Crowning the Canterbury plains on a bluebird day, the Southern Alps beckon in the distance. It’s early season – the ideal time to make the quest to Mt Hutt. ANNABEL WILSON shares five reasons why you should point the compass to Mt Hutt too, and soon. Sightskiing – From the drive through cabbage-tree studded farmland, up the wide winding access […]

gONzo journalist ANNABEL WILSON bedazzled her BMX with fairy lights, glo sticks and a luminous orange rabbit for Lucid Dream’s Bike Carnival of Lights and Motion in Wellington. I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date… It’s 6:50 on a still winter’s evening. Hooning around Wellington’s CBD on a BMX I bought for 10 bucks from Trash Palace, I’m anxious I […]

Jordaine Wilson has a chat with freeskiing legend and recent Winter Games superstar Beau James Wells on what’s in his fridge and what he’s up to on a fine old Friday. Then we drop some hints about what’s ON this weekend. If we raided your fridge, what would we find? Obviously lots of bacon. What’s the best thing about Wanaka? […]

ANNABEL WILSON hangs out in The Wax Room with freeskier Janina Kuzma on the eve of the Winter Games 2015 and discovers what’s ON her mind and what’s in her ski pants pocket. Then we tell you what’s ON in the 443 and beyond this weekend. What’s happening in your world at the moment ? The Winter Games are about to […]

A highlight of this year’s NZ Mountain Film Festival was the premiere of Re-Establishment: a punchy and poetic gaze into local athlete Sam Lee‘s return to skiing after a knee injury. Co-directed by Sam and filmmaker Lachlan Humphreys, the observational documentary follows Sam for one  year – from injury then rehabilitation, to his first day back on the slopes and re-entry […]

In Central Otago, the mountains are our backdrop, our playground; sites of adventure, mystique and mana. The 2015 NZ Mountain Film Festival reflects the significance the alps hold in our national psyche. It also showcases the lure the call of the wild provides for intrepid explorers overseas. An international film competition provides the backbone for the programme, with the award winners and best films […]

You know (or have heard of) mixtapes, the original analogue ones? They used to come into your life like a random surprise. Appeared sliding around in the footwell of your car, loaded with a twenty cent mixture of tunes you’d not heard before. They’d leave you, in the same way pens do, just as mysteriously as they arrived. Rock n rolling […]

The 3rd annual Burton High Fives presented by MINI kicked off on Monday, September 15 as 60 of the world’s top snowboarders descended upon Wanaka for an epic week of on and off-snow competition and shenanigans.  The good times commenced with some wild Antipodean outdoor challenges at Oxbow Adventures hideaway followed by the MINI Off-Road racing in the heart of the Cardrona Valley. Next, the […]

  ANNABEL WILSON joined Jo Guest of Mission WOW as she led a troupe of backcountry trekkers into the mountains on a quest to share skills and ideas at Cardrona recently. Here’s the skinny from Jo on leftovers and other life lessons. Then we tell you WHAT’S ON this week in Wanaka and beyond. What’s happening in the world of Jo Guest at […]

In a fresh twist to the World Heli Challenge event format event director Tony “Harro” Harrington has issued a “Call Up” inviting athletes from around the globe to win their way into the event this year at Aoraki Mt Cook. The World Heli Challenge has been attracting international big name skiers and boarders alongside ripping lesser-known athletes down to the […]