Mountain biking is huge here. With it comes a network of guerilla downhill tracks scattered in our hills, often hidden just off the sides of maintained trails. For me they’re some of my favourite trails to run up and down.

#trailrunning #Queenstown

An unmaintained track at the back of Coronet Forest recreational reserve, part guerilla downhill MTB trail, part desire lines created by local recreational users and trappers. Becomes greasy in the colder months with the silty soil. Canters and narrow sections between Matagouri (NZ native) and broom (pest plant) keeps me on my toes (or off), well scratched up and muddy.

With an average 24% gradient, its up there for steepness.

There’s a trig station at the top (A3KE) and great views of Arrowtown to Queenstown with Remarkables in the backdrop. In the other direction Coronet and Brow Peaks.

From the trig beyond, on the southern face, Coronet Forest has just had all the wilding pines removed as part of a long term revegetation project so it is looking very bare at the moment. Revegetation is on its way with recreational improvements not long after. I’m sure that will eventually have an affect on this little backside of the reserve.

It can be fun in the rain often ending with a muddy arse. Because of the canters, narrow and often greasy terrain this is a great one to put stability, ankles and knees to the test. I find gloves handy as I brush through the prickly stuff, or grab onto a tree or branch if I’ve completely fallen off the track (…it happens).

I’ve seen less than 10 people in ~100 visits so its relatively quiet, which is great for those hard sessions where I become a heaving, snotty, muddy and sometimes bloody mess.

Some of my favourite sessions here:

• Trot to the top
• 3x reps, progressing efforts each rep
• Fartlek

Some variations:

• Scramble the ridge to the end and loop back onto Bush Creek Trail (tip: duck into southern side of Coronet Forest for the first few hundred metres to avoid the dead wildings which are impenetrable (trust me) - there was some blue marker tape last time I did this)
• Add Feehly Hill for another little climb and flat rest between hills.
• Add anything on the other side of Bush Creek.
• Include it in a ridiculous vert challenge.

A3KE: Views of Arrowtown and Feehly Hill down below: Wilding removals looking west on the southern face of Coronet (no-longer) Forest: Views of Brow Peak looking north:

#trailrunning #trainingground

• Distance: 79.96km
• Elevation: 10,099m
• Elapsed Time: 23:38:43

For my birthday back in 2022 I treated myself to a wee challenge - Go up and down some hills for 24 hours and snag 10,000m of vert. Similar to Everesting where the target is 8,848m, though I couldn’t claim an Everest because I used two peaks. I’m usually pretty tuned in to my limits, and I was fairly certain I could bag this one if I didn’t injure myself. I had never done more than 5,000m in one outing though so I was still stepping into unknown territory, as I like to do with DIY adventures.

The Route

I chose this spot out the back of Arrowtown (20 minutes from home) because I could park my car pretty much at the base of the two climbs and use the boot as an aid station.

Peak 1 - Brow Peak (1,456m)

This is a regular for me. I’ve bagged this one probably 50 times from multiple directions. Given my car is parked at around 420m elevation I get just over 1,000m over a 7.6km round trip.

Peak 2 - A3KE (876m)

This is another regular where I do my grunty hill sessions up to the trig station. Although smaller, its still steep. This one gets me 430m over a 3.6km round trip.

The plan

My crude plan:

• Trot the easier gradients, hike the rest.
• Regular fueling, mix of gels, bars, powdered electrolytes, lollies, pizza and noodles for the cold parts of the night.
• Use poles.
• Just a waist pack on the smaller hill.
• When I want to pull the pin, accept that is a pretty normal feeling, and keep going.

How it went

Great! Everything went swell. It was brisk in the mornings and evenings, but relatively comfortable. The cold kept me moving. I started at 8am, and around 3am the next morning when fatigue was hitting me the cold kept me moving.

Dad was in town and he paid me a visit around 6pm, 10 hours in. He rode my bike to come see me! Bloody trooper. That’s about a 30km round trip. Not bad for 70 years old. He was a bit drained though, 15k in. Luckily I had a boot full of snacks. We shared some electrolytes, had a laugh and went on our ways. Poor fella got a bit lost on the way back in the dark so had some stories himself the next day.

I hit the anticipated thought of quitting, laughed it off as planned, and kept on. 10 minutes later the thought had passed. The cold pizza was amazing (I made sure it lasted), as were the warm noodles. Having the boot was very handy.

The body held up well. Surprisingly not a single issue. I am however writing this now, 2 years later, injured with poor knees. Go figure.

Views from Brow Peak showing the change in conditions.
09:08 11:54 14:55 18:12 22:04

#trailrunning #bigslog

Date: 27 December, 2023
Location: Glenorchy, New Zealand

• Distance: 69.25km
• Elevation: 4,394m
• Moving Time: 13:42:31 (I was moving much longer, but I was so slow my watch didn’t notice)
• Elapsed Time: 20:59:14

The goal was to complete the 5 Passes Route in one push. I was keen for a slog. The route is considered for experienced hikers, taking anywhere between 3-7 days. The terrain is slow, with multiple river crossings, bush bashing, alpine passes and navigation challenges. Perfect.

This would double as training for The Revenant which I had scheduled in a month later.

I kicked off at 4am knowing the first section would be easy in the dark, starting from the Routeburn Shelter as the bridge at Sylvan Campsite was down from flooding and the track to Lake Sylvan was closed. A bit annoying as I would’ve liked to do a full loop, but this way gave me the Sugarloaf Pass in both directions (6 passes?), so who am I to complain?

Amazing scenery the whole way. It was very tough going with not much runnable terrain. Feet were wet most of the way. Beans Burn was marked with triangles and cairns to where it opens up before Rock biv, though it was still easy to lose the track (which I did frequently).

The climbs were grueling as were the constant rivers, tussocks and boulders. The final descent from Sugarloaf at midnight, 20 hours after being on my feet, felt like an eternity.

Overall a successful day. A ripper of a challenge in some beautiful surroundings.

2 months later a couple of parties tackled the loop route for a Fastest Known Time (FKT). They came in at 20:08:42 and 22:28:02.

Crossing the river on Beans Burn Track

Useful markers along Beans Burn

Occasional open plains

Somewhere along Beans Burn

Track is somewhere in there

Knackered already and I’ve only done one pass. Fohn Saddle just around the bend

Looking up Beans Burn with Fohn Saddle in the distance

Walls of mountains, looking NE over Beans Burn from a higher altitude as I approach Fohn Saddle

Fohn Lakes and the outlet

Looking SW along the Fohn Lakes outlet with Fiery Col out of shot to the left

Approaching Fiery Col (left saddle)

Passing a small waterfall approaching Fiery Col

Descending Fiery Col

Approaching Cow Saddle

More mountain goodness

Looking down Hidden Falls Creek

Looking south over Park Pass, after an impressively steep climb

#trailrunning #bigslog

Date: 15 Jan, 2023 Location: Queenstown, New Zealand

Leg 1 (MTB)

• Distance: 15.73km
• Elevation: 512m
• Moving Time: 1:19:16
• Elapsed Time: 1:28:46

Leg 2 (run)

• Distance: 32.33km
• Elevation: 2,219m
• Moving Time: 8:43:08
• Elapsed Time: 9:18:29

Leg 3 (MTB)

• Distance: 16.51km
• Elevation: 789m
• Moving Time: 1:44:45
• Elapsed Time: 2:00:43

Starting at Skippers Saddle the first MTB leg was down the flowy Long Gully track on my new dual suspension. What a way to break it in! This was a very fun descent into the valley. I eventually popped out onto Skippers Road which I rolled around til Skippers Cemetery where I dumped the bike and donned the joggers to start the foot leg to Aurum.

I trotted along Skippers Creek on Bullendale Track for a few kms before taking a left at the fork towards on Dynamo Track. Had a chat to a young family who had camped the night near Dynamo Hut. Things slowed down here as the track continues to incline and fades away past Archie Hut. From here I picked my way through tussock and continued the climb towards Aurum where it finally started to peek out from the clouds.

Skirting under the tormenting face I aimed for the saddle between pt1872 and Aurum before deciding my final line to the top. I opted to climb the ridge as best I could, which I managed, but it definitely tested my nerves. There was lots of loose rock and dirt so I had to shimmy my body weight carefully. It was steep too. The photos don’t do it justice. After soaking in the views at the top, regaining my nerves and having a snack I descended a slightly easier way, skipped over to Dandy’s Saddle and started the descent into the next valley over.

I took the wrong line, hitting what felt like a cliff, so had to backtrack up the hill and go again a spur over. From here it was trudging through the creek past Bullendale Hut then back onto Bullendale Track and back to the cemetery for my bike.

The ride out was bloody horrible. A big climb out of Skippers on a very tired body. I was completely shot. Slammed a cold drink back at the car and laid in a slump for a while before heading back home. That was a big day. 13 hours all up.

#trailrunning #MTB