Wanaka hike & fly
2nd edition, 11-13 February 2022
We didn’t quite know how the race would go this year, with the whole of the country being under the “red” traffic light setting for Covid! It was only the second time a hike and fly race has taken place in New Zealand, and such a race is already quite challenging to run, without the added administrative complexity of complying with government health orders. However, what a race it was! All our athletes had to combine piloting skill with strength, stamina, and endurance to compete in a very demanding event. Experienced pilots flew long and deep, but relatively inexperienced pilots also had their share of epic adventure, with some first mini vol-bivouacs and smiles and marvellous stories to share all around
The night before (10 Feb 2022)
b.social in Wanaka kindly hosted our pre-race briefing in their lovely upstairs function room. The evening was hot and sunny and soon the athletes began to arrive. This time around, most were locals based in Wanaka and Queenstown, with covid restrictions making it more difficult to travel between islands and impossible to travel from overseas. We were delighted to greet our participants with race packs, very grateful to our sponsors for allowing us to put together such wonderful packs and prizes.
After enjoying a bit of catching up over many a delicious fry and the odd drink, we got stuck into the briefing – necessary to make sure our athletes could keep safe, have fun, and not get told off for forgetting to check in with our safety officer, Tobias, each night by 9.30pm. Our weather guru Louis certainly delivered the goods with his weather briefing – telling our athletes that day one, “on the books, looks like the sort of day on which records can be broken”. No pressure! No one said anything particularly complementary about days two or three, which looked more like what we are used to in New Zealand, with plenty of wind and maybe a little rain.
Day 1
Our eager athletes lined up in identical race t-shirts for a 9am start at the end of Ruby Island Road (near the base of Roys Peak), displaying varying states of ease. The Wanaka Hike and Fly is open to both athletes who want to participate for fun and those who seek the podium, so in the field there were very different levels of experience and confidence. There was a nervous, but excited, buzz in the air, with the social media extravaganza already underway, apparently centred around documenting race plans (not everyone had one). Also to be seen, were all the athletes with Flyskyhy sprinting around madly to start tracking on their iPhones (a speed of 10.8km an hour maintained for 10 seconds being required, though we have heard that the developer will update the app to make it a bit easier in the future – awesome).
Most athletes chose to take the waterfall track up Roys Peak, with a few taking the standard zig zag track and enjoying the questions from curious walkers about the unusual event that was unfolding around them. The Roys Peak turnpoint was a feet-on-ground turnpoint, but with a 1.5km waypoint cylinder, athletes didn’t have to go all the way to the summit! Jesse, Doug, and Sanae were among the first in the air, hoping to get off to an early start. At first things didn’t look so promising despite the forecast – there was wind on the lake and conditions seemed quite stable. However, the air soon came alive with a cloud street leading to Queenstown that many athletes chose to pursue.
HighCloud had set up a page specifically for the Wanaka Hike and Fly, making it easy to track athletes as they flew off in different directions. Ultimate podium-finishers Ben, Aaron, and Brad flew particularly long and far! Each of them followed their own epic line, chasing the remote waypoints in the mountains near Queenstown and Glenorchy. All three were up for landing out and having a long walk back to the finish line in Wanaka! However, the day just kept delivering so they ended up making it back to Wanaka, with Aaron flying on to land at the base of the Pakituhi Hut track (the night turnpoint) and Ben walking to the base of the Mt Maude Track.
Damian, Ulises, Jessica, and Leo all embarked on exciting vol biv adventures, with some fantastic paragliding leading them to land out to continue their journey on foot over the next two days (Ulises having the unenviable task of trying to start his Flyskyhy tracking by sprinting in rather difficult terrain). Tom hadn’t been feeling well Damian, Ulises, Jessica, and Leo all embarked on exciting vol biv adventures, with some fantastic paragliding leading them to land out to continue their journey on foot over the next two days (Ulises having the unenviable task of trying to start his Flyskyhy tracking by sprinting in rather difficult terrain). Tom hadn’t been feeling well at the top of Roys Peak – perhaps not well enough to walk to the night turnpoint – so he flew to Mount Maude and then on to land near Pakituhi Hut! Chris also had a great flight, top landing at Treble Cone for the feet-on-ground turnpoint then flying to Lake Hawea.
Day 1 ended at 9.30pm with all athletes checking in safe and well. All did superbly well, having the perseverance and courage to keep going and keep safe, with many special moments. There is no doubt that it was big air on day one, with strong thermals and fast flying, often to the very edge of allowed and airspace. Both Ben and Brad observed alpine lakes white capping even though Lake Wakatipu was completely still – showing just how much power there was in the air!
Perhaps one of the most fun moments on day one was Ben was surprising some tired trampers on this stiflingly hot day, when spiralling down to land next to the hut on Mount McIntosh. He recounts that they must have been rather perplexed watching him spend twenty minutes trying to get down, only to snap some selfies (which he sent to the race chat) then fly off again.
Day 2 (Saturday 12 February 2022)
Day two started at 6.30am, with most athletes grounded by unpleasant wind, spending the day walking from where they were toward the night turnpoint of Pakituhi Hut or toward the finish line in Wanaka. Jess managed to sneak in an early flight down from the Buchanan mountains, but due to mist she needed to walk back up to claim the second point she was hunting – this time around to be greeted by gales which necessitated a walk down. Tom was the only other competitor to fly on day 2, with a spicy descent from Grandview Mountain.
A few athletes withdrew between day one and two for various reasons, including triggering pre-existing injuries. It was amazing to see those athletes then dedicate their time to help those still competing with logistics, good cheer, and food (leading to a sportsperson award for Sanae and George). Our talented race photographer James also raced around using HighCloud to track our athletes down for some great snaps. Race officials Kinga and Alex also drove around offering food and encouragement and even a hairtye to one wayward damsel (who had lost hers and had to tie her hair in a knot in order to see clearly while walking from Wanaka to Lake Hawea).
Ben and Chris joined forces to head over Mt Grandview to the night turnpoint on Pakituhi, with Aaron, Brad, and Lorraine joining them there. Lorraine ran out of water heading to Pakituhi Hut so she put the word out to our dedicated safety officer Tobias, who dropped down a few hundred metres to deliver unto her some liquid gold. Technical officer Doug had managed to arrange permission for the race crew to drive to the hut, so it was a bit of a food and fun extravaganza, with a giant Phi windsock streaming outside the hut to cap off a brilliant day.
Day 3 (Sunday 13 February 2022)
Day three dawned, with strong wind, clag and rain … and a sprint for those with Flyskyhy (just another typical day in the life of a kiwi hike and fly pilot with an iPhone). Once again, most pilots were grounded with just Aaron and Leo taking to the sky. Aaron was stoked with his descent from Grandview Mountain, taking off in a lull to avoid gusts in excess of 30 kilometres, and timing it to land before conditions picked up. Leo had hoped to make the finish line in style by flying in from Roys Peak, but stiff conditions dictated an earlier than hoped for landing.
Slowly the little dots on Highcloud began to converge on Pembroke Park in Wanaka, with the final participant crossing the line at 4.30pm, half an hour before the cut off at 5. In varying states of intactness, everyone then met up at b.social again to swap stories, make merry over food and wine, and cheer on the prize winners.
WHF 2022 Team
Kinga Masztalerz (Race director)
Lorraine Johns (Secretary)
Doug Patterson (Technical Officer)
Tobias Joechle-Rings (Safety Officer)
James Gibson (Photographer)
Ross Desmond (Scoring and IT)
Louis Tapper (Weather Guru)
Thank you to our sponsors and race committee, and thank you and congratulations especially to every one of our amazing athletes. We are going to make next year’s event even bigger and better and we hope to see you come back – alongside pilots from around New Zealand and the world – to join in on the one and only Wanaka Hike and Fly!
2022 Results
Overall & Men
1. Benjamin Kellett
2. Aaron Ford (also Best Flight award)
3. Bradley Franks
Women
1. Lorraine Johns (also Mad Hiker award)
2. Jessica Schofield (also Best Adventure award)
3. Sanae Noguchi
Sportsperson awards: Sanae Noguchi, George Fraser, Bradley Franks
Best Content award: Damien Chaparro
