At midday Nov 18th peak bagging kicked off with the usual unknown number of participants. 24 hours later at Emerson’s Brewery things were becoming clearer.
In summary, Dave McLean won the multisport category with a 24 hour trek to score 116 points. Due to a recent bout of Covid he scaled back the epic mission he had planned. Due to scaling back his epic mission he actually finished with no broken bones and won. Dave got a bit lost around Mt Kettle in the middle of the night. He forgot his compass but the moon was out so he rang his wife, Jenny, to ask her to tell him which direction the moon was in. Good thinking!
Also in the multisport division was Nolan who got tempted by the bonus points at the Gap and then lost some skin on Rocky Ridge. He scored 78 points and was home by midnight (see his write up below).
The epic mission prize was won by Sammy, Tom, David and Reid. After knocking off a few peaks and spending a few hours sleeping near Mt Cargill they somehow got tempted by the 10 points at Larnach Castle and so decided to packraft across the harbour and bike back down the peninsula. This involved organizing rafts, life jackets, bikes etc while on the run… they must have great friends! Apparently one of the rafts was leaking and so the raft in front towed as the one in the back raft pumped for the trip across the harbour. They scored 72 points and ran out of time to get any extra after the boat trip but the smiles at the finish were all winners! Memories were made.
The foot category was a close contest between a number of disqualified teams/individuals. Lydia Patillo took out the win with 79 points closely followed by Jack Tisch and Hamish Carter on 77 points (DQ). Jamie managed 87 points but teleported from Silverpeaks to Mihiwaka (DQ). Rocky scored a tidy 49 points and Dave Candy got put off by the rain so settled for 9 points. Chris managed 6 and a few open homes. Steve and Isaac scored 3 points and went to a party in pig suits. Adam got stuck in a traffic jam somewhere in California. Aaron ran 1:26 at the Queenstown half and got zero points. Dan managed 8 points but another DQ.
There were a few others out there also. Sara had a group out. Brad did a virtual bagging around Banks Peninsula for 42 points and Chelsey popped up Ben Lomond for a tidy one and done.
We randomly added a bonus point for anyone who got a photo of Dave McLean during the peak bagging. Funnily enough no one saw him. His bike was spotted a few times and he was heard but never seen!
No one was tempted by Temptation peak this year and so it will roll over to next year! Neither was anyone tempted by The Clump at night – possibly we need to up the score to make it worthwhile.
Well done everyone including those we never heard about! It’s so awesome seeing and hearing the stories of people getting out and enjoying our beautiful land!
We have plans to introduce a new category for next year! Watch this space!
Steve
Here’s Nolan’s summary…
“This year I took the approach of tramping into ‘The Gap’ (Silver Peaks) prior to the start, to make the most of the bonus points and the new rule of trig stations on peaks now counting too. It seemed to be a weekend of wildlife sightings. First, startling a deer on the way up Yellow Ridge, then while bush bashing over Rocky Ridge, having to detour around a Kārearea/ NZ Falcon who was protecting her nest. I later saw two Kaka screeching and flying around above me up in the Mihiwaka- Cedar Creek reserve. So good to see nature in all its glory!
Back to bush bashing across Rocky Ridge. I think my plan to avoid the Devil’s Staircase wasn’t so cunning after all, but at least I came prepared with Gators and my long pants. Despite my protection, I still got plenty of scratches and spike marks from the Turpentine scrub. On the upside Rocky Ridge has such cool scenery, with all the rocky outcrops and towers. This part ended up taking me longer than I expected, but that meant I ran into Jamie Gardner after bagging Silver Peak and the neighbouring trig. Together we enjoyed a fun run down Green Ridge picking up the elusive High Top and Clump before meeting Mark O’Donnell on the gravel road who was crewing for me. Mark arrived with refreshments and my MTB bike, ready for the next part of my multi-sport mission.
I enjoyed a fast ride down to Blueskin Bay/ Waitati and not so much the following grind up to Mopanui! After a fast ride to Cedar Creek/ Mt Kettle reservoir, including a steep climb up the gravel I found a suitable spot to stash the bike. By now I was getting better at my routine of switching from bike to run gear. Mt Martin and Cutten were straight forward, but with wanting to get out of the Cedar Creek area and onto the Mount Cargill Road before nightfall, I didn’t bother with Mt Kettle or Mihiwaka (I had a self-imposed midnight deadline).
It was pitch black by the time I went down the single track having forgotten that my wide handlebars on my new mountain bike would make it a more challenging bike carry! I was happy to see the spring water in the trough on the hairpin bend of Mount Cargill Road, which helped my hydration. From there it was a relatively easy ride up to the Organ Pipes -even if my navigation was a bit off in trying to find the right entrance to Mt Wetherson. On the way back down, my competitiveness got the better of me, when I saw some other peak baggers trying to find their way -I went covert and they never saw me!
My main objective for the day was to get some miles in my legs as a final hit out before Kepler, so with that achieved I headed for home early -around midnight. This involved an enjoyable fast ride down Old North Road from Upper Junction. I didn’t cover the most miles out of everyone, but it’s always amazing how much terrain you can cover -whether on foot or bike. Reflecting on the event, the Silver Peaks were at their stunning best, and it was great to see a lot of people out utilising the tracks and trails. As always, the unique use of a Messenger group to update progress and running into others, made for great camaraderie and fun! Thanks again Steve (Tripp) and Chris (Taylor) for dreaming up another crazy Inch events mission.”
Inch Events 
Looks like fun 🙂 How about a bonus for a full ascent of Devils Staircase?
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