International guest speaker Jon Muir hosted by the NZAC in conjunction with World Expeditions
Through his journeys from the top of Everest to the North Pole, the Central Desert of Australia to Antarctica, Australian Jon Muir has created a reputation as one of the great adventurers of modern times.
In conjunction with World Expeditions, the NZAC are hosting Jon Muir as the 2010 International Guest Speaker.
The dates and venues for Jon's visit are:
Auckland
Where: University of Auckland Engineering Lecture Theatre 401-439, Level 4 (Street level)Engineering Building, 20 Symonds Street.
When: Monday 30 August
Price: Members $15/ Non-members $20
Tickets available: Bivouac stores Auckland-wide, Outdoor Action, Albany from Saturday July 10th.; Electronically from www.aucklandclimber.org.nz available now.At NZAC meetings in July and Augst
Wellington
Where: MacLaurin Lecture Theatre MCLT102,Victoria University Campus
When: Tuesday 31 Aug, 7pm.
Price: Members $15/ Non-members $20
Tickets Available: NZAC Section Night; Bivouac Outdoor, Mercer St
Christchurch
Where: Hotel Grand Chancellor, 161 Cashel St
When : Thrusday 2 September, 7.30pm
Price: Members $15/ Non-members $20
Tickets available: Online tickets have closed as there may not be enough time for tickets to arrive by post. However, tickets can still be purchased from the NZAC National Office, Bivouac and R&R Sport.
Dunedin
Where: Castle Lecture Theatre, University of Otago
When: Wednesday September 1st 7:30pm
Price: Tickets $20 (non members); $15 (members)
Tickets available: Bivouac Outdoor, George Street
Wanaka (Cardrona) On sale shortly...
Where: Historic Cardrona Hall
When: Friday 3rd September, 8pm
Price: Members $15; Non-members $20
Tickets available from Mainly Tramping, Dunmore St, Wanaka.
Read about Jon here........
For Australian Jon Muir, who is universally hailed as one of the "great adventurers of modern times", the desire to ‘live a life less ordinary' hit early!
"I saw a TV documentary on mountaineering when I was 14," Jon says. "I decided there and then I wanted to be a mountaineer. Much to my parent's alarm! But ultimately they encouraged me to follow my heart, and I left school a year later and went climbing."
By the time he was 21, Jon had accrued enough hard core ascents in the mountains of New Zealand and Europe, to successfully summit the SW Pillar of Changabang (India), one of the most technical and sought after climbs in the Himalayas.
The fete was all the more spectacular because the team, whose average age was only 20, failed on the first attempt but had the fortitude to go back for a second try... and succeed, making the first ‘free' ascent of the route.
"We were the perfect team," he says. "The right mix of characters. I thought all expeditions would be like that. Maybe it was our naivety we all ended up good friends at the end."
Jon was part of five expeditions to Everest, the first in 1984 when he was 23. It was a different situation to now, he says
" We were a small team, very much on our own. We were on the difficult West Ridge Now all you need is a big cheque book to climb Everest- you don't need to know how to climb."
Tragedy struck on the West Ridge expedition when two of the climbers fell to their death on summit day. The team retreated. "We had to keep 100 percent concentration, keep a grip on ourselves, to get back down. It made me safer."
Jon summitted Everest from the south in 1988, on his third attempt. In the interim he'd continued to climb hard, including a solo ascent of the North Face of the Matterhorn, and a new route on Shivling's South West Pillar in the Gangotri, (India) which is yet to have a second ascent.
In the early 90's he began making trips into the Australian bush, experimenting with bush survival. These culminated in 1996 with his "Walk to Nowhere," a 620km solo waterless desert trek. He also made a 62 day, 900km sea kayak journey from the Daintree River to Cape York, followed several years later by another 52 day paddle along the Queensland coast.
"Sea kayaking is the most frightening thing I've done," he says. "Im scared of water and what's lurking below. I don't like to loose sight of land. Setting off day after day into the open sea, heading for some tiny out of sight atoll...I felt very small."
In 1999 Jon hit the headlines as part of the 84 day unsupported ‘Icetrek' expedition to the South Pole with Peter Hilary and Eric Philips.
"I'd been interested in going to Antarctica for such a long time. It proved alien to anything I'd ever experienced- so clean and pure and not just in the physical sense. It was the closest thing to being on another planet - there's nothing there you are familiar with."
In 2002 he reached the North Pole with Philips, after walking 1000km from the Siberian coast and almost loosing his life. "We were crossing a dodgy lead (of ice) of about six meters. I was half way across when I went through into the water. It was a moment of absolute horror."
Philips managed to haul Jon out, but it was days before he recovered from the shock and they were able to dry out his clothes.
By 2000 Jon had become engrossed in making an unsupported crossing of Australia.
"I saw it as one of the biggest prizes remaining in world adventure, "he says. "To do it unassisted was a huge ask."
In 2001, and on his fourth attempt, he succeeded on making the crossing - covering the 1600 miles (South to North) in128 days without navigational technology or resupply.
"This expedition was in a different league to anything I'd ever done before," he says "Everest took a lot of gas out of the tank, but pales in comparison to desert crossing. Id always come back from other trips- mountaineering, sea kayaking, polar crossings- feeling I could keep going, but not this. I was completely finished."
Surviving on bush food, always looking for water, Jon lost 30 kg in the course of the walk. But if that wasn't enough, in 2007 he attempted and succeeded in walking from the south coast to the farthest inland point of Australia. He says the distance was less than his 2001 journey, but the terrain more difficult and water harder to find.
Jon says a huge amount of research went into planning for these trips and much of the information he relied on was gleaned from the Australian Aboriginals. "It takes a long time to learn about bush tucker and practice it to a point you can rely on it ," he says.
"These days Im more interested in this kind of journey than a climbing expedition. There's more of interest happening. I'm very into Australia now. And there will always be another journey in the planning"
