Wilderness magazine NZ

Used to subscribe but haven't in a couple of years. As others have said, big filler photographs and little to no substance in the articles. They all tend to read the same too, as if all written by the same person or at least heavily edited by one person. The "gear reviews" are blatantly just adverts, when have you even seen a piece of kit given a bad review? Its a doctors/dentists waiting room coffee table magazine with the same seriousness as a Women's Weekly.

they have designated people who are their "reviewers at times they mention who they are, but its a farce given the heavy editing that went on with my review, its false representation that you have various peoples opinions on gear but someone in the staff waters down any negative comments, those people arent really writing the reviews they are being ghost written... i was only asked to write one review, i never got any feedback from them or heard from them again, they may only retain people if they write agreeable enough reviews. they paid me $60 for writing the review but I wouldnt have changed what i wrote to keep making money. i think they are trying to get maximum readership and advertising dollars with articles that will appeal to the masses who dabbles in easier tramping.

I got paid over a hundred bucks a pop for my trip reports. A little grammer editing here and there but other than that we're my words and pics. I used to enjoy it and the money would pay for gas and kai.

I agree on the reviews, that's just advertising. But on the trips, at least for me, I often find a lot of value. Ideas, or areas. On the suggestion: "I'd like to see more coverage of real wilderness with more trip reports of areas away from the beaten tracks." I've been thinking about submitting some, but then I thought: maybe some areas should not be written about, let's just keep it quiet :-) It's like the Tama lakes. Nobody knew about them, now it's everywhere. Heaps of people even in winter. But they definitely do off the path tracks, written by reputable authors. I was completely new to them, and the first one could have ended in disaster (I had plan B, and C and D, so it didn't). This was traversing Mt Ngauruhoe via the South-East side. The GPS track they supplied was approximate I learned after I came back and complained. On this trip having it accurate was important, as when traversing the flanks it gets pretty important to hit it right. But that GPS track put us completely in the wrong spot. Also the times given were unrealistic for us. We ended up tenting on the flanks of Ngauruhoe 1700 metres up. But I learned heaps! I disagree with the statement it has been dumbed down. Take the February issue: [camping the Abel Tasman](https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/camping-perfection-on-abel-tasman/): lots of tips and ideas, very valuable information which would take you heaps of time to research yourself. The "Off the beaten track" section has an [epic 10 day trip](https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/diamonds-and-dragons/) via Lockett and Douglas ranges. Hardcore stuff. I also enjoyed the [Mingha-Deception route](https://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/a-route-that-has-it-all/). I just had been reading a TA blogger who skipped that section out of fear, so just reading up in it was timely, and a trip that seemed nice enough to put on my bucket list. It might be popular, many may have done it, but if you haven't, it's a good read.

Berend wrote; On the suggestion: "I'd like to see more coverage of real wilderness with more trip reports of areas away from the beaten tracks." I've been thinking about submitting some, but then I thought: maybe some areas should not be written about, let's just keep it quiet 🙂 Your answer largely supplies the reason why I was "ambivalent" about supplying such articles when approached. There are some places I'd be uncomfortable providing gps co-ordinates and tracks to. Here on NZ Tramper when there was speculation about mining relics on Kelly Range I confirmed such existed and posted a photo but didn't provide a precise location. On other occasions I've provided exact locations of some remote sites but given no details on how to get to the spot.

the skills advice is dumbed down and over simplified, not that you should be learning your skills from a magazine, you need to learn from experienced people in practical training.

@waynowski: > 5 best this 10 best that, lots of big pictures Ugh. So much stuff these days is about aiming to get headlines shared as much as possible through social media.

@izogi there is that I am sure. However, it is also certainly proven that people are drawn to reading lists over long format text stories.

I used to subscribe but can't bring myself to pay the money. I enjoy the free online articles but don't think they're worth paying for. I have to say I enjoy the recipes the most after the off the beaten track articles. The gear reviews predictably don't feature gear that I know is the best as the gear is not well known e.g. the best sandals in the world are Source but they'll never feature in magazines. One in three Israelis wear these sandals...I've run down screes in them for month after month and they have the best tread for slippery tussocks etc. Recently I bought a pair of flimsy Teva sandals and they had mimicked the Source tread to a less dimensional degree but were getting onto the right track at last.

Gee, I must be on another planet then. I find the magazine is pretty good. There's no comparison between it and the Australian equivalent. I think the Wilderness articles are interesting and relevant and the digital posts add extra value to it.