A “Modest” Kiwi Environmental Centre
Check out the South Coast Environmental Society, and stay tuned for the video, “Welcome to the Food Forest”. There are tons of volunteer opportunities as well.
View ArticleLearning to See
By: R. Richards The wonder of a palm frond in the morning sun, nz. I’ve often been thinking how having a child is like teaching an 18-yr Outward Bound course, for the parents. The bus arrives when the...
View ArticleNZ Alpine Club’s Nice Cover Shot
New Zealand Alpine Club‘s Climber magazine, sports John Taficuk climbing the Temple Buttress at Temple Basin on the South Island at Arthur’s Pass. What do you think? Mixed (?) climbing on New...
View ArticleWrite Something, Anything
By R. Richards, Founder Mountain Spirit Institute Dateline: Auckland, New Zealand Let them eat cake I don’t mean write just anything of course, but get writing. For some of our regular readers, you may...
View ArticleSixto Rodriguez – A 40-year Overnight Success.
Sixto Rodriguez Searching for Suger Man – The Life and Times of Sixto Rodriguez By R. Richards, Mountain Spirit Institute Founder It’s been said that happiness and sorrow are different sides of the...
View ArticleLiving Life, When Life is Short
Tom on board his yacht in Bluff, New Zealand I had the good fortune to meet Tom Shepherd yesterday, here in the little town of Kingston, New Zealand. Although he won’t admit it, Tom has a remarkable...
View ArticleMarty Schmidt & Son killed on K2
Denali and Marty Schmidt, Mountain Guides Extraordinaire A New Zealand father and son’s tent has been found wrecked and vital climbing tools left abandoned, confirming fears they have been swept away...
View ArticleLife & Death in the Mountains
At What Cost?By R. Richards Vinton-Boot in Chamonix If you live in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and have anything to do with climbing, the name Jamie Vinton-Boot pops up all the time. New hard...
View ArticleNew Zealand Singer Loving Life on the Road in N. America
By Lucy Ibbotson Otago Daily Times Van Riel in Bodie California Lake Hawea, New Zealand singer-songwriter Anna van Riel, between gigs on her sustainable house concert tour across North America, plays...
View ArticleListen to the Music – Change the World
The Creation of a Song Can Change the World Doobie Brothers’ Tom Johnston and Elvis Costello in Queenstown, New Zealand, April 2014 I’m here to kindly challenge a comment Doobie Brothers...
View ArticleIt’s All About Connecting
Our mission at Mountain Spirit is about “facilitating connection to one’s self, each other and the natural world.” Yesterday, here in New Zealand, I snapped this shot of my son and couple of our...
View ArticleIn Support of Time Out – The Kiwi Way
In a busy world where taking time off is a difficult thing, it may be the most important thing.I come from the Northeastern U.S., where there’s a strong “New England work ethic”, where if you’re not...
View ArticleMountain Spirit New Zealand – A Video Snapshot
Check out our new video which gives you an overview of what we’re up to, our goals and dreams to make Mountain Spirit a place where people can connect to nature, themselves and each other. The video...
View ArticleOver-Tourism – Now What Do We Do?
Dexter and Genelle Richards at Dexter’s Inn circa 1940 ©randallrichards I grew up in tourism. My parents started a ski lodge, Dexter’s Inn, in the 1940’s in Sunapee, New Hampshire. I’ve been in and...
View ArticleDoctors Explain How Hiking Actually Changes Our Brains
Amanda Richards, Summit of Mt. Roy, Wanaka, New Zealand By Alanna Ketler of Collective Evolution While it may seem obvious that a good hike through a forest or up a mountain can cleanse your mind,...
View ArticleLockdown/Slowdown #2
All of our images in this series will be in mostly chronological order, except for this one, which tells the story of how we all fared by the wind-down of phase 3 into phase 2. Our lockdown bubble was...
View ArticleLockdown/Slowdown #3
Lots, and lots of apples. We have 111 fruit and nut trees, most of which are apple. Conner and Jess helped us with this year’s harvest. We then made apple sauce, butter, apple cider vinegar and maybe...
View ArticleLockdown/Slowdown Post #4
Using a rope ladder as part of the daily obstacle course. We added a new element every day. It was clear early on, that lockdown with a child at home from school, was going to require creativity. We...
View ArticleSunrise Magic at Mountain Spirit, NZ
For a brief moment, sunrise rays touch Cardrona Mountain above Wanaka, then vanish. As seen through some of our tipi poles this morning. Early bird catches the shot, or it’s gone.
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