Harrowing scramble across the Southern Alps on packraft, skis and foot
An award winning film follows three men on a daunting east-to-west adventure crossing the Main Divide on the South Island lugging 30kg of gear.
Waiatoto follows Charlie Murray, Jasper Gibson and Nick Pascoe as they make their way from the Matukituki valley across rugged terrain to the Tasman Sea via the Volta Glacier.
The seven-day journey was undertaken with pack raft, skis and on foot.
They group battled through snow drifts and took in epic scenery on the slopes beneath Mount Aspiring/Tititea.
Waiatoto follows Charlie Murray, Jasper Gibson and Nick Pascoe as they make their way from the Matukituki valley across rugged terrain to the Tasman Sea via the Volta Glacier.
JASPER GIBSON
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The physically demanding climb was made tougher by the 30kg kit they were carrying, Gibson told RNZ’s Nine to Noon.
“We had ski gear, glacier gear, camping gear, pack rafting gear and food for five or six days. So it was, it was a lot of weight.”
The journey was made possible, yet more hazardous, by the retreat of the glacier, he says.
“At times we were scrambling on house-sized boulders, or car-sized boulders, and having to navigate through those areas.
“We had three days of scrambling like that. And some of it was pretty harrowing, some of it was like a house of cards, you touch one stack of rocks and it would all fall down.”
The journey was made possible, and more hazardous, by the retreat of the Volta Glacier.
JASPER GIBSON
There were some tough, hard-scrabble days on the journey, he says.
“We had a 15-hour day, followed by a 12-hour day followed by another 12-hour-day of just moving pretty much the entire day, aside from some snack breaks and water breaks and switching from pack rafting to scrambling.
“But it was a lot of work getting through those…it was tenuous getting through those areas, and pretty dangerous, but it was a pretty fun adventure.”
The filmmakers have been awarded the Hiddleston/ MacQueen Award and $2500 prize money for the Best NZ-made Film at the festival.
JASPER GIBSON
What did it feel like when the group reached the river and knew they were almost there?
“Oh, that was so sweet. It was so nice to put in to the river and just get some free mileage and free movement. We had to portage still a couple times, so get out the pack rafts and still walk all of our gear a couple times, but it was sweet relief, and it was just incredibly beautiful paddling down that section of the Waiatoto, it's just so verdant and lush, and there's waterfalls coming in from all sides of the river.”
They emerged on the West Coast in Jackson Bay.
“We were tired and happy and hungry, and it was gusting and pissing rain. And so, we we're happy, but we're ready, to go get some food and get warm after that.”
The 22-minute film is part of the NZ Mountain Film and Book Festival. For their efforts, the filmmakers have been awarded the Hiddleston/ MacQueen Award and $2500 prizemoney for the Best NZ-made Film at the festival.
