Approach &
Outcomes
Our approach
Our unique approach to cultivating hope is evidence-based and focuses on three key pillars: engaging in outdoor physical activity, fostering social connection, and setting goals. These components interact with each other, powerfully increasing wellbeing and, most importantly, hope
Pillar 1: Outdoor activity
Neurological conditions can create many barriers to getting outdoors, and our programme helps people overcome them. Programme participants select an outdoor adventure they want to achieve, and we connect them with the rehabilitation support, gear, safety equipment, and guidance needed to safely achieve that goal and maintain long-term access to the outdoors.
Pillar 2: Strengthening connection
People with neurological diagnoses often feel socially isolated and struggle to find or participate in community. Our programme participants gain access to a community of people who love to get outdoors, despite their neurological conditions. We host monthly support groups that enable programme participants to share knowledge and experience, and to walk alongside each other through the highs and lows of their rehabilitation journeys. We also strongly encourage programme participants to include others in their adventures, building stronger social connections with friends, family, and their local community.
Pillar 3: Goal setting
Our programme participants select meaningful outdoor adventure goals that challenge and inspire them. For individuals with neurological conditions who enjoy the outdoors, an anticipated exciting adventure can serve as a goal, offering a meaningful and inspiring objective that helps them maintain motivation throughout their lengthy rehabilitation journey.
We also use goal setting and the rehabilitation journey as a means of developing the components of hope. The mentoring component of our programme often involves the mentor engaging with participants in solution-finding to circumvent or overcome the challenges they face on the way to achieving their goal. We engage in the process methodically as a means of helping people achieve future goals and develop a greater sense of hope.
Our goal: Hope
“Hope may be fostered through identifying valued and personally meaningful goals, defining them in clear measurable terms, and identifying multiple potential avenues through which goals can be attained.”
The development of hope is an important focus area in our programme. Although engagement with hope as a construct rarely takes place explicitly, it permeates our approach as a foundational goal. We have chosen hope as a key indicator of wellbeing, not only because this connection is supported by scientific literature, but also because, in our experience, hope can have a profound impact on the lives of participants, their communities, and outside observers.
These goals also contribute to reducing the significant social and economic cost of neurological conditions to New Zealand’s communities, while promoting a wider kōrero around what’s possible after a neurological diagnosis.
Read more about the evidence supporting hope, and how we incorporate hope theory into our resources.
2022 Programme participant, David Kyle (second from right), at the Karapoti Classic mountain bike race. Photo by Andrew Turner
Testimonials
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![Bryce Mackenzie]()
"This grant opened my mind. With a bit of help, I have achieved something that I thought I may not be able to do."
Bryce Mackenzie
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![Man with sunglasses and beard holding a Sign that says 'Mastering Mountains' in front of a castle on a mountain, with a blue sky in the background.]()
"Thank you for giving me the grant that made my dream a reality. I cannot recommend the experience enough—every sight, smell, sound, taste, and feeling was incredible."
Sam Smith
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![Katy Glenie]()
"I had thought that my life could no longer be full of adventures in the outdoors after my diagnosis. I now know there are so many ways to seek and find adventure."
Katy Glenie
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![David Kyle]()
"This grant has been trajectory altering, enabling me to continue MTB riding with friends and giving me more confidence about the future in terms of riding with my son."
David Kyle
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![Kirsten Dixon]()
"With the right support I can achieve more than I thought! I have shed some self limiting beliefs I imposed on myself with diagnosis."
Kirsten Dixon
Our outcomes
Our approach is intensive. Since 2015, we have invested substantially and prudently in quality individuals. Consequently, we have significantly improved and positively affected the lives of our programme participants and those around them.
Our budget places a strong emphasis on rehabilitation, individual and group support and education. We aim to keep our running costs as low as possible, enabling us to invest substantially in quality individuals who are committed to the rehabilitation process and primed to respond positively to our interventions.
On average, we invest $6,800 in each person over the course of one year to help them achieve their dream adventure and find hope. This investment covers the cost of our full service package, which includes one year’s worth of:
$3,100 - mentoring support: 16 hours of one-on-one mentoring and support, in addition to 10 hours of group support and learning.
$2,150 - specialist rehabilitation: access to a gym and 10-12 appointments with a neurophysio and exercise physiologist.
$1,550 - gear, equipment and expedition programme costs, such as food and group safety equipment.
Four themes consistently emerge in the interviews and feedback we receive from participants who complete their trips (n=14 | 2017-2025): they have a greater sense of agency and see new pathways to a more hopeful future; they have significantly benefitted from mentoring and community with similar others; they intend to remain connected to others; they have set new outdoor adventure goals. In other words, they report a greater sense of hope.
As a result of our programmes, people see an increase in key wellbeing markers. On average, our programme participants* experience an increase in the following measures after (by comparison to before) their journey with Mastering Mountains:
28.2% increase in resilience, measured by the Brief Resilience Scale (Smith, Dalen, Wiggins, Tooley, Christopher, & Bernard, 2008)
38.6% increase in happiness, measured by the Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI: Hervas & Vazquez, 2013)
*n=5 | 2023-2025 - gathered using Work on Wellbeing assessment tool
Testimonial: Raffaela Dragani (FND & Parkinson’s)
Raffaela has FND and Parkinson's and, early in her journey with us, struggled to walk from her car to her office. After 18 months of rehabilitation and mentoring support, alongside two friends, she successfully accomplished a long-held dream of completing a demanding, five-day tramp to Blue Lake Hut in Nelson Lakes National Park.
Reflecting on her trip (her ‘mission’) and her rehabilitation journey to get there, she says: “Hearing the story of others walking the same path and sharing their challenges with honesty was the most helpful part of my journey with Mastering Mountains.
“My mission confirmed how I can overcome my disability and work with it. It confirmed I can still do the things I love; I'm still me. I used to focus on everything I couldn’t do anymore. Now, I see what I can do. And that changes everything.
“I know that I have the tools to … manage [the physical challenges of FND]. I know that I can set goals. I know that I have wonderful things to aspire to, and I know there’s so much of life to live and be able to experience. You get to rewrite your story. Mine used to be about loss and limitation. Now, it’s about strength. Now, it’s about possibility.”
Testimonial: Steph Nierstenhoefer (MS)
Steph has multiple sclerosis and struggled to walk more than a couple of kilometres when she joined our programme. Earlier this year, after nine months of intensive rehabilitation and a year of mentoring, she successfully accomplished her goal of walking the Milford Track with her partner and their daughter over four days, a step toward their larger goal of completing all of New Zealand's Great Walks.
Reflecting on her rehabilitation journey, Steph writes: “The support from Mastering Mountains has been absolutely life-changing. The grant came at a time when I was feeling lost, unsure of how to move forward with my diagnosis. I was struggling to accept what MS meant for my future, but this support helped me shift my mindset.
“The support I received helped me accept my diagnosis, and connecting with others who understand MS made a huge difference. Knowing I’m not alone and that I can still adapt, explore, and embrace adventure has been truly life-changing. I’ve learned to accept support when I need it and to reach out to others with MS.
“I’ve realised that resilience isn’t about never struggling—it’s about finding ways to adapt, keep moving, and return to the things I love the most. The outdoors is still mine to explore, at my own pace, on my own terms. The future still holds adventure, just in a different way, and that’s okay.”
Gallery
![Katy Glenie | Mastering Mountains [11152120211104_111521].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f71a2312a07a78a2c4d29d/1641429929466-7CZDNV2HLELGXL9QY5GZ/Katy+Glenie+%7C+Mastering+Mountains+%5B11152120211104_111521%5D.jpg)
![Katy Glenie | Mastering Mountains [14283620211102_142836].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f71a2312a07a78a2c4d29d/1641429948950-U4G99850X8VMF7NMU250/Katy+Glenie+%7C+Mastering+Mountains+%5B14283620211102_142836%5D.jpg)
![Katy Glenie | Mastering Mountains [14125620211102_141256].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f71a2312a07a78a2c4d29d/1641429936175-772YTJV76F410XM4M1T7/Katy+Glenie+%7C+Mastering+Mountains+%5B14125620211102_141256%5D.jpg)
![Katy Glenie | Mastering Mountains [7455_MG_7455].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f71a2312a07a78a2c4d29d/1641429897748-G0T1Z1925QDCJNTLVI1Z/Katy+Glenie+%7C+Mastering+Mountains+%5B7455_MG_7455%5D.jpg)
![Bryce mackenzie - Mastering Mountains_[Nick_Allen_1583IMG_1583].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60f71a2312a07a78a2c4d29d/1627773036049-IGWB1NFUF5VF2LEHEZGQ/Bryce+mackenzie+-+Mastering+Mountains_%5BNick_Allen_1583IMG_1583%5D.jpg)
Support Us
Mastering Mountains is a charitable trust. We rely on donations to support and mentor people in New Zealand with Multiple Sclerosis and Functional Neurological Disorder. Your support will help us reach more people, changing their lives for good.