Mike Daisley felt "like a proud dad". The chief executive of the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council (MSC) was walking past a family in Aoraki/Mt Cook village when he overheard them discussing which track they would take on a family walk.
"It was a good moment," he says. "They were crowded round the mum's phone, looking at Plan My Walk, our new app. On the basis of the information available there, they decided not to take the track they had originally identified – but another one more suited to them."
Plan My Walk is an app and website conceived and recently launched by the MSC. Its purpose is to make finding, planning and preparing for a walk or tramp easier and safer.
Tramping and walking is a hugely popular pastime and every year more and more people venture out exploring the thousands of kilometres of tracks across Aotearoa. Sometimes things don't go to plan and preventable safety incidents occur.
On average every year, there are just under six tramping fatalities, 589 search and rescues, and 6494 injuries. Plan My Walk is designed to reduce those incidents caused or contributed to by a lack of adequate planning and preparation.
"We have access to decades of data on deaths, injuries and search missions," says Daisley. "What we found when analysing all that information was one key factor: planning, or the lack of it, contributes to thousands of incidents a year."
Everyone has heard the stories of trampers or walkers rocking up to a track, wearing a T-shirt and sneakers on a hot, sunny day – with little or no idea of the severity of the track chosen and unaware that the weather was about to change. There are sometimes tragic results.
"Our research confirmed there were many people with little or no preparation for their walk, or not knowing what they could reasonably expect to find on the track in terms of what they were exposing themselves to. The information they needed existed – but not all in one place.
"So we have, with Plan My Walk, pulled all that relevant information into one place, we've removed the guesswork and made it easy – and it is a great tool for planning your walking and tramping adventures."
Daisley says the key factor is safety but the app is designed in such a way that the information given to plan their walk inherently includes key safety information.
"For example, the app is fantastic at finding tracks in your local area," he says.
Weather is an obvious factor and Daisley says the app automatically uses the most relevant MetService weather forecast for the track, and any severe weather warnings or watches for the area.
"The app isn't just for multi-day trampers, it's for anyone heading out on a walk or tramp. For many of those walks, saving a trip plan isn't necessary, so we wanted to make sure everyone could benefit from the features – choosing a suitable track, the right weather forecast, packing the right gear, those simple things make a huge difference.
Launched about a month ago, the app has already proved popular and is being downloaded by thousands of people, says Daisley.
The timing is good – he says conversations with tourism and other recreation organisations have revealed that everyone is expecting a very busy summer in the outdoors.