Solo

One afternoon, journalist Hazel Phillips decided to close her laptop and head for the hills. She then spent the next three years living in mountain huts and tramping alone for days at a time, all the while holding down a full-time job. As she ranged from Arthur’s Pass and the Kaimanawa Forest Park to the Ruahine Range and Fiordland, she had her share of danger and loneliness, but she also grew in confidence and backcountry knowledge. Her story of this solo life is an absorbing blend of adventure and humour, combined with her research into tales from the past of ambition and death in the mountains. She also casts a feminist eye over the challenges women climbers and explorers faced. Full of pluck, courage and resourcefulness, this book is for all those who long to breathe the mountain air and hear the call of the kea.

Author Biography

Hazel Phillips is a writer and communications professional who has worked for a variety of media, from the National Business Review (where she learned how to read a balance sheet) to CLEO magazine (where she learned how to use a hair straightener to iron a skirt). She has written two previous books: Sell! Tall tales from the legends of New Zealand advertising, a popular history of the advertising industry; and Wild Westie, a biography of Sir Bob Harvey. She is always working on a new book, even if it’s just inside her own head. Hazel holds a BA(Hons) in French and an MA in media studies. In her spare time she enjoys multi-day tramping, skiing, ski touring, mountaineering, scuba diving, motorbiking, and sitting on the couch with a good book when it all gets too much.