Monday 20 August 2007

MSC Snowcraft Course

17-19 August 2007.
Levin / Waiopehu Tramping Club Ski Lodge, Whakapapa Skifield

Friday

Friday was a rush of an afternoon - race home from work, unpack and repack my pack to try and cut down how much I was taking, and then wait for my ride to arrive. Quickly enough we were on our way towards the north, battling a very full car and Friday afternoon traffic on State 1. We stopped once in Paraparaumu to pick up our last passenger, and then sat in traffic for most of the next hour through to Waikanae (about 30km, if that). We stopped in Bulls for dinner at the the Kebab shop. It was good Kebab... This photo is some of the sauce options they had.
warning

We then stopped briefly in Waiouru for batteries and to text the people we were meeting so they knew where we were and it was off to Whakapapa village. The Bruce Rd was open all the way to the top with no chains required, which was good, but the cloud was dense like fog and we could only see about 20m ahead of the car as we were driving. Thankfully the Bruce Rd doesnt hang off the side of the mountain like some other ski field access roads.

By the time we got to the lodge and got unpacked and into our pits, it was nigh on midnight and time for bed...

Saturday
Saturday was a not too early start because the weather wasnt that great. We had a good cooked breakfast, got our stuff for the day together then spent a couple of hours sitting in the nice warm TV room to talk about weather, map reading and general safety precautions. Eventually we headed out into the gloom to learn about walking on snow.
The group
It was bitter cold, as you can tell by the photo below - I was wearing a beanie AND a balaclava, polypro and ski gloves, 2 or 3 thermal tops and my gore-tex raincoat and was still only just warm! We practiced pigeon holing, walking in general and then self-arrest on a nice slope with a good run out at the bottom. We had lunch in the shelter of the Wanganui Lodge (I think).
I'm a climber now...
About 4pm we headed back to the lodge to relax and warm up for the afternoon. Most of us napped before dinner and I was incredibly sore considering we had only been out on the snow for about 5 hours and had only walked about 2km! After a really nice tea of Lasagne and something (I had at least 2nds), we watched a DVD about avalanche and weather and then went to bed - about 9pm!
Sunday
Sunday dawned clear after snow the night before, which meant sunshine and a hard layer of frost on the top of the snow. That meant crampons (which I hate using) for at least the first part of the day. As much as I hate crampons, there was no way to move on the snow without them that morning, because without them you just slid about!

We headed back up to the slope we had practiced self-arrest on the day before and did some more self-arrest and practiced cutting steps as well. By this stage the crampons were off because the snow was softening up a little.
We carried on up the hill and around the edges of the ski-field boundary, practicing walking some more. Then we buried some avalanche transievers and took turns looking for them. Eventually it was time to head back to the lodge for a late lunch and pack up to head home. On the way home we finally got a glimpse of Ngaruhoe from about half way back down.
Ngaruhoe appears
Back home we headed, I went in a different car this time though to have more room. We stopped in Taihape at the Exchange cafe for hot drinks and some food, then got stuck in nasty traffic north of Otaki from an accident south of Paraparaumu. Traffic cleared somewhere south of Otaki, then backed up again at Mackays Crossing, so we took the Paekakariki Hill rd over to Petone to drop off Rebecca and then finally home to my flat at about 7.30 then to Mum and Dads for a decent shower and nice dinner.

Monday 13 August 2007

Tongariro Crossing

April 21-22 2007.
Team: Emily, Nick, Kate, Amelia

This was almost a disaster of a trip. Adam was supposed to come and then couldnt, Emily, Kate and Nick were all supposed to car pool and then couldnt. In all honesty, I was amazed that this trip ever even happened at all. Anyway, into the car I eventually got, off on the road north out of Wellington on a Friday night at rush hour. 2 hours later I finally got to Levin, where I had the WORST McD's ever. It was a long drive and a dark night, but eventually I got to Whakapapa Village, where we were all meeting. Nick and Kate were already in their pits in the DoC Centre, Emily was still at the bar. By midnight we were all in bed, sleeping as best we could on small mats, on a cold wooden floor with no insulation (cant complain too much, the accomodation was free and the toilets were nice).

Then comes about 1.30am. The local volunteer fire brigade alarm goes off - RIGHT behind the shelter we were staying in. It woke up every single person staying in the village I would say at a guess, by the number of people out roaming the streets after that. Of course, everyones first concern was that it was the emergency evacuation alarm... At least, thats the first thing that ran through my mind...

Saturday morning dawned COLD and a little overcast, but a quick chat with a local shuttle driver informed us that things should clear during the day, which cheered us up no end. We took all three cars around to the other road end, had some breakfast while the shuttles came in to pick up people leaving their cars at that end, and then took my car back to the start of the track. Spending just enough time dawdling around, getting organised, meant that we were right near the back of the people starting the track when we finally got on it at just before 9am. We managed to time it perfectly - hitting just a nice quiet spot and avoiding most of the huge crowds that tend to ruin the track for many other people.


Nick and Kate powered off away down the track so that they would have time to climb Ngaruhoe and still make it out in time to drive home to Auckland that evening. Emily and I continued at a more leisurely pace, stopping every few minutes to take photos and bemoan our large, overnight packs, which were carrying more food than most others, and also sleeping bags, eating and cooking gear. We stopped near the toilets at Soda Springs for our first "meal" of the day - a good size snack to give us energy to really attack the hill ahead of us.

Once we were at the top of that hill, it was time to take a break, have some more food (it had now been well over an hour since we last ate), admire the view and take some photos. Then it was off across the crater to the next climb, passing the turnoff for Ngaruhoe (we decided we were carrying too much stuff for a summit attempt) and wombling onwards.

Once we got to the summit of the track, there was an option of a side-track to the summit of Tongariro, which we decided to take. Emily and I were both feeling the effects of carrying overnight gear and food, as well as being a long way above sea level (1700-odd metres feels like a lot when you usually live right near sea level). So we dumped our packs, each put something warm to wear on (the clouds were rolling in somewhat, making it misty and cold), grabbed our cameras and wandered off. The photo above is Emily from halfway to Tongariro, looking over blue lake.

Summiting was a neat feeling, as this was the highest I had ever been. We took the obligatory summit photos, spent a few minutes hanging around, played in the crusty snow that was there and wandered back to the main track. Once we got back to our packs, it was decided that 1.30 was a great time to finally have lunch (a real meal, not like those massive snacks we had been eating). We looked over to the main track and thought we saw Nick and Kate at the junction, also stopped to have some food, so we wandered over and (lo and behold) it was them indeed. Nick promptly dropped the crackers all over the ground, while Kate packed up the transiever and headed towards where Emily and I had just come from. Nick decided that one summit in a day was enough and came with Emily and I towards the hut.
It was a good walk to the hut, with a nice steep patch of scree to negotiate alongside the emerald lakes and red crater. We had some fun conversations, and eventually made it to Ketetahi hut, only about an hour before Kate joined us. We had hot drinks, chocolate, corn chips with salsa dip, and crackers and cheese for a couple of hours, playing tennis on the deck with others who were there. Eventually there was a great sunset, through the steam of the ketetahi springs, and we all decided it was time to eat. Emily and I had nachos, while Kate and Nick had a thai green curry and rice. Kate and Nick then headed off, and after another couple of hours of crazy games Emily and I went to bed.
My alarm went off at some rediculous hour the next morning (I think about 6.30). I stumbled about in my sleeping bag and managed to get outside without having to get out of the bag, and was rewarded with the most stunning dawn:
Soon enough it was time to tape yesterdays blisters, re-pack the pack (it still seemed to have as much stuff as the day before... and it turns out the raincoat and overtrou were completely unnecesary). Off down the track we headed, me storming off ahead for a few minutes at a time, then waiting so Emily could catch up. With her much shorter legs, Emily was a much slower tramper than me, and trying to walk at her pace caused a huge amount of pain in my knees going downhill.
All of a sudden, we were at the end...
And it was time to clamber into Emilys car and head back around to the track start and my car, get changed and head home. I stopped on the way for food in Ohakune, which was average, and then to take a look at the recently re-damaged Tangiwai memorial...

All in all it was a great trip and I am now looking forward to doing it again - but this time in Winter!