Photo: Richard Briggs
Who is Bill McLeod?
Bill completed a remarkable number of first ascents in the New Zealand mountains. Despite starting climbing at 30 when he arrived from Australia, he has climbed amongst the hardest routes in the country - and a lot of them. He made a huge contribution to advancing New Zealand climbing from the late 1970s to the early 2000s.
His friend, fellow mountaineer Ross Cullen, traces Bill's fascinating 25-year career in the book Bill McLeod: Mountaineering Legend.
Wilderness subscribers get a 10% discount on the book!
Missed Friday’s feature? Lost hikers rescued within hours by AI drone, Ngāi Tahu and DOC launch five new ‘national parks of the sea’, see this year’s NZMFF book winners, 2026 thru-hikers are loving these 8 items and more in last week’s The World Outdoors.
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Featured Book
Bill McLeod: Mountaineering Legend
Bill McLeod had an instinct for adventure and a fierce determination.
Drawn from the letters he wrote to fellow climbers, this book traces Bill’s remarkable journey from self-taught novice to tackling the hardest ascents in Aotearoa.
Subscribers get a 10% discount.
This week in tramping history
Maruia Declaration signed
4 July 1975
On 4 July 1975 the Maruia Declaration was signed on the banks of the Maruia River near Lewis Pass. The government had proposed large-scale milling of South Island lowland beech forest, with the milled areas to be replanted in exotic pines and eucalypts.
Forest & Bird and the Beech Forest Action Committee (later the Native Forests Action Council) opposed this atrocity. NFAC produced the Maruia Declaration, which was later circulated as a public petition before being submitted to the government in 1977. The document demanded legal recognition of native forests and an end to their logging. While it seemed radical at the time, over the following 30 years most of the declaration’s demands were met.
Current Issue - July/August 2026
Shine a light on Cape Brett - Northland’s best weekend walk, discover winter magic in the high country, embark on a loop of Rakiura’s untamed south-west, six mapped trip reports, gear guides and dozens more articles!
Photo of the week 📸
This week’s photo comes from Rueben Shim who snapped this pic of Bonnie the dog on their frosty morning in Waipakihi Valley.
This photo was submitted as part of our monthly Last Weekend feature. Each month we publish reader submitted photos in the mag and online. If your photo is published you’ll received a Real Meals meal worth $18!
Email [email protected] with your submissions.
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