Many Paths One Horizon

Scott Blackford-Scheele

Scott has spent over half of his life in New Zealand and Australia. An undergraduate degree at the University of Otago initially lured him away from the United States, and since then it has been the mountains, adventures and way of life in these countries that have kept him. Most of Scott’s working life has been spent with guiding companies, with a particular focus on glacier guiding. Currently living and working amongst the Southern Alps of New Zealand, Scott is the most senior glacier guide at Alpine Guides Ltd. At its core, Scott’s work is about increasing accessibility to remote and rugged glaciated environments. The glaciers and mountain landscapes have a natural beauty that is ever-changing, serving as a daily reminder that our experiences can be brief, while our actions can have a profound and long-lasting impact.

Ben Dare

Ben is a strong climber on rock, ice and mixed terrain, and enjoys the challenge of taking on technical routes – especially in demanding winter conditions. After starting out alpine climbing on the North Island volcanoes of Ruapehu and Taranaki he moved to Queenstown in 2008. This gave the opportunity to further develop a passion for alpine climbing in the local ranges of the lower South Island, with a focus on exploring the unknown and targeting new routes. In turn, this led to a desire to look abroad. Using climbing as an avenue to travel to unique corners of the globe and experience new countries and cultures throughout Europe, Asia, and North and South America. Here the desire to seek out unclimbed lines continued, and he has backed up his record of new routes in New Zealand by establishing first ascents in the European Alps, the Chilean and Peruvian Andes and the Khumbu Himalaya in Nepal. The heart is where the home is though, and the experience gained overseas has also allowed him to appreciate the wealth of terrain and the opportunities still available to local climbers within New Zealand. Highlighting the fact that we do not need to look far beyond our own back doorstep to seek out top international level climbing objectives.

Vanessa Manuake is a ni-Vanuatu emergency care and rescue volunteer whose prehospital work has
been shaped by the realities of responding where distance, difficult terrain, limited resources,
communication barriers and delayed access to professional care determine what is possible. She
served as an Emergency Medical Technician with ProMedical Vanuatu (2020–2023), responding to
115 calls and supporting ambulance operations, and as Deputy Team Leader with ProRescue
Vanuatu, with exposure to road crash, vertical and urban search and rescue.
She is currently completing a Bachelor of Paramedicine at Victoria University in Melbourne, works as
an events first responder and pool lifeguard, and volunteers as a CPR trainer in universities and local
schools. She is the AWEMS Pacific Region Representative and founder of Yumi Save, a community
first-aid and disaster-preparedness initiative for Vanuatu. Her interests span community first aid,
health literacy, water safety, disaster preparedness and strengthening prehospital care across Pacific
Island settings — and how clinical standards can be adapted to the communities that must use
them.

QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor of Paramedicine (expected Nov 2026, Victoria University) · Certificate II in Medical Service First
Responder · Provide First Aid · Pool Lifeguard, Life Saving Victoria · Swim Teacher, Life Saving Victoria ·
International Skills Training & Assessor Course · Certificate IV in Leadership & Management

Shell Piercy is a dual-qualified Registered Nurse and Paramedic with extensive operational experience across wilderness, expedition, military, remote and isolated healthcare environments throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Her clinical background includes emergency, remote primary healthcare, trauma care, community paramedicine, alpine and wilderness emergency, retrieval, and expedition health support. She served in the NZ military in both ordinary ranks and as a commissioned officer. She worked extensively with rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, delivering healthcare in austere and resource-limited settings.

An experienced clinician, educator, and health system leader, Shell is passionate about preparing healthcare professionals to operate safely and effectively in challenging environments. She currently serves as Chief Paramedic Officer for Northern Territory Health and is an Honorary Clinical Associate Professor with Charles Darwin University.

Duncan has worked in prehospital emergency care since 1997, starting as a volunteer and progressing to Senior Management and Director roles to date. Over the past 29 years, Duncan's experience has included establishing undergraduate paramedicine and advanced-practice postgraduate degrees at Griffith and Charles Darwin Universities. His work has also included transforming ambulance service delivery in low- to middle-income countries, working with DFAT, the WHO and various Ministries of Health, as well as serving as a board director on multiple advanced practice paramedicine boards in Australia and internationally.

Som Tamang is a Nepali humanitarian, trekking leader and social entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of Take on Nepal, a trekking company that reinvests in community development projects, and Friends of Himalayan Children, a charity supporting education and community development in remote Himalayan communities.

Born in the remote village of Batase, Nepal, Som has overcome extreme poverty, child labour, a tiger attack, Nepal’s civil conflict and the devastating 2015 earthquakes. These experiences have shaped his lifelong commitment to improving opportunities for people living in isolated mountain communities.

Today, Som leads trekking expeditions throughout the Himalayas while using tourism as a vehicle for positive social impact. Through his organisations, he has helped provide:
• Educational opportunities for disadvantaged children
• Support for initiatives in remote villages
• Community development projects that create sustainable local benefits
• Employment and leadership opportunities for local Nepali guides and families

Som will join live from Nepal with local midwife and trekking guide Bimaya. Their presentation will explore the contrast between well-resourced international expeditions and the everyday healthcare realities faced by remote Himalayan communities. They will ask delegates to consider how expedition medicine can leave a meaningful, lasting legacy for the communities that host adventurers.

Som’s story is featured in Himalayan Dreams: The Story of Som Tamang by journalist Kirsty Nancarrow. The book can be purchased here at: https://www.kirstynancarrow.com/author

Find out more about Som and his work on his website at: https://www.f-hc.org/about-us