Want to get outdoors but not sure where to go or which huts have space? A new Kiwi-built website can help.

Earlier this year, Zachary Fleming had a yearning to get into the backcountry. Opening the DOC website, he searched for a hut with bunk availability for the coming weekend. 

“It turned out to be almost impossible to plan,” he said. “The DOC booking system is built around already knowing which hut you want. You pick a hut, then check availability. There’s no way to flip it around to check what’s free on the days you want to go tramping.”

Hours later, with dozens of tabs open, the journalist-turned-self-taught-coder decided to fix this issue. He built the website dochutfinder.com, where users can pick when they want to go tramping and see which bookable DOC huts have availability. A link leads to the DOC website where you can make your booking.

Fleming said he is already getting positive feedback on the website as users find huts they’ve never heard of before and get out on last-minute trips. Read more from Wilderness.

Hiker reunited with backpack 60 years after he fell into a glacier

An 86-year-old mountaineer has been reunited with his backpack and climbing equipment after the kit emerged from a melting glacier in Austria – more than 60 years after he was forced to leave them there.

Items including an ice axe, camera and a pipe dating from the 1950s or 1960s were discovered on the Sulztalferner glacier in Austria’s Tyrol region, at an altitude of 2,955 metres above sea level.

Austrian police began an investigation and, through heavily frayed documents found in the backpack, discovered the owner’s name and tracked him down.

The man had fallen into the crevasse while crossing the glacier with friends in August 1963. The group was held together by a rope, so his friends were able to pull him free. Police said he had removed his backpack to reduce his weight and thrown it into the crevasse.

They said the man, whom they did not publicly name, was too ill to collect the items himself, so they were returned to him via his son. Read more from The Guardian.

New FKT set on the PCT

Nick Fowler, 38, has just set the overall fastest known time (FKT) on the Pacific Crest Trail, finishing the entire trek in 45 days, 17 hours and 47 minutes. In order to set the record, Fowler averaged 92kms per day.

This is the second time in 2026 that a PCT speed record has fallen: Aurélien Sanchez completed the trail Northbound in July in 45 days, 20 hours and 11 minutes with a dedicated support crew.  Now, Fowler has not only claimed the men’s self-supported SOBO FKT, but has also become the overall fastest person ever to hike the PCT in any direction, supported or unsupported.

In doing so, Fowler is also breaking his own self-supported southbound record from 2023, when he finished the PCT in 52 days, 9 hours, and 18 minutes.

Fowler told the San Francisco Chronicle that he drew on his previous PCT experience to plan for this year’s effort, consuming upwards of 12,000 calories per day and burning through 15 pairs of trail runners along the way. He pushed himself to hike 18 hours per day, ending the journey in peak Southern California heat that sometimes exceeded 37 degrees Celsius. Read more from The Trek.

Gen Z hikers eager, but worried about getting lost

Hiking is booming in the UK but a crisis of confidence among Gen Z hikers is spreading. While their interest in hiking is sky-high, self-assurance levels are at rock bottom, and the end result is more accidents in the mountains.

Mountain Rescue incidents across England and Wales increased by 24% between 2019 and 2024, while in Scotland call-outs increased by 39% from 2019 to 2025. The ages of those rescued flipped 180 degrees over those years. In 2019, 50-54-year-olds were the most assisted age group, but by 2024, most call-outs related to 18-24-year-olds.

New research by Adidas, alongside mapping app Komoot, unveiled a clear trend: city-dwelling Gen Z hikers are leading the charge to the trails, but worry that their skills, confidence or fitness levels might not match their chosen hike.

Grace Wilson, senior community manager at Komoot, explains: “Hiking’s growth in the UK is being driven by a mix of accessibility and mindset shift, and more people are looking for ways to stay active with a low barrier to entry. They also want to disconnect from screens, connect more socially and spend more time in nature.”

Mike Park, CEO of Mountain Rescue England and Wales, said: “We know from incident reports that more and more people are tempted into risky locations by Instagram posts, and the navigation apps being used aren’t always suitable for an outdoor environment.” Read more about the study from The Great Outdoors Magazine.

Japan using AI, drones and wolf robots to keep bears at bay

Bear attacks in Japan have hit a record high, with 13 deaths and more than 220 injuries recorded between April 2025 and March 2026. It is a sharp increase from the same period the previous year, when three people died and 82 were hurt, and as fall approaches, the bears’ peak feeding season, authorities are on high alert.

Liam Adcock, a wildlife researcher at the Nagano-based Picchio Wildlife Research Center said climate change has made the problem worse, with food becoming harder to find.

This has brought hungry bears closer to towns, with 50,000 recorded bear sightings last year.

Regions prone to bear encounters have started equipping forests surrounding residential areas with movement-monitoring cameras that use AI to identify bears and notify local officials.

In Hokkaido, KDDI SmartDroned can get airborne within 10 minutes of a bear sighting, tracking the animal until help arrives.

But the technology isn’t practical for individuals looking to keep bears off their property. That’s where the solar-powered, animatronic “Monster Wolf” comes in. The robot was originally developed to protect agricultural crops from bears by mimicking the howl of the extinct Japanese wolf to scare them away. Read more from CNN.

Fire and Emergency urges New Zealanders to prepare for elevated wildfire risk this summer

Forecasts from Earth Sciences New Zealand and Fire and Emergency New Zealand indicate El Niño conditions are likely to develop and strengthen over the coming months, with some guidance suggesting the event could become one of the stronger El Niño events on record.

Historically, stronger El Niño events have been associated with more frequent westerly winds, warmer temperatures, and below-normal rainfall in eastern parts of both the North and South Islands.

Fire and Emergency Deputy Chief Executive Prevention, Stephen Hunt, says Fire and Emergency will continue to monitor conditions, communicate fire risk and provide advice on keeping safe.

Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler is calling on all New Zealanders to do their part to reduce the risk of fires starting this summer.

“Around 98 percent of wildfires in New Zealand are caused by people and their activities. We urge people to use fire safely and to always check the conditions and fire season status in their area before lighting an outdoor fire. They can do this and find more safety advice at www.checkitsalright.nz.

“Over the past few months Fire and Emergency has provided personnel to support responses to wildfires across North America, a deployment which will help bring valuable knowledge and experience back for the upcoming season,” Stiffler says. Read more from FENZ.