Pedder Home Winter Challenge
Pedder home is an adventure challenge and the brainchild of Tommy Windsor. He wanted to set a challenge for a few of his mates to run, paddle and cycle from Lake Pedder to home.
We asked him a few questions about it.
So what did the challenge entail?
I’ve had “Pedder Home” sitting on my adventures spreadsheet for a few years and while the coldest and shortest days of the year might not have been the best timing to give it a crack, we ran out of excuses not to try. So much about wilderness adventures happens after a 3hr long car trip, enjoy a few days and then drive all the way back to civilisation. The idea of this mission was to connect that wilderness with home – I wanted to tangibly feel just how close the wild is to our everyday lives. The challenge involved a non-stop effort, starting at Lake Pedder in Tasmania’s Southwest in the dark after work on a Friday night, we ran along the wet and muddy Western Arthurs Track and then along the Huon River to Tahune Airwalk. We jumped in kayaks and headed down the Huon River to Judbury, and then mountain biked home to Hobart …we thought it’d take about 24 hours if we were lucky.
What was the hardest part about it?
The hardest part was the notorious Huon Track that unfortunately has seen the effects of fire, flood and root rot disease causing literally tens of thousands trees to fall across the trail. Navigating In addition to the over-and-under scramble, at stages we were navigating 30 metres of slippery branches, 3 metres above the track in the middle of the night. This track really slowed our progress and challenged our mental toughness – one kilometre at 3 am was clocked at 56 minutes! Despite the challenging track, as the sun rose among the foggy bush along the Huon River it was spectacular country to journey through.
What was your nutrition schedule?
Our nutrition schedule for a 24 hour effort like this typically revolves around 1 MOOR gel and 500 mls of the MOOR Drink Mix (soon the be released) every hour or so. When we were moving swiftly along the boggy but quick Western Arthurs plains, this served us well but as our pace and aerobic effort slowed the requirement for easy-to-process gels wasn’t as critical and so we mixed it up with some solid food at times during the night. I find when it’s cold it’s hard to remember to keep up the fluids and electrolyte intake, so we had a good refuel at the Tahune Transition. Once we were back at pace kayaking on the river and then racing each other along forestry roads on the bikes, the gels were essential to get us home without hitting the wall!
Was it good finishing at home?
The bikes felt like rockets after our slow trek and cruisy late afternoon kayak and we embraced the speed of gravel and then sealed roads. Enthusiasm was high coming through urban areas in the evening and getting some encouragement from small town locals. It was a great surprise to have my wife and young kids pull up next to us a few kms from home with The Final Countdown pumping and cheering us on. We spent all tickets on the final climb and sealed the deal pulling up in our driveway together 25 hours after start time, exhausted and happy with our efforts.
Next challenge?
The Legend, a 6 day expedition length adventure race (navigated trek, bike and kayak legs), is based in Tasmania’s rugged Southwest March 2025. There’s a fair few Tassie teams entered so we’ll be having adventures with them in that region and pushing our limits over the next 6 months. We’re just so lucky to have it as our backyard.