Club nights are at Turnbull House, on the first unimpeded Monday of every month. New and prospective members are welcome. Meet for dinner at the Backbencher public bar at 6.30 and on to Turnbull House at 7.30 pm for a catch up. Meetings and talks start at 8.00 pm with club business and tea and coffee afterwards.

Lake Sally, Arthur's Pass

Section trips news

Please send all your fantastic trip reports to newsletter @nzalpine.wellington.net.nz, so everyone can enjoy your stories.
Thanks for all your reports this month, it's been great! I look forward to receiving more after the summer break. Ed.

Ski Touring at Aoraki Mt Cook

During late October Niklas Werner, Paul McCullagh and Mike Peat went ski-touring in the Mt cook area. The plan was hatched by Mike during the autumn - before skiing was on the minds of less dedicated folk. Various options were considered but eventually we settled on the idea of flying into the upper Murchison Glacier with the intent of skiing out over Tasman Saddle and doing whatever was both interesting and sensible based on the weather presented to us.

With el-cheapo early bird flights, each flying different airlines, we rendezvoused in Christchurch on Saturday 16 October. From here we bought our weeks provisions then drove on to NZAC Unwin Hut at Mt Cook in a borrowed car. In a town with two pubs we somehow stuffed up our intended ale session with Grant (the man from Unwin) Pearson, with each of us going to the other pub and thinking we had been stood up!

Another day and a half of snow, rain and espresso at the village dawdled by with hourly phone calls to the airport to check flying status. Finally the cloud lifted enough for us to get the call that they would try to fly in about an hour - action stations - last minute packing and sorting of gear and we tore into the airport carpark with dust, gravel and burnt rubber spewing from the car tires. Touchdown 2pm upper Murchison yeehaa... we had flown in with Neil, Anna and Mike from Christchurch who were also ski-tourers, and about 300kg of equipment! A few foments later and the aircraft was gone from sight and the drone slowly faded leaving us in dead calm stifling heat and pin dropping silence. Feeling a bit like beasts of burden we shouldered monstrous loads and began skinning in knee deep sticky powder toward the hut. We arrived at the hut physically spent, but after and hour of recovery and rehydration we set out for a liberating (packless) ski down the steep face below the hut and on down the Murchison a wee way.

We had about six inches of snow overnight and strong wind to boot, the morning brought marginal improvement but the weather was still rather threatening. We decided on a relatively short climb up to Starvation Saddle to check out the Mannering Glacier headwall. As we climbed the visibility improved and the wind was dropping, with a more optimistic outlook we modified the plan to a full ski down the Mannering if things still looked ok once we got to the saddle. Unfortunately the headwall was a lee slope and looked like it needed a day or two for the new snow to settle before it would go. Our disappointment at not skiing the Mannering was quickly forgotten once we were carving our way back down the Murchison to the hut in perfect packed powder.

We made a dawn start next morning on a perfect day skiing down the Murchison in ankle deep light powder. We were on our way toward Mt Sydney King at the head of the Aida Glacier. As we stopped to fix skins at the bottom of the Aida the main divide summits were bathed in the glow of sunrise, from the pinks of the lower peaks to the golden hues of the higher summits. We made good time - even as the snow deepened we forged on, no doubt inspired by the strong country around us. A few suspect slopes were crossed one at a time, but our luck held. A few more hours and we could ski no further, the summit was 50m above. Five minutes of plugging thigh deep up a steep snow slope and we were there. Views of D'Archiac standing proud above all around it. The Godley, the Classen - hop off point for Gotleib Braun Elwarts classic ski-tour via the Murchison, Tasman, Rudolf and Franz Josef Glaciers (a long day out)! Having fully soaked up the view we set off down, skiing in knee deep powder with a huge smile inside and outwardly whooping for joy. Such a day has to be celebrated in style so once back at the hut we polished off our bottle of Laphroaig which had been tentatively started a few days earlier.

Next day we were humping heavy packs again - we had to get over Tasman Saddle. We started just before dawn to get the worst behind us before the day heated up - this worked a treat and we took only 4hrs to make Tasman Saddle Hut. I was suffering from a nasty cold and decided to rest up for the rest of the day while Paul and Niklas skinned up and climbed Mt Aylmer, enjoying a nice run back to the hut.

Elie de Beaumont was next to draw our attention, two other parties in the hut (including a guided party) had been beaten back by deep snow and nasty schrunds - we went anyway. Leaving early we made good time on ski to the base of the steep climb up to the Elie/Walter saddle, here we left the skis and plugged thigh deep toward the saddle. We got to the nasty schrund that had beaten back one party, the only bridge looked weak but with care I thought it would hold. I crawled across taking care to move slowly and spread the load, it held and Paul carefully crawled after me while I made a axe belay in the steep sugary snow above. Next came Niklas with Paul watching him, with reckless abandon Niklas stomped over resulting in a massive collapse of 5m width and 30m length of the bridge. With weak belays on the steep slope above Paul and I were wrenched from our feet and dragged toward the chasm, saved from being swallowed by the rope cutting deep into the overhanging snow. Fortunately the schrund was tilting out from the slope at about 60deg which meant that we were able to lower Niklas down a few metres and then belay him as he climbed up the opposite wall to safety. Now separated by the 5m wide chasm, after a quick discussion of reunification options we decided the best option was for Niklas to clip into a snow stake and untie from the rope so that Paul and I could find another route around the schrund and climb back to collect him. About half an hour later we were together again and resumed the climb. Further schrund difficulties were soon encountered and we eventually decided to abandon the climb about 200m below the summit as we had insufficient equipment (one axe, screw and stake each) to safely negotiate the hazards.

Rather disappointed we returned to our skis, but it was not long before trouble found us again. Paul buried a ski tip in a turn and badly pulled a muscle in his posterior region which made lifting his leg difficult and painful. We were back at the hut by about 3pm and decided that with Paul's injury, skiing / walking back out to the village the next day as planned wouldn't be a goer so we called up Mt Cook Airlines and jacked up a flight. Due to soft snow conditions at cornice wall (the landing site near the hut) we had to get lower down the glacier to the pick up point. To minimise pain and further damage to Paul we came up with the cunning plan of skinning down (skins grip the snow on gentle descents) this meant that he didn't have to lift his leg and could therefore carry his own pack. So off we went descending at the maximum rate our skin gripage would allow in a series of zig zags.

In a flash we were back in civilisation, beer, luxury food, showers and clean clothes - all good stuff. The fact we were out a day early enabled us to watch the NPC final. Our initial optimism after an early Wellington try was soon eroded as Canterbury gradually got on top of our boys. Another round of beer? We spent the following day relaxing and rock climbing at Sebastopol, before departing for home. Next year we'll be back again for more skiing and another crack at the NPC!

Mike Peat

Ten take on Tapi

After many days staring at Tapi across the strait we finally got through the hoards onto the ferry out of Wellington on the Friday of labour weekend. Our group consisted of four students from the 04 AIC along with six others for a total group of ten. Our original plan of finding each other simply by carrying ice axes got a little confused by the number of others going climbing that weekend. We finally found everyone by about half way across the strait and the climbing stories and aspirations all started to come out. We stayed the night in Picton and made the trip down the Awatere Valley the next morning.

The trip up the Hodder was good fun and all managed to stay pretty dry. 70 river crossings was the official count. We arrived at the huts at about 5 and squeezed into the 18 bed huts along with the other 10 already there. A couple outside in a tent and on the floor (we didn't find the spare mattresses until the cleanup on the final morning).

The next morning was cloudy and damp but we were not going to be put off and packed up for a summit attempt. Tim showed some serious determination and declared that he would not join us and have a hut day. His resolve lasted for about 30min and he caved in at the final moment and joined us. The whole day was spent in thick cloud and we ended up getting pretty lost. Following a meeting of the minds we decided to turn around and retrace our steps out from about 200m below the summit. On the way out Shane accidentally demonstrated a self arrest at the top of the huge north face. We all had our hearts in our mouths for a few seconds but the lessons from AIC were clearly learned well. We had some epic bum slides and found our way back out to the huts hungry but happy after a 9 hour day. Shane had decided he was invincible that day and attempted a daring flying leap across the Hodder. He ended up clinging to the side of slippery rock by a few fingers to avoid being dragged down the raging 2 foot deep Hodder. We all had a good laugh.

Day three dawned very similar with thick cloud all around us. The forecast was for improving conditions so the bulk of the group decided on a late start. After Manu and Andrew gave Siobhan and William a less on how to play 500, we all readied our selves for an 11am start. Once again we had ourselves a piker as Siobahn settled down in her Everest bag for a hut day. Once again though a spineless back down at the last minute had her joining us for another hard 1400m slog up a mountain we couldn't see. We had learned from the mistakes of the day before and knew exactly the way to the summit. For four hours we all probably thought of turning around but kept going as a Fleeting glimpse of blue sky spurred us on. We struggled our way up the final couloir to find the early morning group of Josh, Merewyn and Tom coming back down from the summit. We followed the summit ridge up to what we though would be a grey anticlimax of a summit. The instant we stepped up onto the summit the clouds cleared and we got about 5min of great views of the seaward Kaikouras and a few unnamed peaks to the east and west. We were all pretty psyched and couldn't believe our luck. We spent about 10min on the summit and took heaps of photos before heading back down the ridge. We had some awesome bum slides down the couloir and dropped about 800m in less than 10 minutes.

We arrived back at the hut that night at about 7pm and all watched the self professed "gourmet cooking group" cook up 6 pasta snack packs to go with their veggies. That was enough to feed the lot of us and I'm sure they didn't get past halfway. Like all good mountaineers they packed out what they packed in, right guys, right.

Day four was a great fine sunny day and we all enjoyed being in the river on the way down. The water level has risen a bit and a few of the group took some impromptu dips. Merewyn managed to end up sitting down facing up stream with her back to a large rock and the river at about chin level. We got out to the cars at 3pm minus Josh's plastics, now added to the shoe tree at the bottom of the Hodder.

We fell into the 'Toot and Whistle' 15min before our sailing and were amazed at how quickly the produced steak sandwiches and roast dinners (big ups to the T&W/G). We had an amazing sunset on the ferry back and are already planning the next trip. I think the girls will be pining for big boy in between times.

Missing Tom Wilson, Manu Big Boy Ward, Siobahn Isles, William Veale, Nicole Mouth Moistener, Josh Qui Gon Jinn Groom, Merewyn Ellis, Tim Holt, Andrew Finnigan.

Andrew Finnigan

From Arapiles to the Arrowsmiths

Eric Duggan and Kim Hessell spent a week at Arapiles in Mid October. We met up with Glyn Jackson and Lara Wilcox (both NZAC members from Canterbury and Otago). The weather was fine and hot for the week (climbing into the 30's - which wasn't too bad but it did irritate the flies!). Highlights for the trip were Eskimo Nell (120m grade 10), Syrinx (170m grade 10), Brolga (100m grade 16 slabs), Muldoon (13), Plimsoll Line (22), Frenzy (21), Lemmington (19), Tannin (19), D-minor (14), Little Thor (20), and Pilot Error (20). Actually, the whole week we were there we didn't bother climbing anything unless it had at least one star! The free outdoor barbeques in Horsham were quite good as well.

In early November Eric Duggan, Peter Rowe, and Malcolm Mcgechie tried to climb Mt Arrowsmith via the standard route from the Cameron Valley. We walked into Cameron Hut in just over 4.5 hours in hot weather. That night the clag came in though and a light rain started to fall. At 2am the next morning the weather had cleared so we had a quick breakfast and left at 2.30am. Unfortunately there was no freeze and soft snow turned to knee deep breakable crust at about 2000m. We turned around just under East Horn (nearly 2370m) at 6.30am, with our last 100m of climbing taking over an hour. Although we didn't reach the summit we were treated to nice views to the east at dawn. We were back at the hut at 8am and then walked out in very hot conditions.

Eric Duggan

Thumbs Up!

The Two Thumbs range is often forgotten by the north island climbers as they head south with Mt Cook objectives in mind. But if the weather at Mt Cook is not playing the game, then other areas should be considered like the The Two Thumbs range, primarily because it is further east than most south island mountains and seems to be in the rain shallow of every direction. Hence the unstable weather of labour weekend resulted in us using Plan B, the Thumbs.

The party of seven gathered at the traditional climbing meeting spot in Geraldine to arm themselves with cheese and pastries for the journey ahead.

The approach to The Thumbs is via Bush stream, which exits the hills into the Rangitata river a few kilometres west of the Mesopotamia homestead. The river is relatively easy travel with numerous crossings, which may well be a challenge with more water. There is a stiff 250metre climb out of the stream to Crooked Spur Hut, a well-appointed Mesopotamia musters hut.

5:00am saw the group leave the hut and traversed through the tussock into a side stream that leads to Brabazon saddle(1731ms). A sidling descent into the headwaters of Black Birch stream enabled a clear view of the objective, the Thumbs (or more exactly, the southern and highest of the two peaks). The thumbs obtain their name from Samuel Bulter who claimed that they look like two thumbs placed fleshly parts together.

Two routes where attempted. James Wright and Don French took a line directly up the face connecting a series of snowfields via short difficulties, which lead directly to the shoulder just south of the high summit.

The other four, James Broadbent, Fraser Crichton, Scott Campbell and Toby Johnston took a thin white line on the left of the face, topping out onto the shoulder to join the other pair.

The six then traverse the last hundred or so metres to the summit (2546m), reaching it at 1:15pm. Descent via the NNE ridge to the col dissecting the two summits offered a few frustrations and false leads. A 45m rap had the group at the col for an easy descent to the valley and a safe return to Crooked Spur just before dark.

If you want to know more about The Thumbs, write to Don French (don.f@xtra.co.nz) for a copy of the official trip CD.

Don French

Pete's Post

Things are fully busy down here now. Lots of science groups, and a few "distinguished visitors". The weather has been very warm. It even made it above zero early this week. We wouldn't normally expect temperatures like this for another month.

Sir Edmund Hillary is visiting us next week. He's staying for six days. He is down here to commemorate the Air New Zealand tragedy on Mt Erebus, and to dedicate the new warm store building that is being constructed.

We have several reporters here, including TV1, TV3, and the Dominion Post. So we have to be careful what we say, lest they discover some juicy story that we'd rather not be made public.

On Tuesday I made it to the mainland of the Antarctic continent. We flew by helo about 300km south (to nearly 80 degrees south), which took about 2.5 hours. We needed to land at a fuel-cache on the way to refuel. Weather was perfect, and the view was amazing. At the refueling point, there was a Twin Otter aeroplane with half a dozen Americans digging out the fuel drums from the snow. They were surprised to see us turning up in such a remote location at the same time as them.

After filling up, we traveled south for another half-hour to an area near the Darwin Glacier. We flew around doing a recce as they looked for a site for future camps. They have quite a bit of science to do there during the next couple of years. Then we looked for a suitable place for me to put an automatic weather station. When we found this, we landed.

It took two of us about 1.5 hours to set up the weather station. We were working in a moderate breeze - I'd guess about 15 knots. It was a bit cold, but you could still work with your gloves off for short periods. We'd been left with our survival gear, handheld VHF radio, an Iridium phone, and a Codan HF radio. The helo took off with the others to continue recce-ing the area. When we'd finished our job, we set up the HF radio to attempt a test call back to Scott Base. We got no reply, but this is probably because the aerial was strung out pretty marginally. The team in the helo had also tried unsuccessfully to call the base on HF, so we've learnt that comms for the future camps in the area may be sub-optimal. We'd only just packed up the radio and moved our gear over to the helo landing area, when they arrived to pick us up. We stopped for fuel on the way home as well.

I've been selected for the joint NZ-USA secondary SAR team. We'll be the backup team during the summer, and will be deployed in the event of a large event or two simultaneous ones. They have mountain guides as field trainers during the summer, and they do the primary SAR duties. But during the winter we'll be the main SAR team. Selection for this team is quite competitive, with 160 people trialling for the 15 places. Two of us from Scott Base were successful.

We had our first training day yesterday - we train for a full day every second Thursday. The weather was calm, warm and quite similar in temperature to a nice alpine day in NZ. We won't always be working in these conditions. We roped up and wandered through an icefall looking for a suitable crevasse. We spent the day practising extracting a victim with a range of different medical problems out of the crevasse. This involves one team abseiling down to quickly assist, while the other group construct bomb-proof anchors and set up a hauling system. Great fun, and even better if you're getting paid for it.

That's all to report this month. I follow with interest everything that is happening in the club, and I'd like to say hi to everyone.

Pete de Joux from Antarctica

Other Section Member Happenings

Various members of the section were seen in the Orongorongos a few weeks ago trying out the sport of rogaining. Rumour has it at least Mike Judd, Caroline Duggan, Rachael Schmidt, Merewyn Ellis and Josh Groom were there. More rumours also mention 2 of them picking up a prize for their efforts while 2 others had some (how shall we put it?) timing issues and unfortunately missed the bbq dinner!

Also in Arapiles!

Merewyn and Josh also spent some time in Arapiles but we're still waiting for the write-up!

Memorial Plaques - Hooker Valley

DoC has issued a consultation document on the Memorial Plaques attached to the King Memorial on the Hooker Valley Track. I have a copy of the document so email me (rs@ nzalpine.wellington.net.nz) if you would like a copy. There are also consultation documents out on upgrade of the White Horse campground and upgrade of the Hooker Track so email me if you would like copies.

The Department is seeking ideas and feedback on the Plaques and how to cater for future demand. DoC would appreciate any feedback or comments you may have.

Erik VanderSpek
Programme Manager - Visitor Assets
Department of Conservation
Aoraki Area Office
P.O Box 5
Mount Cook 8770
Phone: 03 4351180

Watch this space! Climbing film coming

Southern Faces all ready to go for Christmas. Southern Faces is a feature length film about the South Island climbing scene. It's a comprehensive film that features all aspects of rockclimbing, from bouldering to sport routes, to multi-pitch trad lines. It's about Kiwi climbers in their element pushing their personal limits (and in some cases pushing the limits of sanity!). The film is not just a hard-cranking climbing video. The film-makers try and capture the current South Island climbing scene and have included loads of information and interviews at each of the areas they feature: Paynes, Charleston, Castle Hill, Port Hills, Dunedin, Wanaka, Queenstown and the Darrans. Highlights include Derek Thatcher on his grade 32 test piece at the Babylon Wall and rare footage of a slightly icy ascent of the classic alpine rock route Labyrinth in the Darrans. Southern Faces is supported and endorsed by the NZAC.

Premieres for the film will be held in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland during December. The DVD will be available for order off the Southern Faces website www.southernfaces.co.nz (not fully functional yet) and via all good outdoor stores from mid-December.

Wellington - venue and date to be confirmed - keep checking the website.

Massages in the Bay!

(Yes, you read that correctly!)

Kia Ora Koutou,

As suggested by Aunty Mere, I would just like to let you all know that there will be a massage service offered at Whanganui Bay this summer from Christmas onwards. I will be there doing the massage for three weeks from Christmas and also available at times after that depending on when I will be back in the Bay.

There will be planting of natives at this time around the camp site as well. We have already planted some Pohutakawa around the edges and there are some saplings just to the back of the toilet. So could campers be aware of these plants as some of them are small, we have tried to put as many in the gorse as possible , but please just be aware of these young plants that are trying to grow. The majority of the planting will be taking place along the path from the carpark to the campsite as we are trying to get ready for next winter to stop this area from getting to swampy and to make the campsite more accessible.

Otherwise we look forward to seeing you all down at the Bay this Summer.

Noho ora

Kiri Diamond

Simon Yates - Beyond The Void

Coming to New Zealand for a limited number of one night personal slide presentations as guest of the New Zealand Alpine Club... Wellington's presentation will be Sunday February 13th at The Paramount. Keep an eye out on the website, on the discussion list and the next VertiGO for full details.

For Sale

For sale: Asolo plastic alpine boots size 9 ($80) and Black Diamond foot fang crampons to fit ($120). Both good condition. Phone Simon 382 8836 (hm), 916 3847 (wk) or email simon.chapple006@msd.govt.nz.

Quiz Number 14

You've had a long time for this one, so there should be heaps of entries! Nigel Roberts noted that not only had the film "Touching the Void" been very popular in Wellington, but also that Simon Yates will possibly be coming to New Zealand on a lecture tour early next year. Simon Yates and Joe Simpson are, of course, famous for their dramatic first ascent of the west face of Siula Grande in Peru, so Nigel's 14th quiz question is: Name one of Simon Yates' first ascents in another country beginning with "P", namely Pakistan.

Email your answers to Nigel at chairperson@nzalpine.wellington.net.nz by the end of November (that is, by no later than Tuesday, 30 November 2004). Be sure to put Quiz Number 14 in the email subject line (or else your email is highly likely to be destroyed as spam). The winning entry will be drawn at the Monday, 6 December, section night meeting, and the winner will receive a bottle of Christmas cheer (which almost certainly won't be Pakistani wine!).

Special Christmas Quiz

The next quiz question, the chairperson's special Christmas quiz, is as follows: During World War Two, two New Zealand soldiers serving in Europe made a pledge to climb Mt Blanc
after the war. One of the soldiers was killed before the end of the war, but the surviving soldier kept his promise and climbed the mountain before he returned to New Zealand. The story of his ascent is recorded in a poem he wrote about the climb. Extracts from the poem will be handed out at the December section night meeting and then posted on the Wellington section's website. Who was the climber-poet? Read the poem

Nigel Roberts doubts anyone will find the answer on Google, but fear not ... you have until the end of February 2005 to find the answer to this question, so start your enquiries / research / poetry-hunting now!

And here are the club trips ....

Wellington Section Trips - Trips are a key part of the section, so if anyone has an idea about a trip, no matter how vague, come and chat to Michele Domaneschi or Rachel Depree (trips @nzalpine.wellington.net.nz)

Trips can be of any length, any level of difficulty, and any size. Simply email us, or approach us at the monthly meeting, and we can help you get going.

See you in the hills! WE NEED MORE TRIPS! COME ON GUYS

Trips for the Calendar for the rest of 2004…

Check out the proposed and planned new list for 2004. We need trip organisers to put their hands up for what are bound to be outstanding adventures. There's something for everyone in here with a mix of snow, rock and even a spot of ski touring.

Joint efforts upgrade hut?

Elcho Hut in the Hopkins River valley, South Canterbury, was recently upgraded to DOC hut standards in a joint effort between DOC and NZAC. The hut, built in 1938, is a New Zealand Alpine Club hut. DOC donated a log burner and fire surround as well as a fire escape ladder to enable an exit from a high window if needed. Several keen NZAC members from Oamaru then spent a very productive weekend installing all the new features and have brought the hut back up to scratch.

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[ Next Issue Deadline = Friday 21st January 2005 ]
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