected, and to look over into the head of the Otoko Valley was a huge relief. After another rest day, Jamie and Shelley climbed the steep and rather loose rock band of Mt Hooker’s North Face, linking up with the North East Ridge route a few hundred metres from the summit.

That night the rain set in again, and followed us down through the thick forest of the Otoko Valley. Yet, surprisingly, the last day was possibly the best weather of the trip and, 12 days after leaving Mount Cook Village, we arrived at Paringa on the West Coast (thanks heaps to Cornelia for picking us up and Alice for meeting us at Franz Josef).

That’s a brief physical description of the trip. The weather was never settled for very long and, in hindsight, we were probably pretty lucky to complete the traverse, not to mention climbing two first ascents. But, we would agree that the journey was so much more than the climbing. The skills of each member made us that much stronger as a team. And the varied environment we travelled through – especially Trident Tarn in the head of the Godley, the Landsborough and the Otoko – were absolute highlights.
Over the next few months we will continue working on production of the video from footage we took during the journey. Stay tuned.

Thanks to all our sponsors and supporters – SPARC, Bivouac Outdoor, Cactus Climbing Equipment, The Roxx, New Zealand Alpine Club, and Department of Conservation, we couldn’t have done it without them.

The last couple of weeks have been frantic with packing, last minute details, Christmas and a further round of earthquakes. The 27th has finally arrived and it’s time to hit the road. This comes almost as relief: there is no more second guessing about what essential piece of equipment has been left behind. Uncertainty and adventure lies ahead. Anticipation breeds energy. The journey begins.

As well as preparation and training for their expedition in January, the Backyard and Beyond team have been busy promoting the project and getting the adventure message out there.

On Thursday 3 November Paul spoke to a small but interested crowd from the NZAC Canterbury Section about how the project came about and some of the challenges the team have faced through the year and those still to come.

The next night, Friday 4 November, Jamie spoke at the NZAC annual panel discussion on why climbing in NZ was just as exciting and thrilling as going on overseas expeditions.  He managed to convince most of the audience this was the case although he still has a few tough old nuts to crack on the topic.  In any case, if his enthusiasm for climbing in NZ is anything to go by then the future is certainly going to be exciting.

In written media, BAB featured in Issue 26 of Bivmail with an update on what the team has been up to and preparations for January.

Over the last few months the BAB team have been busy with preparations for their big trip in January, as well as getting into the hills as much as possible to climb and train. So what’s been happening?

In early October Jamie ventured into the Mt Cook area with a friend and climbed a new start to a classic route on the south face of Mt Hicks.  The climbed involved seven pitches of new climbing with several of these being quite technical.  Along the way Jamie captured some exciting video footage which Troy has made into a short movie.  Check it out:

On the same weekend that Jamie was climbing Hicks, Paul and Shelley explored the lower section of the Murchison Glacier which forms part of the route for the big trip.  The glacier turned out to be more rugged than expected and is sure to be a good test for the team in January.

Shelley at Onslow Hut in the Murchison

More recently Paul, Shelley and Troy went tramping in the Ahuriri Valley in the Mackenzie Basin in search of new terrain for climbing and to practice filming techniques.

During the week, the team have been training at the Roxx and organising food drops, gear and camera equipment.  So its all happening and with not much more than a month till Christmas and the expedition start everyone is starting to get just a little bit excited.

The Backyard and Beyond team is pleased to announce that talented photographer, Troy Mattingley, has now joined the trans-alpine expedition as its dedicated camera man.

Troy is an experienced climber and respected amateur photographer based in Christchurch.  His photos are highly regarded within climbing and outdoor media circles in NZ.  Recently he has broadened from still photography into motion filming.  The latest three videos on the BAB website are products of his work.

Troy is a key addition to the BAB team.  His skill and experience at seeing outdoor life through the lens, not to mention being competent at doing this safely in the mountains, is greatly appreciated by the other team members.  With Troy onboard, the BAB project is now well positioned to capture the trials and tribulations of expedition life as the team take on their big adventure in January.

Backyard and Beyond team member Troy Mattingley continues to improve his film making with support from the rest of the team.  This latest production tells the story of Jamie and Paul’s recent ascent of the White Strike on the Dasler Pinnacles in the Hopkins Valley.

On Saturday, Jamie and Paul established White Strike, a new five pitch ice and mixed route on the northwest face of the Dasler Pinnacles in the Hopkins Valley.  The route ascended the striking line on the southern (lower right) tier of the face and went at grade WI3, M4, with sparse protection (all rock gear).  It was especially satisfactory for Paul who has visited the area on a number of occasions, hoping to find new winter routes but rarely finding enough ice has formed to make even a small climb possible.  He commented that it may have been his last trip to the area if it hadn’t been for White Strike.  But now that he knows that it does form up, even if just occasionally, its all back on again.  Such is the way of adventure – never give up.

Jamie and Paul on route to Dasler Biv in the Hopkins Valley

The view of the northwest face of Dasler that greeted them as they emerged from the bush

Paul seconding the 3rd and crux pitch of the route which involved a tight squeeze between the wall on his left and blank slab on his right

The ascent line of White Strike