by Jodie Bakewell-White
Adventurers are being reminded they can apply for grants under the Hillary Expeditions Grants initiative run by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC).
Up to $100,000 is available to help adventurous Kiwis fund challenging outdoor expeditions.
Hillary Expeditions Grants are made available every two years and applications for the 2010/11 round close at 5pm on 15 October, 2010.
To qualify for a grant, expeditions have to include any one, or a combination, of outdoor activities such as tramping, mountaineering, rock climbing, cross-country skiing, white water and/or sea kayaking, mountain biking, and sailing.
Criteria and application forms are available on SPARC’s website www.sparc.org.nz. The successful applicants will be announced in December 2010.
Expeditions funded in the past have involved extreme adventures and have included world firsts. For instance, Hillary Expeditions have included attempts at crossing the Greenland ice cap, a successful first ascent of Karim Sar in the Batura region of northern Pakistan, success while big wall rock climbing in the Karakorum ranges of Pakistan, new routes on peaks in Antarctica, extreme river trips, and this year’s discovery and exploration of New Zealand’s first 1000m deep cave.
New Zealand is known for its great adventurers like Sir Edmund Hillary. The grants initiative helps Kiwi adventurers realise their dreams in the outdoors. Their feats inspire other New Zealanders to get out into the outdoors.
The Hillary Expeditions Grants initiative was started in 2002, and every two years grants of up to $100,000 are awarded to help fund world class outdoor expeditions.
In the 2008/09 round, seven expeditions were awarded grants ranging from $5000 to $30,000.
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