u/Accomplished-Fun215

I live in Wanaka and have a pass at Cardrona.

I used chains for the first time today and I'm not sure if I did it right. I got new chains at Mitre 10 and they are the right size. There was a slapping sound with each rotation whenever I was going over 25 km/h. I pulled over several times to try to retension them and had a couple people look at them when I was at the top, but as soon as I got back above 25 km/h the noise started again. I have a Subaru Outback and they have a tighter wheel clearance and I've seen some threads that at least the American owners manual recommends cables instead of chains, but I'm not sure what the requirement is here. I see a lot of Subarus with chains here and haven't seen cables for sale anywhere.

I'm wondering if I've got them on right but the tight clearance means I just have to go really slow. Would it be fine to just stay below 25 km/h whenever chains are required or should I try to find cables?

I've run a couple half marathons in 2:30 or so, and I've registered for a marathon in November. I'd like to be under 5 hours (which my runna program says I can beat), but I'm okay with 5:30.

I've been running 15 miles a week for the last month and a half. Didn't run much in the couple months before that because I was doing a lot of backpacking, about 200-300 miles or so over 6 weeks, with my longest days around 18 miles and 3k feet of elevation.

The thing I'm nervous about is that I only have time to run 3x a week until early September, because I'll be skiing every weekend. I am planning on swapping my training plan to a 4-5x a week at that point.

I'm willing to drop to a half if I don't feel ready, but I think I can do a full. Might try Jeffing it.

Just feeling discouraged from everything on other subs about needing a 30 mile a week base and a half under 2 hours before starting marathon training.

I went skiing back in February for the first time since childhood and I did a 2 hour group lesson then. I made it down the bunny slope fine several times but wiped out a ton when a friend took me with him on a Green.

I'm now in the southern hemisphere and have a season pass at a ski resort 20 minutes away. I can only go on weekends. Got used gear that fits well and should get me through the season.

The learner area is open this weekend, and I'd booked a 2 hour private a month ago, but now I'm wondering if I should move that later in the season and do a full day group beginner lesson instead, and maybe do a second one next Saturday.

2 hour private is $390 NZD, and a full day group lesson is $175 NZD. I already paid for the private and I have about $700 NZD or so budgeted for lessons for the rest of the season.

A friend and I are going to Taiwan over Christmas and (Western) New Year's. We'd like to do a couple multi day hut to hut hikes and are looking for suggestions of hikes and a budget friendly guide company (probably $1000 USD each is our total budget for 4-5 days of hiking).

We're reasonably experienced hikers, I've done 4 of NZs Great Walks solo, but 0 Mandarin and have never used crampons. Just having a guide service to deal with the hut bookings, permitting, and food would be great, and apparently Jade Mountain and Snow Mountain can have winter conditions requiring more experience.

I've also never been above 2000 m in my life, and I prefer not to have more than 1200m elevation gain in a day and.

Any suggestions on guide companies and potential hikes?

I'm living in rural NZ (very limited shopping options that aren't extremely cheap or extremely luxury), and I'm going to Melbourne for a weekend next month and want to do a bit of shopping while I'm there.

I'm pretty desperate for a pair of ankle boots that will hold up in rain/snow. I had a pair of Clark's suede Chelsea boots that I really liked, but I want something more weatherproof and robust for walking and travel. Needs to be something I can wear to the office, too.

I'd like to try a couple styles on in person, and I was wondering if anybody had suggestions in Melbourne CBD for stores that would carry this kind of shoe. I don't know Australian chains or brands at all.

I'm fairly butch, so I don't want something too feminine.

Budget $300-400 AUD

I've looked at redback boots and they are what I was thinking of, but I'd like to try them on in person and if there are other brands, I'd like to hear about them.

I started growing hair on my chin and getting a hint of male pattern baldness as well as thinning hair in the last few months. I've also steadily been gaining weight despite being active (15 miles a week of running, plus 5 3+ day backpacking trips with a heavy pack and elevation). My periods have been perfectly regular and pretty light.

I was getting my chin waxed and my waxer told me to see a doctor for hormone levels. I thought I might have PMOS (new name for PCOS) and was bracing myself for more meds and a new condition to manage.

Got labs done and turns out it's my hypothyroidism getting worse. My low thyroid was increasing my free testosterone.

Glad it's just a dose change and not a new condition.

My parents are coming to visit me in New Zealand, and I think they would enjoy doing sections of the Queen Charlotte or Abel Tasman tracks with some guided sea kayaking. Maybe with water taxis between parts of the track.

They're 70 and won't want to walk more than 8 miles or so in a day, and they aren't up for massive amounts of elevation. For anybody who's been, they really like visiting Shenandoah National Park in the US and doing a 5-8 mile hike each day for a couple days, while staying in a lodge with a nice dinner each night.

I've done the Queen Charlotte, but I stayed at DOC campsites, so I don't really know what the options are for a higher end trip. Their budget is fairly high, but not crazy. I think the Portage Resort would be on the high end for them.

Is there a self guided tour company for either of these tracks that you would suggest?

I haven't done the Abel Tasman, how does it compare?

Edit: they like going to boutique bnbs or hotels with good restaurants at wineries or in wine regions. Does anybody have a specific one you suggest?

One problem I run into when packing is that I have really over specialized my outdoor shoes. I've got multiple pairs of trail runners for gentle gravel/dirt trails vs rocky scrambles. The rocky scramble ones cause overuse injuries if I do my weekly running mileage in them, but the plush gravel ones are awful on technical scrambles. And that's not even getting into how I have a separate pair of road running shoes and try not to run much on roads in any of my trail shoes to extend their lifespan. And then there are climbing shoes. And bedrock sandals.

Then I still don't have night shoes.

Plus clothing layering systems for cold weather activities (skiing, hiking), and then camping gear itself. Oh and a climbing harness.

How do you onebag for trips where you know you're going to be doing multiple different gear heavy outdoor activities at some point during it? I'm especially thinking of trips that are three weeks or longer.

I've done a couple slow half marathons (PR: 2:30) and a ton of hiking, and I've signed up to do the Queenstown Marathon in New Zealand in early November.

This race has 450 meters of elevation gain and is 70% dirt roads, but it's still a road race.

I'm currently base building to get back into the same shape I was in when I ran my half, using a Runna training plan. I have been doing a lot of my running on relatively flat mountain bike trails, but I'm wanting to incorporate more of the proper mountains around here, probably in a power hike up, run down pattern.

Winter is coming up here, and I want to XC ski regularly. I'm not sure how to fit that in with running either.

I used to have quite a self harm habit (don't worry, this is many years ago) and was in therapy for it. I remember my therapist telling me about the mammalian diving reflex that you get when you dunk your face in cold water activating the nervous system. He suggested filling a bowl of ice water and dunking my face into it as an alternative to self harm. I never tried that solution, and I basically just quit self harm around that time for other reasons.

Recently I moved to New Zealand and have been doing a lot of hiking here. It seems to be the default thing here to hop into every body of water you come across no matter how cold, and after a few weeks here I started doing it myself.

Initially it just seemed like cold water, but as the seasons have changed and the water got colder, I've been noticing an intense nervous system experience when I dunk my face. It does seem to come with a sense of calm afterwards, but maybe that's from the beautiful mountains.

Today I did a Nordic style sauna session where I hopped between a sauna and jumping in a lake for an hour and it felt awesome.

There's some lesson in how American therapy pares down this experience of jumping in an alpine lake down to dunking your face in a bowl of ice water in the kitchen.

I haven't cycled in many years, though I did enjoy a hybrid bike I owned in high school. I've recently moved to the south island of New Zealand, and there are networks of paved and gravel cycle paths that connect most of the places I go regularly. I'm usually someone who walks rather than always driving, but it's about 5-10k from where I live to most places I need to go.

I want to attach some kind of storage to the bike for groceries etc, and I'm a bit bikepacking-curious after meeting a lot of people who are doing the Tour Araroa. I'd also like to do some beginner mountain biking trails, but I don't want to send it down something crazy.

I wouldn't be cycling on roads as much and it'll be probably 50-50 gravel paths vs paved.

I'm short (5'2/158cm), need something that's available here without too much hassle, and I'm fairly budget conscious and want something on the cheaper end - $2,000 - $3,000 NZD ideally. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of a used market for these here.

Edit: Just saw some more points in the sidebar

• I know how to ride a bike, but that's about it
• $2,000 -3,000 NZD. I would consider second hand, but haven't found anything yet
• Short commuting, cross training for running, possibly bikepacking
• 10k or so into town and back a few times a week, with a longer ride once a week as cross training for marathon training. I may also bikepack in the future.
• Mostly paved cycle paths and relatively flat gravel paths, possibly some hillier trails. No traffic. Not too rainy, rarely much below freezing.
• Wanaka, NZ
• 5'2/158cm, 150 lbs/68kg, less fit than all the fitness freaks in Wanaka, but I go on 50 mile hikes on a regular basis and jog 5k multiple times a week. I've decided to run a marathon in November, so I should be getting fitter by following my training plan.