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Southern Alps
Fully Booked — Waitlist Open
Southern Alps, New Zealand
Southern Alps
Ski Touring
New Zealand Backcountry · Hut-Based · 20–30 September 2026
The Southern Alps run the length of New Zealand's South Island and contain some of the most dramatic and accessible high-alpine terrain in the southern hemisphere. September delivers reliable snow and stable weather windows — conditions that allow genuine backcountry travel through a landscape of glaciated peaks and wide open snowfields that see very few visitors.
The expedition is hut-based throughout — no lodge, no town, no wifi. Two standalone backcountry huts anchor the eleven days, each a fixed base for several days of day touring into the surrounding terrain. Getting from the first hut to the second is a full day's ski travel with overnight kit on your back — genuine self-supported backcountry movement, not a shuttle between comfortable bases. Guides manage route-finding, hazard assessment and hut logistics throughout; your job is to ski it, help run the hut, and show up each evening for the clinical programme by headtorch and hut light.
For Australian and New Zealand clinicians this is the most accessible international expedition on the calendar — genuine self-supported, hut-based ski touring without a long-haul flight. This first departure sold out quickly. Join the waitlist below or register your interest for a future date.
This trip requires solid intermediate to advanced off-piste skiing ability and a reasonable baseline of backcountry fitness — you'll be touring on consecutive days and carrying a loaded overnight pack on the transfer between huts. You do not need to be a ski mountaineer, and prior avalanche training is useful but not essential — guides lead all route-finding and hazard assessment. You do need to be comfortable with basic backcountry hut life: shared bunk rooms, no services, and pulling your weight around the hut. If you're unsure whether your skiing or fitness is at the right level, get in touch before registering — we'd rather have that conversation early.
Not included: flights to New Zealand, personal ski touring equipment and avalanche equipment (beacon, probe, shovel), personal travel insurance.
The clinical content runs every night of the expedition, woven around the touring day rather than bolted on at the end of it. Sessions run each evening — typically 2–3 hours, with longer structured blocks on lower-output days. Evening sessions rotate through case discussions, short presentations, and journal club. Simulations run out in the terrain during the day. No passive rows. No death by PowerPoint. A small group of engaged clinicians, a long day behind them, and no reason to be anywhere else.
Case discussions are the centrepiece. Participants are encouraged — though never required — to bring their own cases. The ones that didn't go to plan. The decision that felt right at the time and looks different in hindsight. As a group, we work through the clinical and human factors elements: what happened, what could have gone differently, and what that means for how we practise. These are the conversations that actually change things.
Simulations are run out in the terrain during the day — structured clinical scenarios in the field, followed by facilitated debriefs. The focus is not on what went wrong but on why, and on the decision-making patterns that drove it. The debrief is where the learning consolidates.
Presentations are kept short and deliberately opinionated. Not a systematic review, but a clinician telling you what they actually do and why — the gaps in the evidence, the decisions guidelines don't help with, the things that took years to learn and are worth saying plainly.
Journal club gives the trip a thread of current literature. Selected readings are distributed ahead of departure and discussed in the group — not to cover everything, but to practise reading critically and asking what actually changes practice.
Human factors run as a thread through all of it. Decision-making under fatigue, situational awareness, team dynamics, cognitive load, the ways that stress shapes clinical judgement. Not a standalone module — a lens applied to every case, every simulation, every debrief. The expedition environment makes these themes concrete in a way that a classroom cannot.
All content is designed to meet ACEM, ACRRM, and equivalent international CPD requirements. International participants are encouraged to verify acceptance with their own college or certifying body. A detailed programme and pre-reading will be circulated to registered participants ahead of departure.
Participants receive a CPD certificate and activity log at the end of the programme. It is your responsibility to submit this to your college or certifying body. We will provide all documentation required to do so.
20–30 September 2026. The outline below reflects the programme structure; a detailed day-by-day schedule will be provided to registered participants.
These conditions apply to all OffChartCPD expedition bookings. They exist to be transparent — about where your money goes, what happens if plans change, and what you need to have in place before you travel. Please read them before registering.
A deposit is required to secure your place. Deposits are paid to the trip operator — the specialist outfitter running the mountain or marine programme — and are used immediately to hold your accommodation, guiding, and logistics.
These are small, specialist operations. When we take your deposit, real commitments are made on your behalf. Please only book if you intend to travel.
Refund entitlement is governed by the operator's own booking conditions, which vary by operator and by how far in advance of departure a cancellation occurs.
In most cases, deposits are non-refundable. Partial refunds of subsequent payments may be available for cancellations made sufficiently in advance. The specific terms for each expedition will be provided at the time of booking. OffChartCPD cannot override operator refund policies.
This is why we require travel insurance.
If you are unable to attend, your booking can be transferred to another eligible participant. All transfers must be arranged through OffChartCPD — please do not make direct arrangements with other guests or the operator.
We will liaise with the operator to confirm eligibility and complete the transfer. Transfers may be subject to an administration fee and are not guaranteed in all circumstances.
All expeditions operate under the booking conditions of the respective trip operator. These will be provided to you in full before any payment is required.
By confirming your booking, you agree to be bound by both the OffChartCPD conditions on this page and the operator's own terms. If there is any conflict between them, the operator's terms take precedence on matters of refunds, cancellations and logistics.
Some expeditions are costed by the operator in a foreign currency. In the event of a significant adverse currency movement between your deposit and the date OffChartCPD settles payment with the operator, OffChartCPD reserves the right to apply a reasonable surcharge to cover the shortfall. We will always notify you in writing before any surcharge is applied — minor fluctuations are absorbed by OffChartCPD as a matter of course.
All participants must hold comprehensive travel insurance before their place is confirmed. These expeditions travel to remote environments where medical evacuation can be complex, expensive, and time-critical. Insurance is not a formality — it is a clinical and financial necessity.
Your policy must include all three of the following:
We strongly recommend purchasing insurance at the time you pay your deposit — not closer to departure. Cancellation cover only protects you from the date the policy is active. If you book now and insure later, the period between is unprotected.
The specific policy is your choice. We do not endorse or receive any benefit from any insurance provider. If you are unsure what level of cover is appropriate for a self-supported hut-based ski touring expedition, get in touch — we are happy to advise.