WILD WOMEN
Increasingly women are at the forefront of fresh expeditions and first crossings. Penzy Dinsdale traversed the length of the Southern Alps and Tanya Bottomley the 45th parallel, while Tarsh Turner and Dulkara Martig undertook an all-female expedition of Fiordland's Dark Cloud Range. They spoke to Wilderness about their adventures, their motivation, and the representation of women in the outdoors.
A problem-solver
WHEN MOUNTAINEER and multi-sport athlete Penzy Dinsdale missed out on a grant to go skiing in Antarctica this summer, she decided to traverse the Southern Alps instead. The 85-day epic went from Fiordland to Farewell Spit and involved tramping, mountaineering, skiing and cycling some of the country's most spectacular, difficult terrain.
The biggest challenge came early, on day six.
“It was the huge mental weight of this thing stretching out in front of me, all these technical sections I had to do,” says Dinsdale. “I had a freakout and sent a bunch of people inReach messages and got some great responses, so I went ahead and did day seven.” That day, from Dart Hut to Lochnagar, saw Dinsdale stuck on a ridgeline. “I managed to get myself off that. Then I was like, no, I can do this.”
The technical challenge of the trip – Pioneer Pass – lay ahead, but the Aoraki/Mt Cook section proved a highlight because of the people. From Arthur's Pass, the accomplished amateur photographer was out of the high mountains. She was also mostly alone. While she's now more confident soloing tricky terrain,
