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.

Lance, on Mt Wakeman

Section trips news

Please send all your fantastic trip reports to newsletter @nzalpine.wellington.net.nz, so everyone can enjoy your stories.

Hanging out in Fox!

"Dan has just advised us he is vegetarian and doesn't eat meat, whereas I don't like vegetables (or fish and especially not mushrooms)"

Craig Robinson, Merewyn Ellis and Caroline Duggan along with Daniel Allan and Rob Lawrence from Otago were participants on the NZAC Alpine Instructors Course held at Porter Lodge over Feb 6-11 2005.

"I taught Judy Reid to climb and she was pretty old then"

The course was run by two qualified mountain guides, Paul Rogers and Tim Robertson, and looked at, amongst other things, contemporary best practice in the mountains and skills/techniques we could use as recreational climbers.

"Its pretty hard to get lucky in Antarctica, and I was on the job at the time"

The weather and conditions conspired against us so instead of flying into Pioneer Hut for the 6 days on day 1 it was off to the lower Fox Glacier for some crevasse travel and rescue skills.

'I've got one student un-tying himself from his belay and another rescuer who is almost halfway down the crevasse!"

On day 2 it rained.

"I've just about knitted a sleeve - that's how titillating it's been"

Each of the sets of participants was tasked with providing dinner for the instructors. That night Paul and Tim went to a restaurant while we cooked at Porter Lodge.

"What are you wearing under your leggings tomorrow?"

Day 3 saw a weather window and we flew up to Chancellor Dome for a skills day looking at Mt Cook grading, route selection, rope configurations, kiwi coils, mountaineers coils, pitching styles, anchors, steep glaciated terrain travel and crevasse travel. Somewhere below Chancellor Dome in "the trough" is the last few metres from either end of Dan's rope.

"Our beloved guides"

While Merewyn snored through the late night debrief at Chancellor Hut the rest of us agreed we would like to walk out down the Fox Glacier on Day 4.

"That's a great bogger!"

The walk down the Fox covered the issues of route selection and peril detection associated with dry ice travel and the moraine walls surrounding an advancing glacier.

"Mountains are the best place for murder"

It took approximately 8 hours to get back onto the cut steps of the lower glacier in beautiful weather, followed by a quick dip in one of the glacial ponds next to the car park.

Beer.

On day 5 it was back to the glacier for some lead ice climbing and comparisons of the different array of hardware between us.

"That's the steepest tramp I've ever been on!"

Having done Fox we left that evening for Castle Hill.

Day 6 and we were into the National Office to store gear for the day (not that we are intimating anything about the thieves of ChCh) and collect some more rock pro (thanks Richard and Mark).

After coffee it was up to Castle Rock in our full alpine gear to look at rock protection, anchor systems, abseil anchors and their significance in the NZ mountains. We ended with a paired abseil in the rain.

Back at the National Office was a good chance to debrief the course and provide Richard with valuable feedback to improve the course for next time.

"Leave only footprints, take only liberties"

For myself I found the 6 days to be very valuable, learning some new techniques and consolidating others and getting the chance to discuss with members of other sections about our different instruction programs.

Thanks are due to Richard Wesley, Judy Reid and the National Office for arranging the course and Paul and Tim for sharing their expertise with us for 6 days.

Caroline Duggan (All quotes verbatim from the group)

The legend that is Brian Wilkins

Starting from Sandy Bluff in the Dart, Brian Wilkins recently led a party up the long ridge above it to Wright Col and climbed Earnslaw E.Peak. The direct route from the Frances Glacier to Wright Col appeared, at least from above, to be blocked by glacial retreat, forcing them across into the Upper Bedford for the final part. The others were Tararua men "superbly fit veterans, Warwick Hill, Barry Durrant, and Colin Cook, all over 60, who didn't mind waiting for me to catch up with them" Brian says. Don McKay, NZAC, was supposed to be with them but got caught in the Wellington Airport fog and joined them from the Rees for the final climb. They all returned via the Rees concluding an interesting crossing of the Forbes Range. Brian would like to know if anyone knows whether their route from Sandy Bluff has been done. He can't find any record of it. He was interested to return to the scene of a number of new climbs he did in 1951 with Ian Bagley after they had helped build the first Esquilant Bivouac. "You're in better condition than the old bivvy" one of his mates told Brian, aged 79.

Sefton from the Douglas

Sefton from the Douglas. Geoffroy Lamarche, John Nankervis and Wellywood exiles, Martin Hunter and Rob McBrearty had a few moist days in the Douglas in mid February. From an eyrie, high on the ledges above the Horace Walker icefall, they climbed the west ridge of Sefton, then walked out from Horace Walker Hut over the beautiful high route to Conical Hill Saddle and the Karangarua river.

John Nankervis

News from the Palmie crowd

Some of the Palmy based members have been down south over the summer:

In January, Pete McGregor, Lance Gray and Terry Crippen spent a few relaxed days based at Barker Hut in Arthurs Pass NP, climbing Wakelin and Murchison in between periods of strong winds and pit bashing. Using the high col on Mt Harper they then crossed over (nearly becoming airborne with the tail winds) into the basin above Gerard Falls in the head of Greenlaw Ck. Plans were to continue over into the Avoca, but decided to camp in the basin - an idyllic seldom visited spot (Greenlaw Ck not having the easiest of access). They were on a photographic hunt for rock wrens, but only sighted deer and chamois. They exited via the ridge separating Greenlaw and Harper Cks and a steep active continuous scree which drops into the Greenlaw.

Later Lance, Terry and others climbed Rolleston, descending down the Otira slide in quick time on account of fresh snow on harder old snow leaving some unplanned long skid marks!

Early February saw Terry Crippen and Christine Cheyne doing a crossing of Ball Pass. Besides scrambling up Turner Peak, they camped just below the pass to enjoy the spell of settled weather with not a drop of wind to be felt. Almost too hot though. Later on they went up onto Annette Plateau via Sebastopol Ridge enjoying the company of a couple of elusive
rock wrens on the way.

Pete adds:
Full trip report at www.xanga.com/pohanginapete Currently it's the most recent entry, but as I add more to the site it will eventually drop off the front page-it can be accessed by going to http://www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=PohanginaPete&tab=weblogs&uid=198810517 or just using the "go to date" option: it's dated 4 February 2005

Terry Crippen/Pete McGregor

Pete's Post

As I write this, the end of the Antarctic summer season is almost here. The last flights from NZ are on 26 February. Almost all of our summer staff have gone home, and the incoming winter crew who will be fitting out the new Hillary Field Centre building arrived a week ago. Soon we'll be trapped here for at least five months, with no mail, newspapers, fresh vegetables, or (most importantly) no new toys able to be sent to us.

There are normally about 11 people wintering-over. This year we'll have 19 people, because of the construction project. The aim is to have the new
building ready for use next season.

Temperatures are dropping from the highs of about +3 degC in early January. This morning it is -17 degC. This is still comfortable when the wind is not blowing, but with windchill it would feel pretty cold. When we were doing our SAR training last Thursday, one of our team, Dave, was the "subject" in a scenario which involved a fall into a crevasse. He was in there for about four hours while the SAR team responded. By the time we'd got gear organised, sent out a hasty response team, found them all, and extracted Dave from the narrow crevasse he was starting to become hypothermic. He was quite grumpy as we hauled him out on a litter.

The biggest danger of a crevasse fall here is the cold. The Americans are totally focussed on possible spinal injuries - probably because in their country you might be sued if you didn't assume a spinal injury. However, with the statistical proportion of crevasse falls causing spinal injuries being about 5%, we argued that a more rapid rescue should have been made. Especially since our patient showed no sign of any spinal or neurological problems.

On Sunday we took the new crew for a familiarisation trip to the Imax crevasse. This is about an hours drive away in a Hagglunds tracked vehicle. Most of them had never been inside a crevasse, and they were very impressed. It is still permanent daylight, but we'll see our first sunset for about half an hour on 21 February. Then the nights will get steadily longer until we have three months of permanent darkness. I'm looking forward to experiencing the severe cold and a few Condition One storms during the winter. I want to capture on video some of the amazing experiences that only winter-over crews in the polar regions normally get to see.

More next month...

Pete de Joux from Antarctic

Rock Hop Debarcle

Embarrassed officials at Rock Hop 2005 were forced to disqualify the original winner of the event because he was an orangutan. "He just handed over 10 bucks and I gave him an entry form" was the only statement made by organisers today. "He was too hairy. I knew something was up" said the relieved eventual winner. Coy zoo staff offered no feasible explanation for how Scoh-tee, their patriarchal primate originally from Borneo, escaped. "He must have shaved and snuck out with a pensioners group" said one young employee.

Banff 2005

Mark your Diaries! The Banff Mountain Film Festival 2005 will be held on Sunday evening 8 May 2005 at the Paramount Theatre….watch this space for further details….

SUMMER ROCK 2005

It's that time of year again - we are running the ever popular annual Rock Course, and are taking names of interested people. This introduction to outdoor rock climbing will run over April and May, and covers climbing technique and all the skills needed to safely set up, belay, climb and abseil. This is a great way to get out to New Zealand's crags and get a bunch of climbing partners to go on missions with!

Wednesday 13 April Indoor Session
Saturday 16 April Titahi Bay (day trip)
Wednesday 20 April Indoor Session
Wednesday 27 April Indoor Session
Sat/Sun 30 April Kinloch Crag (weekend away)
Wednesday 4 May Indoor Session
Sat/Sun 7 May Wharepapa Crags (weekend away)

The course is usually followed by a post course trip to the likes of Paynes Ford, Mangatepopo, Taranaki or …?! The course is run by volunteer professional instructors, and costs $320 for members (which covers transport, accommodation, evening meals, gear, venue hire, booklet and instruction).

To find out more and/or book a place on the course, call Scott or Mike on 3800913, or email mob@nzalpine.wellington.net.nz. Places are already filling, so don't delay……

Interested in instructing?

We are always interested in hearing from anyone who would like to share their knowledge, experience and skills with others in the club - and gain new skills at the same time. The club supports instructors with training and can give assistance working towards qualifications. Anyone who believes they have something to offer and is interested in helping on rock climbing instruction courses can contact Mike or Scott on 3800913, or email mob@nzalpine.wellington.net.nz.

Tararua Lovers Community (?? Not my name for it - Ed.)

"I'm setting up a new web site aimed at celebrating the Tararua Ranges - the mountains and bush itself and the people who have spent time enjoying this wonderful natural habitat (http://tlc.dazcorp.com)

What I'd like to do is offer site visitors a place to come to on the web where they can:
· read stories of peoples trips and experiences in these ranges (trip reports, amusing stories, events etc) and
· view photographs of the Tararuas and people enjoying their leisure time in these ranges

What I'd like to ask you is would you or any of your members be interested in sharing their stories or photographs on my site? Naturally I'll accord credit to the owner unless otherwise instructed but I can't offer any payment other than the kudos that comes from helping others to share and enjoy the Tararua 'experience'.

It's a non-commercial site so nothing is being sold and it's not intended to generate any monetary returns. No personal information is sought nor will any personal information be recorded by me other than that necessary for correspondence with those people who are willing to share their stories/articles/photos. Naturally this will be in strictest confidence.

I truly hope that you can help out and join me in sharing what is a fabulous natural treasure at our combined doorsteps.

If you or any of your membership are interested in accepting my invitation then I would be glad to hear from you via email. If you have any concerns you would like to discuss or would simply like to speak with me in the first instance about the site or anything related to this project please feel free to contact me on my cell phone 027 304 0094 or pass on your contact tel and I will be in touch.

Thank you for your time and I hope to hear from you soon! =)

Kind Regards,

Darrell Mayson
email: webmaster@tlc.dazcorp.com or dmays1967@xtra.co.nz , mob.: 027 304 0094

Survey

"My name is Rodney Garrard and I was a section member of the Wellington side of things last year, when I could make the meetings that is!. The reason I am writing is that I have moved to Wanaka for 2005. I am undertaking a thesis looking at the waste management issues in Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park. The reason I am writing is that I have just had my questionnaire accepted by the ethics committee at Victoria University to use climbers/mountaineers/skiers in the Aoraki/Mt Cook N/park area as my research subjects. I plan to distribute as many of the questionnaires to the alpine huts within the park but was also wondering if you would like to ask the members in the meeting (that have recently been climbing in the park, those after Sep 2004') whether they would be interested in completing the questionnaire? "

Contact the Ed (rs@nzalpine.wellington.net.nz) if you can help Rodney out with his survey.

For Sale/Wanted to buy

Wanted to buy: A complete (or nearly) set of Tararua annuals, for the NZAC national library in Chch. Please contact Richard Thomson, ph 04-383 4224, email richard@growingwild.co.nz

Wanted to buy: Rockclimbing shoes, very small size (1,2,3?), any condition.
Contact Richard Thomson, email richard@growingwild.co.nz ph 04-383 4224

To Give Away: "Barrels. I have available barrels which are ideal for overseas climbing expeditions. I got them from Resene Paints: no longer available I believe. They have a capacity of 30 litres, are of robust plastic construction, have lifting handles and a lid secured by a metal band with a clip lock. They are pretty well waterproof. Let me know if you would like some. No cost.,
John Wild, wild.marsdenave@xtra.co.nz, Ph: 476 9281"

Alpine Journals: ALPINE JOURNALS TO DISPOSE OF.: 1953 TO 1965 INCLUSIVE, AND also Canterbury MounTAINEER, vol 13 1943-44, 14 1944-1945, 24 1954-55 and vols 26-32 inclusive. If anyone wants them, they can have them, preferably by making a suitable donation to the club.
Graeme Claridge, Phone (04)562-8492, email: graeme.claridge@xtra.co.nz

Quiz Number 15 - Special Xmas Quiz

There's still time. No-one has yet submitted a correct answer to the special Christmas quiz. Email Nigel Roberts by 28 February 2005 and let him know the name of the New Zealand soldier who wrote the poem about climbing Mont Blanc after World War II and you will have an extremely good chance of winning the prize! Surely there's someone out there who knows the answer ...

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, "The Long Way Back", are given below.

Who was the climber-poet?

Email your answers to NR@nzalpine.wellington.net.nz by no later than 28 February 2005. Be sure to put Quiz Number 15 in the email's subject line (or else your email is highly likely to be destroyed as spam). The winning entry will be drawn at the section night meeting on Monday, 7 March 2005, and the winner will receive half-a-dozen bottles of Monteith's black beer.

The Long Way Back
Six hours up the icefall on the south face
We encounter a line of fresh tracks
That draws us across the mountain's shoulder
Into a high-level hut of unlined metal
To surprise a party of Swiss, laughing and talking
Over their experiences on the tourist route
From Chamonix ...

They look disbelievingly at our improvised gear-
Wehrmacht rucksacks, Alpini boots, Kaiapoi woollen
Jerseys, caps comforter, and old army socks for gloves.
...
Then we buckle on crampons, adjust the rope
And start up the summit ridge;
The Italian leads and I'm up close,
Axe ready, rope tightly in hand.
Every 50 metres or so we lean over our axes
And drag at the air like old men on difficult stairs.
The wind is now so sharp there's no stopping
For more than freezing seconds;
Soon it's my turn to chip each step
Precisely lest a slip sends us sliding
...
In corroboration of last winter's pact
Made when we were fugitives
In the landscape of our choosing:
'When it's over we'll celebrate-
We'll climb the highest point in the Alps'
...
Each step towards the summit
I keep thinking about my friend
And all the mountains we might have climbed
Together ...

But for a moment longer I wait,
Arm in arm against the wind,
Hesitating on the extreme arc of memory,
Staring down into Italy
While tears freeze in my eyes
For ever.

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 2005…

Check out the proposed and planned new list for 2005. 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.

Proposed…

Images from the NZAC Alpine Instructors Course 2005