David Vass was one of New Zealand’s leading mountaineers and adventurers. However, in 2015 an accident resulting in incomplete tetraplegia abruptly changed everything. In his book Not Set in Stone, Vass recounts his eventful life before and after the incident.

What motivated you to write this memoir?

It was my way of trying to make sense of my experience. It’s been valuable – once you start writing things down you can see a progression. ‘Writing is therapy’, as they say. I’m feeling more perky about things and getting on with other stuff.

And physically speaking, how did you write it?

I can type – I have about 70 per cent on one arm and some movement in the other, so I’m a one-finger typist. But that’s all I ever was! If I’m writing more than a paragraph or two I’ll use the voice recognition software on my phone and then I edit using my keyboard.

Your recollections of your adventures seem extremely vivid.

I had been writing for a while and I think that process helps and cements memories. If you talked to any one of my friends on those trips, they might remember it quite differently because we all have our own take. When I did my Master of Arts degree in creative writing last year, one of the first things we talked about was the nature of truth in non-fiction.

Which of your adventures gave you the greatest sense of personal satisfaction?

Setting up Turner’s Eyrie, (a bivouac shelter 2000m high on Karetai Peak), as a base to explore the central Darran Mountains. I’m really quite proud of that because I found the place where it all came together for me and I knew this was exactly what I had been looking for. I don’t like being in the high mountains so much as being somewhere a bit more organic, like this region.

You mention new adventures at the end of the book?

Mostly adventures of the mind, which has no particular restraints. Although I do still have a reasonable amount of function and I can do some physical things like standing in a walking frame. I can actually drive a van, with a hoist and a seat which makes it easy for me to transfer to and from. I quite enjoy driving now, and it’s something I can do as well as anyone else.

So whatever it might be, some activity that takes me into nature and the outdoors. I know people in my situation who have gone paragliding, solo — and I can see the attraction, having done a little myself. But to be honest, I really don’t want to hurt myself again and lose any more function, so I suppose I’m now more interested in pursuing the cerebral world.

What’s next for you?

I’ve written another manuscript which I’m keen to continue working on. It began as ‘my memoirs part two’ but I’m not sure where it’s going to go. The main idea is that I’ve been separated from nature through my accident, and now I’ve had to find another relationship with the outdoors.

We have all become separated from it in one way or another, through environmental loss or living in cities. I want to explore that through the lens of my disability.

A headlong fall

Leaving the central Darrans in darkness during a building thunderstorm, a breaking root caused Vass to take a headlong fall down a bank, and broke his neck. His friends cared for him during the long, wet hours before he could finally be helicoptered out with C4 incomplete tetraplegia and severe hypothermia.

“I knew as soon as it happened what my injury was and I knew also what it meant… the bulk and heft of my life would be forever different,” says Vass.

Not Set in Stone is published on March 31, 2023 and is available on the Wilderness store. Subscribers get a 10% Wildcard discount.