FMC is proud to offer Youth Expedition Scholarships for the 10th year running, and the Simon Bell Memorial Scholarship for the 5th consecutive year.

For information on how to apply, and to check your eligibility criteria, see www.fmc.org.nz/scholarship/

For any queries, e-mail our executive officer at eo@fmc.org.nz.
Applications close at 5pm on Friday 18 September 2020.

KiwiShare is about New Zealanders’ place in our wild outdoors. It’s about genuinely fostering backcountry recreation for all New Zealanders and properly looking after the land that is our home.

We’ve come up with some policies that we think will make our backcountry a better place to be, and now we need your help to get politicians and political parties on board.

KiwiShare started as an FMC initiative to prioritise Kiwis’ access to booking Department of Conservation huts but it’s now much more than that.

Read more

Due to a pending retirement the FMC Mountain and Forest Trust is seeking a new Treasurer. The role of the Treasurer is to maintain the accounts of the Trust and to monitor the Trust’s portfolio of investments. FMC provides some administrative support to the Trust, including receiving and receipting donations for the Trust. The Trust is managed by a Board appointed by the FMC. The Secretary and Treasurer of the Trust are appointed by the Trust’s Board.

The position is unpaid (members of the Trust Board and the Secretary of the Trust are also unpaid); we are thus looking for a volunteer. The Trust meets two to three times a year so the position only involves a relatively small time commitment. Ideally we would like the Treasurer to have skills in accounting, including Xero.

The FMC Mountain and Forest Trust was set up 30 years ago. It provides an avenue by which people can leave bequests to FMC and make donations which generate a tax rebate and by doing so provide support for the type of activities FMC wants to promote. As a Charitable Trust the Trust Board is always aware that the activities it funds must match the charitable objectives of the Trust. Over the past few years the Trust has funded the publication of books associated with mountain recreation, research into areas associated with mountain safety, and instructional activities associated with mountain safety. It has also funded the FMC Youth Scholarships which every year see young people embarking on ambitious tramping / mountaineering expeditions.

If you are interested in the position or if you would like any more information, please contact Owen Cox – owen.cox@fmc.org.nz or 021 334 037. Owen is a member of the FMC Executive and is Chair of the Trust.

Nick Shearer and Neil Sloan are working on a new edition of the Mount Aspiring Region guidebook. This new edition will be expanded to include a guide to the Forbes Mountains.

The four major blocks of peaks we aim to comprehensively cover are:

1. Humboldt Mountains – Barrier Range – Snowdrift Range - Bryneira Range - Waipara Range – Dart Glacier Peaks.
2. Forbes Mountains – Richardson Mountains – Rees Valley head.
3. Matukituki Valley Peaks
4. Wilkin / Siberia peaks and peaks around to Haast Pass.

If you have been in these areas and can provide updated information, we want to hear from you. If there are climbers out there looking for a challenge and wanting to explore less-visited alpine areas on a fact-finding mission, we can help by providing a list of peaks that need revisiting.

Some of the things we are looking for include:

• High resolution colour photographs
• information such as errors and omissions in the current (2016) edition
• suggestions for improvements to the current edition
• Changes to existing routes, access and huts
• New routes

Please contact the authors directly:
Nick Shearer nicholastshearer@gmail.com, phone 021 023 42436
Neil Sloan mckeesloan@gmail.com, phone 027 338 5560 or 03 443 1041

Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is New Zealand’s premier visitor attraction and a world class iconic destination, attracting nearly 1 million visitors per year. It is located in part of New Zealand’s largest National Park (Fiordland) and holds UNESCO World Heritage status. It is also one of our favourite playgrounds, as it offers opportunities for tramping, mountaineering, rock climbing, sea kayaking, whitewater kayaking, BASE jumping, scuba diving and more.

The current model used to manage recreation along the Milford Road corridor and Milford Sound / Piopiotahi is under stress and requires new thinking to safeguard the World Heritage status, conservation values and the visitor experience.

Read more

In case you missed it, your club can now apply for a FMC Training Grant. Any training which results in a benefit to the club can be eligible; from leadership and skills for the mountains and club committees to first aid courses. The training can be delivered by clubs or by professionals. The grant is made available through the support of the FMC Mountain and Forest Trust.

Looking for inspiration for club training? Check out these FMC articles and resources:

• Where can clubs get external training?
• Report on 2020 Leader Development courses

There is $2,000 available for 2020, and applications close 15 September. All the information, including application form is available in the members area on our website.

We are pleased to announce that Bikepacking will be the celebrated activity, for the next round of the Outdoor Community campaign. Following on from a years' support each for Canyoning, Adventure Navigation, Packrafting, Ski Touring, and Family Tramping, this project aims to reach out to like minded individuals and broaden the appeal of FMC and its member clubs.

For Bikepacking, we're working to publish articles and resources across FMC channels, with a few other projects and ideas in the pipeline. Learn more on our website:

www.fmc.org.nz/campaigns/outdoorcommunity

Local hut or track project in mind for the summer of 2020/21? Applications are open for Round 13 grants with the Backcountry Trust. Applications close 28th of August 2020. It's easy to underestimate the prep work needed to get some of these projects underway so now is the time to get planning.

www.backcountrytrust.org.nz

Entries are steadily coming in; has your club organised its club competition yet? Don't forget that Individual Supporters can also enter!

If you haven't run a competition before, why not give it a try? This year we are offering a spot prize, drawn out of a hat from all the clubs which enter. Also, we've put together resources to help you set it up as easily as possible, so give it a go, you might find you enjoy it ;0) Information on how to enter is on our website www.fmc.org.nz/photo-competition. This page also includes tips on how to run a photo competition for your club, both in person and online.

The competition closes 1st September for Individual Supporters and 15th September for clubs. If you have any questions, please contact photocomp@fmc.org.nz

With the shakeup that COVID19, there's been a number of companies which have left, several which have joined, plus a bunch of updated and improved offers. Use your FMC discount card to access the over 50 offers, which are all listed on www.fmc.org.nz/discount-card/

We welcome:

Local Dehy - 10% off Vegan dehy meals made in small batches in a custom food truck in Lake Hawea, Otago.

Fiordland National Park Lodge/Lone Moose Backers - 10% off Accommodation in Te Anau Downs.

Trackhopper - 10% off car relocations in the Wanaka/Queenstown/Te Anau area.