Geoff Spearpoint — Backcountry Tramper and Hut Advocate
by Sam Demas
(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)
After a lifetime of tramping, Geoffrey Brian Spearpoint is steeped in the NZ backcountry, and in Kiwi hut and tramping culture. Embodying this culture, he is known as a hard core back country tramper who is not the least bit elitist. When asked about a logbook comment “looks like another hut lost to the tourists”, he looked genuinely pained. He said his priority is that everyone, Kiwi’s and tourists alike, have the opportunity to experience the joys of tramping and huts. Strong and sprightly, small in stature, he has an elfin glow. With a gentle demeanor, he is clear about his views while open to new ideas. Clear-sighted, Geoff seems to think outside the box. I read an account in which he was praised for his work on a Search and Rescue Team for discovering the footprint that provided the clue to locating a lost child: Geoff is the only one on the team who crawled under the fallen log (everyone else went over it). There, in a child-sized space, he spotted the small footprint, which clearly pointed the direction in which the lost child was finally found. Everyone in the tramping community seems to know and admire Geoff; the most common terms used to describe him are “inspiring” and “authentic”.
Sam and Geoff
While traveling in NZ I kept hearing stories and reading about Geoff, and was delighted to finally get a chance to talk with him briefly at the end of my trip. As an outsider looking in, this post is an amateur’s attempt to introduce to a U.S. audience a genuine and beloved exemplar of Kiwi huts and tramping.
