What really motivates us to get there and climb to the top of a summit and play radio?
For a lot of us it is about getting out there and immersing ourselves in the wilds of nature.
I found this video which I think really encapsulates what hiking, or tramping as we call it, is like in New Zealand.
Now I am the first to admit, a lot of this is the territory of the likes of @ZL4NVW and other fitter mountain goats here in NZ. Us older Billy Goats have to just make do with the foothills to the entrances of these glorious parklands. It also probably goes to explaining why there are so many un-activated peaks here in NZ.
Of course SOTA never was just about radio. It was about turning radio amateurs into hill walkers and hill walkers into radio amateurs. To that extent it’s had some modest success.
On the contrary Richard, I think your claim is modest. I believe it has been a huge success, worldwide. It has encouraged a lot of hams to go places they would possibly never have ventured to before, push themselves further than they may have done without SOTA and for many, re-ignited their spark and love of Amateur Radio. I believe SOTA can also take at least part credit for the resurgence in CW, the growth of QRP and also for many taking the plunge and getting their licence. Personally I think that any who have been instrumental in forming SOTA and engendering its growth can take a well deserved bow. You guys have done ‘Awesome’.
It also provided a home from home for those of us that were already both hams and mountaineers. I was operating from mountains twenty years before SOTA started, but SOTA gave a structure, a sense of purpose that had been missing.
Something that astounds me even now. I think you’re right on all counts and that is immensely satisfying.
I like that, Richard. Could be a catchphrase worthy of a place on the SOTA web site!
Very much so. My amateur radio and mountaineering interests span nearly 60 years and it is perhaps surprising that SOTA didn’t come about much earlier. I can remember lugging heavy 2m gear, with even heavier batteries up the Lake District hills in the late 70s, when I was young and fit.
The happy confluence of lightweight radios and batteries made SOTA a meaningful proposition, aided and abetted by the Internet, which made it so much easier to promote and manage.
Its also provided me with an extension to my life long interest in mountaineering, x-country skiing and general hill/mountain walking in the great outdoors in this country and many others…
