History of MSC

We have been enabling outdoor safety in New Zealand for over 50 years.

Council formation

In December 1965, the National Parks Authority Chairman at the time, R.J. MacLachlan, welcomed the setting up of a national organisation to promote mountain safety as a result of increasing incidents in New Zealand's outdoors.

This council consisted of members of various recreational and governmental organisations who worked as a preventative solution to these issues by providing safety messaging, safety advisory systems and volunteer-run courses for those wanting to experience New Zealand's great outdoors.

Some of the iconic pieces of work produced with the help of our partners have been:

'The 'Bushcraft Manual' which can be found in many old holiday baches' shelves – this was first released in 1968 and is still alive today - This manual has been repeatedly revised and updated since its first release in 1968, and is still in active use today
'Dumb Ways To Die' is one of many educational resources provided to outdoor education courses.

For 50 years we continued these practices with many partnerships, insights and forms of safety messaging being continually developed as we grew as an organisation. Our primary goal has always been, and remains, the safety of people in the outdoors. But we know a lot more now than we did in 1965.

We would like acknowledge and thank everyone who has been a part of our history. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to face the future with such confidence. Your past and present contributions have given us a solid platform to build on and we’re excited to see where it takes us. #MakeItHomeNZ

Adapting to the needs of participants - 'One MSC'

Each year our volunteer-run courses were training about 0.01 percent of the annual average participants (excluding firearms safety).

Changing what we did so more people can discover the outdoors safely

In 2015 we made a significant change. For almost 50 years, our dedicated, experienced and skilled volunteers had been teaching people how to stay safe in New Zealand's outdoors. However, as the world changes, we needed to look at a broader range of ways of achieving our goal and work out how we can have the biggest impact.

Read about the changes made in 2015 - Find Out More

Through The Years: Annual Report Covers

One MSC

For almost 50 years, our dedicated, experienced and skilled volunteers have been teaching people how to stay safe outdoors. However, as the world changes, we need to look at a broader range of ways of achieving our goal and work out how we can have the biggest impact. Read more