“The cuts from the bracken were starting to sting, and I was beginning to lose my grip on the sheer bank. As Mark held my feet in place with his hands, I took a last leap of faith and launched myself upwards towards the sole cabbage tree that had managed to take hold on a tiny ledge beside the waterfall. With my arms wrapped around the tree, I heard my husband's enthusiastic voice. “So, what do you think? Should we do it?”
Laurel told us the story of how their dream of developing NZ first waterfall via Ferrata became a reality, as we made our way to the practice area of Wild Wire.
The story goes something like this. Laurel, a glaciologist from Canada, met her adventuring Kiwi husband, Mark on a trip to Antarctica. She was doing her masters in glaciology and Mark was working for Antarctica New Zealand as a safety guide and got to travel with Sir Edmund Hillary’s entourage when he came to the ice to commemorate his South Pole expedition. Their mutual love and appreciation of the outdoors, in particular, rock climbing, led them to the idea of developing a via Ferrata in their new hometown of Wanaka and Mark had found the perfect place, Twin Falls.
Twin Falls are two side by side waterfalls that cascade 450m vertically down through canyons and crevasses on the outskirts of Mt Aspiring National Park, 20 minutes from Wanaka. Although visible from the road, it was while Mark was abseiling the multi-pitched falls that he realized it would be perfect for a via Ferrata. So, he took Lauren “bush crashing” to show her the spot and their dream became a reality.
Bu hikaye Adventure Magazine dergisinin August 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Adventure Magazine dergisinin August 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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I found myself in limbo during the winter of 2020, in between jobs in a strained covid economy. And so, I did what any outdoors person would do with a large amount of free time on their hands. It was time to pack up my belongings and hit the road. It was time to leave behind home comforts and go adventure-seeking.
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