About

Let me introduce myself.

Hi, my name's Alastair. I'm an engineer & adventurer who is passionate about nutrition for self-supported efforts. Welcome to POWTREK.

Alastair McDowell standing on a rocky ridge with poles, the snow-covered Main Divide behind him — Unkown Saddle, Canterbury Alps. December 2020.

01 The idea

Self-supported.

In the mountains, what's important is not what you do, but how you do it. Style is everything. Self-supported is more than logistics, it's an ethos - it means planning the route, carrying all your gear, making decisions yourself, getting up, and getting back down.

POWTREK is fuel made the same way. Every product is dry powder in a bag. You weigh it, you add water, you decide how thick and how strong. There is no sachet, no factory-made gel, no one doing it for you. And this is by design - commercial energy gels are insanely expensive, and most of what you're paying for is the packaging, which goes straight to landfill after the day is done.

My mission is to provide lightweight powdered fuel products that you can carry into the mountains to keep you going strong for longer.

This approach solves many problems - it is cheaper, more flexible, more environmentally friendly, and more customisable to the fuelling requirements of your adventure.

POWTREK!

The rule on every bag

01 What is in it
02 The ratio, and why
03 How to mix it
04 Where it was tested

An engineer's habit. The working is shown so you can check it, not because a regulation says so.

02 The founder

Alastair McDowell.

Alastair is a Christchurch engineer. By day he runs a energy efficiency consultancy. By weekend he is a runner, adventure racer and alpinist who coined the word trailpinism for moving fast and light over technical alpine ground.

His records are mostly self-created, self-supported efforts in the mountains. Every New Zealand peak over 3,000 metres in a single 31-day push. A 104 km mountain round of nineteen Craigieburn summits. Unsupported fastest known times (FKTs) on sub-alpine traverse like Three Passes, Five Passes, Mt Aspiring and Mitre Peak. A first ascent in the Cordillera Blanca that earned a Piolet d'Or nomination, and winter ascents on the Grandes Jorasses and Les Drus in the French Alps.

He has spent fifteen years in New Zealand mountaineering, adventure racing and endurance circles, teaches navigation and crevasse rescue through club courses, and volunteers with Alpine Rescue Canterbury.

Alastair's passion is to innovate new ways of moving through the mountains, to go lighter & faster, and to share it with others.

Welcome to POWTREK: self-supported fuel.

Portrait of Alastair McDowell in a blue jacket and cap against a timber wall — Alastair McDowell.

Alpine record

Taulliraju

Cordillera Blanca, Peru. First ascent. Piolet d’Or nomination.
Punta Herron

Torre group, Patagonia.
Grandes Jorasses, north face

Mont Blanc massif. Winter ascent.
Les Drus

Chamonix. Winter ascent.
Mont Blanc

Town to town in 8 h 45 m.

Alastair starting up a steep ice pitch in a red jacket — Starting up an ice pitch.

Alastair leading a steep ice and mixed pitch, ropes trailing — Leading ice. Photo: Dan

Alastair leading a steep frozen waterfall pitch — Pilsner Pillar, leading the second pitch.

03 The log

Where it has been tested.

Three Passes, Arthur’s Pass. West to east. February 2026. 9 h 20 m 56 s · unsupported

Year	Route	Detail	Style	Result
2026	Three Passes	Arthur’s Pass traverse, west to east		9 h 20 m 56 s
2026	Tour Te Waipounamu	1330km bike-packing race the length of the South Island		6 h 14 m
2025	Five Passes	Sub-alpine traverse through Otago Alps with Kate Morrison		16 h 34 m 57 s
2025	Ball Pass	Aoraki / Mount Cook		6 h 05 m 04 s
2024	Mt Aspiring / Tititea	Out and back from the road end with a mountain bike		9 h 13 m 59 s
2024	Skyrunning World Championships	Sky Ultra, 70 km, 4,350 m, Soria, Spain	Race	Finished
2024	Craigieburn Round	104 km, 19 summits		23 h 45 m
2021	24 peaks over 3,000 m	Every New Zealand 3,000 m peak, one push, with Hamish Fleming	Enchainment	31 days
2023	Makalu	Attempt to climb an 8000m peak	Alpine	Turned back at 7200m
2021	Mitre Peak / Rahotu	Milford Sound climb using a kayak		6 h 18 m 41 s
2020	Aoraki / Mount Cook	Grand Traverse, car-to-car	Alpine	23 h 47 m
2016	Taulliraju, West Ridge	5-day alpine climb, Cordillera Blanca, Peru	Alpine	First ascent
2014	GODZone Chapter 3	Kaikoura, expedition adventure race	Race	8th of 41 teams
2011	Hillary Trail	70km trail run through Waitākere Ranges		13 d 08 h

Times are as recorded on the fastest-known-time register and race results. The profile is drawn to shape with the three pass heights marked; it is a sketch of the day, not survey data.

04 Get in touch

See you at the trailhead or at a start line.

POWTREK turns up where its customers are: expedition adventure races, brevets, the big South Island trail events and club nights.

alastair@powtrek.co.nz Field notes