The recipients of the 2021 FMC Expedition Scholarships have been announced:

Simon Bell Memorial Expedition Scholarship

Alastair McDowell, Canterbury Mountaineering Club, to support mountaineering ascents in Aoraki / Mt Cook National Park.

Youth Expedition Scholarships

Shar Mathias, Otago University Tramping Club, for a trip to the Olivine Ice Plateau.

Matai Wells, New Zealand Alpine Club, for a trip to the Volta Glacier in Mt Aspiring National Park.

Luke Carpenter, FMC Individual Supporter, to walk the South Island section of the Te Araroa Trail.

Rachel Smith, Canterbury Mountaineering Club, for a traverse of the Southern Alps from Makarora to Homer Hut.

Rachel Martin (partial award), FMC Individual Supporter, for a crossing of the North Island from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Martin Johnson (partial award), Canterbury Mountaineering Club, for a trip aiming to climb and establish new routes on ‘the buttress’ located east of Mt McCullaugh and to establish a multi-pitch route that reaches the summit of Douglas Spur.

FMC Training Grants

New Zealand Packrafting Association (PRANZ), to develop packrafting instruction capability in New Zealand.

Canterbury University Tramping Club, to run an avalanche awareness course.

Canterbury Tramping Club, to run a first aid course.

 * * *

Congratulations to all the scholarship and training grant recipients on their successful applications. We wish you a summer full of rewarding adventures, and look forward to your trip reports!

You can learn more about FMC’s Expedition Scholarships and Training Grants on our website.

It is with regret that due to the COVID19 pandemic, FMC has cancelled our 90^th anniversary celebration event in Queenstown. 

We look forward to a special Backcountry magazine feature in March next year with contributions from as many of our speakers as possible. Commemorative 90^th anniversary T-shirts are also available from our friends at UNCO tees.

To all those who registered to attend, FMC deeply appreciates your commitment to the conference and its kaupapa. All registration fees will be refunded as soon as possible. Please contact administrator@fmc.org.nz if you have not received your refund by the end of October.

Again, thank you for your support.

Commemorative 90^th anniversary T-shirts are also available from our friends at UNCO tees.

Don't miss out!

Through the generous support of the Maerewhenua Trust, these cash grants help candidates of the Duke Of Edinborough's Hillary Award and Scouts NZ's Venturer Award with the cost of their backcountry journeys and expeditions.

Check out some of the stories of past recipients on Wilderlife.nz.

The next round of applications close on 15^th November; visit our website to learn more and to apply.

Does your club contribute time to trapping, weed control, citizen science or other biodiversity projects?

If so, we’d love to hear from you. FMC is currently running a year-long focus on Volunteering for Biodiversity as part of our Outdoor Community campaign. We’ve already published some articles in Wilderlife, others in the June and August issues of Backcountry, but we’d really love to have more from our clubs.

In particular, we’d love to hear advice on how to get your club contributing to a project, thoughts on how clubs can incorporate these projects into their event program, and feedback on how much satisfaction your members get from volunteering.

We can either publish original articles, or re-publish existing stories from club newsletters. Please get in touch with development@fmc.org.nz.

Are you a club member, who would prefer to get your copy of Backcountry and your discount card sent directly to you at home?

If so, you are eligible to sign up to FMC’s Direct to You (D2U) service for $20 per year. If you want to get the November issue through this service, you’ll need to sign up before 22^nd October.

You can register, read the FAQs and all the info on our website:

www.fmc.org.nz/D2U

These two highly popular books, Above the Treeline by Alan Mark, and A Bunk for the Night by Shaun Barnett, Rob Brown, and Geoff Spearpoint, have been revised and republished in time for the upcoming summer.

FMC discount card holders can get 20% off these titles and free shipping in New Zealand. Use discount code FMC21 at Potton & Burton’s online store.

Watch for a review of each title in Backcountry magazine soon!

FMC’s flagship booklet, regularly updated and revised since it was first published in 1937, is now back in stock.

You can purchase it online or by sending us an order form in the mail.

The Lenz Reserve Management Committee is calling for interested people to apply for the voluntary warden position at its Tautuku Forest Cabins on the society’s Lenz Reserve in the Catlins.

Period: November 2021, November 2022 to May 2023, one month minimum, maximum two consecutive months.

Number: one or two people (would suit a couple).

Accommodation: furnished, powered self-contained caravan.

For more information about the position email the manager Fergus Sutherland at tautukucabins@gmail.com or phone 0273764120.

For information about the cabins and Lenz Reserve see Forest & Bird Website and facebook page.