Winter has been throwing its worst at us over the last few weeks, so it is good to see plenty of people still getting out tramping.
Tramping in winter is a very different beast to summer tramping, and there is nothing quite like walking along a ridge in the snow on a bright blue, clear, crisp day. I managed to get out recently on a cold but mostly fine weekend in the Northern Tararuas, and it was fantastic!
Just a reminder that 3 Personal Locator Beacons are in the Gear Room, and are available for use on club trips. There is no charge for using these, and I would encourage all trip leaders to get in the habit of taking a beacon on their trips.
With the cold weather and the snow comes ski season, and I would encourage you to use the Club’s fantastic lodge at the top of the Bruce Road, just a few minutes walk from the bottom of the Whakapapa chair lift. The lodge is available for members and non-members, at very reasonable rates, contact the Lodge Booking Officer at , for enquiries. Many thanks to the Ruapehu Lodge SubCommittee for the hard work this team puts in to make the lodge the superb facility it is. The lodge is available all year round, and there are many other things you can do in the Ruapehu area if skiing is not your thing, or the fields are closed.
A successful Spring trip planning meeting was held at the clubrooms in early July, and we have a draft schedule, which covers September to December 2010, for which we are now looking for trip leaders. See Amanda or Melissa if you want to lead a trip, or add a trip to the schedule.
Senior members would have received an FMC card with this newsletter, one of the best uses for this is getting an Annual Hut Pass from DOC for only $84, down from $120. The price of a Pass has increased this year for the first time since March 2008, but still represents great value for money. You don’t have to do much tramping to get superb value for money from the pass, and you are supporting an amazing network of back country huts.
I for one was delighted when the government backed down from opening up mining on Schedule 4 conservation land this week. The committee made one of the 42,000 submissions against the proposals on behalf of the members, and this is a victory for common sense I think. But we need to keep fighting to make sure non Schedule 4 land is not mined either.
You can always contact me on , or I am usually around on club nights
Darren Hammond