Best Outdoor Experience

[Aegist]

Tell us about your best outdoor experience. What is the coolest thing you have ever done, the most exciting thing, the most beautiful scene. Where did it happen, when and under what conditions?

[Aegist]

Although this is incredibly dangerous and very stupid, my favourite outdoor memory comes from Fortress Canyon after a week of solid rain.

Again, let me say again that this was incredibly stupid and dangerous, and no one should ever do this (I'll never do it again - this very trip almost killed one of us), but we were keen to do a canyon and we had travelled all the way up the mountains only to realise that it was still raining pretty consistently and that it had in fact rained hard all the night before up there. So we decided to not attempt the grade 5 canyon we wanted to do, and instead play it safe and do a grade 2 Fortress canyon - something simple and safe in these adverse conditions.

As soon as we started walking towards the canyon, it was obvious we should have turned back. The path we were walking along was pretty much a stream. As we got closer to the actual canyon, the stream which our path followed alongside was flooded out of its normal path, and actually covering the path.

We should have turned back, but the excitement was too much for us, and the danger gave us a bit of a buzz. When we realised we could actually float down the canyon instead of walking all that way, there was no turning back.

Again, stupid and dangerous, but also the coolest thing I have ever done - Spent 3 or so hours floating down a narrow canyon on rapid water. Large rocks regularly being smacked against my butt wasn't pleasant, nor the sharp sticks or prickly plants which I regularly used to slow myself down in the faster narrow bits, but it was just so exciting, so fun - so ridiculous that this experience just stands out as something I will never forget.

The three of us on the trip all knew what we were doing was stupidly dangerous, but we were all having such a great time and laughing our arses off so much you would think we were high or something.

That did all change when Adrian abseiled over a small waterfall to check the depth and didn't resurface for about 5 minutes. That stands out as the most terrified I have ever been, and also stands to remind me why doing stupidly dangerous things may be incredibly fun, but often end with a lifetime of not-fun. Luckily he wasn't actually hurt or in danger and he came out from under the waterfall fine - but when all you know is that you just watched your best friend go underneath a heavy flowing waterfall, and he doesn't resurface for 5 minutes; your whole world collapses.

So boys and girls - Don't do stupidly dangerous things!

[e.haas]

This is a very short story about beauty.

In my year 12, which mainly consisted of outdoor trips, the usual group set out with our teacher on a cross-country skiing 3 day expedition. I had never even seen a pair of xc skis before, and my very good mate from Vanuatu had never been skiing before, let alone seen that much snow.
The weather was mostly cold, and I was mostly a shite skiier with the double whammy of a heavy poorly-fitting pack, my boyfriend Simon was so sweetly waiting for me at the back of the group when he probably should have been flying down mountains...

The moment i'm talking about that will always stick with me was when we were all in White's River Hut (where we spent both nights), drinking some foul powdered concoction by a lovely fire. I walked out to our tent and there the silence was sitting heavily in the view of a white valley so peaceful and SO BEAUTIFUL!
Then Simon walked out and understood that I had never seen anything like it before. Really magic stuff.

I really recommend this mini-expedition to White's River Hut, for ANYONE at ANY ability!

[Aegist]

Where is White's River Hut?

[trussed]

i was just gonna ask that.

[Timmy Hills]

My best and worst outdoor experiences fall within the same trip!

Like e.haas, I had one of those struck-by-beauty, look-where-the-hell-I-am moments. X-country skiing 18 months ago, we snow-camped above the Snowy River, just upstream of the Blue Lake valley. We had two days of whiteout weather, then woke up to the first clear sunny view from our campsite, looking down the Snowy River valley.

We then spent over an hour digging the snow off our tents and later that trip I tore two ligaments in my knee (but still managed to ski out)... 

Whites River Hut is past Horse Camp Hut, north from Guthega Power Station. Common corridor to take up to the Rolling Ground and Main Range, also the Schlink Hilton and Valentine Hut further north...

Timmy

[Julz]

The most exciting thing was my first tandem skydive. I wasn't nervous at all in the plane, but when I stood on the wing prior to jumping, it suddenly hit me - f***, what am I doing? Then I was freefalling! There was an initial gut swooping panic for a few seconds, then the most exhilarating feeling impossible to describe. The second time I jumped it was with the same guy and as we left the plane, we did a series of back somersaults and spinning donuts - pure fun! In 5 weeks time I'll be in NZ facing up to the 134m bungee jump in Queenstown so that will have to head my list of scariest things I've done (if I don't chicken out). At the moment, that honour would have to go to a caving trip at Yerranderie where I chimneyed a very deep and slightly uncomfortably wide slot wearing boots whose grip weren't sticky. The further I traversed this slot (no safety line), the wider and smoother it became. The adrenaline rush was so enormous it almost took my breath away and got every muscle in my body tremoring as if I'd just done an extra hard session in the weights room. Awesome!!!

One of the most beautiful moments would be a glorious alpine sunrise over the Minarets in NZ last summer. The profound silence made it a spiritual moment. Photo http://imageevent.com/jburton/newzealand/mountaineering?p=64&w=4&n=1&c=4&m=24&s=0&y=1&z=2&l=0

Julie

[Julz]

I did my big bungy jump in NZ, and it doesn't head the scariest thing I've ever done as I thought it would. Instead it heads the list of the most exhilarating, exciting and adrenaline charged activity ever. It was just awesome. Or in NZ speak - it was sweet!

Julie

I'll be in NZ facing up to the 134m bungee jump in Queenstown so that will have to head my list of scariest things I've done (if I don't chicken out).