Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Check out the latest news and trips reports below or view the archives using the menu on the left. If you want to know more about the newsletter including submitting stories, see Newsletter>Publication Details. To learn more about the club, check the top menu. Some links will take you to the old website, but content will eventually move to this site.
The Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club Scholarship programme has been a huge success so far! The club has awarded 16 scholarships totalling almost $6000 for members to develop packrafting, mountaineering, skiing and canyoning skills. The funding came from hosting the Wellington screening of the New Zealand Mountain Film Festival (in partnership with the Victoria University … Read more
August has seen the real snow arrive up at the WTMC Lodge and some very cold, wet and windy days which have hindered a few tramping trips more locally. The wintry conditions call for additional caution when planning but if you choose wisely, there are often some wonderful trips in among the weather if you … Read more
In June 2018 we attempted to climb Mt Manakau, the highest peak in the Seaward Kaikouras. We turned around at ~1500m on the Surveyor Spur as the snow conditions were slowing us down considerably and the weather was showing no signs of improving. After the weather conditions for the Southern Alps were forecast to be … Read more
Fly to Invercargill, drive to Piano Flat and camp in the rain. Wake the next morning to a brilliant starry sky and no wind. Drop down through the snow grass to Titan Hut. This private renovated musterers’ hut is cool – one of the few tramping huts that has carpet. Next morning decide not to … Read more
I was keen for an overnight tramp despite the horrendous Tararua weather forecast. We’d decided that given the forecast for heavy rain and gales, our best bet was a trip in the valley that avoided any major stream or river crossings. We’d settled on Totara Flats as neither Kate or Emily had done the walk … Read more
On Saturday we set off in the van from the railway station just after 6am. We arrived at the Poads Road end carpark south east of Levin at about 8am and were greeted by a local, very friendly chicken, and made to feel welcome. Most of us had the pleasure of sampling the especially ripe … Read more
One day a long time ago (at least last week) a ragtag group of five rejects from a much larger group that had hoped to climb Tongariro mountain decided instead to spend a day in a bold attempt to find the mythical Turere Stream waterfall. These intrepid travellers didn’t leave much of a record of … Read more
Water is one of the biggest tramping hazards in New Zealand. Too many anxious moments in moving water have given me an appreciation of how treacherous moving water really is. Seemingly little mistakes can have big consequences and there is no opportunity to back off or change your mind when you are caught in the … Read more
Ooops…I missed the newsletter deadline this month so hopefully a few of you still read this without the email prompt. Chilling out… We had a great talk by Dr Jenny Visser at club night last Wednesday about hypothermia mixing the medical science with the practicalities of being out in the hills with only what we … Read more
Let’s start by listing the things this trip did not have: injuries, complaints, Turkish food. That’s about it. Ok, let’s look at what it did have; everything else! Our carefully laid plans to get over the hill and enjoy a kebab in Carterton were scuppered after we found the long time WTMC favourite dinner-stop closed … Read more