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Ruahine Grand Traverse Ruahine Grand Traverse - New Zealand ...

Ruahine Grand Traverse Ruahine Grand Traverse - New Zealand ...

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We still had a full evening ahead beforesleeping in the snow cave so - back tothe hut. A full all out dinner is one of thehighlights of the course. We all pitchedin and produced a lovely meal. Afterwardswe talked about the day and foolaround. Funnily enough I got beat upthe most during this time. Someonesuggested a game called table traversing.The idea is to start with your bellyon the table, climb to the underside ofthe table and then climb back up theother side of the table without touchingthe ground. As you might imaginethe hardest part was the climbing backonto the top. I was left with a prizewinning bruise on the inside of my leftthigh which striated deep blue andyellow 25 cm long by 8 cm wide and anassortment of lesser orbiting bruises invarious places. Luckily for me I decidedto stop. I managed to do the wholething in bits, but not in one go. I thinkI’ve figured it out sitting safe, soundand bruised back in my home officewriting this.It’s amazing how much fun you canhave without a TV, there were othergames I won’t bore you with, but eventuallyit was time to sleep and we allknew where that was going to be...It wasn’t too bad...it was warm to startwith, while we were awake it wasgood. After our metabolisms quieteddown for sleep it chilled off. Afterwardswe learned that building a six personshelter and only having four people init was doomed to be cold. Two peoplehad made other arrangements at thelast second so we were missing twoportable heating systems.Since it was warmer inside than outand it was definitely above freezing, thesnow was slowly melting. Our ceilingsweren’t smooth so it had a tendencyto drip down in several places...drip...drip...drip.Instruction CoursesNZAC High Alpine Skills Course, Mt CookThis is for those NZAC members’ who have participated on a Basic InstructionCourse or instructed in a trainee capacity.The course will run for six days from January 30th - February 4th and will bebased at Mt Cook. Instructors will be qualified NZMGA Mountain Guides.The course will be foot based rather than utilising helicopter or fixed wingaccess. It will also be ‘bivvy’ based rather than ‘hut’ based. This means it isimportant participants have a good level of fitness.The cost of the course is $875. Additionally, participants will provide their owntransport and food and pay their accommodation at Unwin.If you are interested in participating on this course contact:instruction@alpineclub.org.nz or phone 03 337 7595.This had a couple of outcomes, firstlymy tarp ended up with a pool of wateron it, my sleeping pad took the brunt ofit keeping me high and dry. Secondly,I had to make a pitstop! I held off aslong as I could, but eventually the threeglasses of wine and the constant drippingwon out.I put on my frozen boots and climbeddown the tunnel on all fours still in myskivvies. All that lovely snow was nowhard, unyielding ice - the temperaturehad dropped and the wind hadpicked up considerably. I was shiveringviolently in less than a minute standingthere in the cold, impossibly stark clearmoonscape. The lighting, the stars, thedistant half lit image of Ngauruhoe allconspired to make me believe that thebackdrop was simply a hand drawnsketch.Even though I was shivering I took severalseconds longer to stare in wonderat the panorama and the fact that myshelter was doing such a great job contdBelow: Mariusz demonstrating self recovery techniquesGear HireIce Axe/Crampons/Helmets:$30 all 3 items per w’endor $15 each per w’endHarness/Carabiner/Figure 8 belay/Helmet: $30 all 3 items per w’endor $15 each per w’endTransceivers/Hammers/SnowShovels: $15 each per w’endNeed to hire gear for the WinterSeason?Call Dennis Sanders on 07 856 6754CNI Members receive 30% discounton all Hire Gear<strong>New</strong>sletterIs there something you’d like tosee in this newsletter?Have a tale to tell?Business to advertise?We need ongoing stories aboutyour adventures in the greatoutdoors be it kayaking, mountainbiking, tramping, climbing.All ideas will be considered and allarticles will be published.Email: deb@picturebook.co.nzThought for the DayThe pessimist looks atopportunities and seesdifficulties, the optimistlooks at difficulties andsees opportunities.Unknown7

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