From the President – April 2024 – Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club

Kia ora,

This article provides general club updates including:

From the Committee, including AGM results and new Committee
Lodge updates, including April Lodge working bee and 2024 winter season
Recipient of the FMC scholarship and their recent trips
Coming up in May

If you have any questions, comments or ideas please get in touch.

Ngā mihi

Anne

Pouakai Circuit (EM) A few highlights included (from Sara): great to see a bunch of new club members along for their first tramp with the club! Everyone was incredibly enthusiastic, and despite some changes to the original plan due to weather, everyone remainded flexible and keen.
Despite initially skeptical of the assembled ingredients, the group thought our WTMC recipe book shared dinner and desert were awesome! (Rissoto and apple pudding with whipped cream).Great recipes stand the test of time! The trip was also a good opportunity to test the waterproofness of our gear, and Bell falls are worth a side trip!

From the Committee

NEW COMMITTEE and AGM RESULTS

We held the Annual General Meeting on 10 April, which was well attended.

A new Committee has been elected: Anne (President), Andrew (Vice-President), Elizabeth (Secretary), Daniel (Treasurer), Miles (Lodge Convenor) and Sam (Liaison Officer). You can find more information about Committee members on the Governance page.

The Chief Guide role remains vacant, if you are interested in this role please get in touch.

The President role is filled temporarily to support the transition and provide continuity for the new Committee. If you are interested in stepping into the role later in the year please get in touch, appropriate handover will be provided.

NEW CONSTITUTION – Next steps

Now that the proposed Constitution has been adopted, the new Constitution needs to be registered with the Societies Office. Our new Secretary Elizabeth will be leading this process over the coming months.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We are looking for volunteers to fill critical vacancies:

Chief Guide
Membership Officer
Emergency Contact Coordinator
Lodge Booking Assistant

More information about each role is available here. If you have any questions or are interested in helping out please get in touch with .

ALPINE TRIP PLANNING

We are gearing up for the winter season. Tiffany will be running a trip planning night for Club mountaineering trips on 15 May – all are welcome to come along and suggest ideas. If you are unable to make it, feel free to use this form to make trip suggestions.

WTMC won’t be running an in-house snowcraft course this winter. We encourage people who are interested in trying mountaineering to take a course with another Club or a professional providers. More information on alternative and useful links are available on the Snowcraft page.

NEW SCHEDULE (August onwards)

Trip planning for the next schedule will start soon! If you have ideas of trips please send them through to . –

BOOKING FEES

As previously communicated, it is intended that users will be required to pay the transaction costs of making Paua Hut and lodge bookings, if they choose to make payment via a credit card instead of bank transfer. Details of this change are being finalised and final details will be communicated as soon as possible

Round the Mountain (EM group, Tongariro NP): From Anna: the highlight was definitely when everyone had made it stoically and safely through the very unpredicted blizzard on Saturday morning (including our 12^th group member George who we picked up along the way), and then the glorious (but long and challenging) days and views of the mountain we were rewarded with for the last 2 days.

Lodge Updates

2024 WINTER SEASON

We are gearing up for the winter season and bookings will open as follows:

May 1st 2024 for Members;
June 1st for Non-Member;
Weekday Bookings will be on-request until a Lodge Leader has been found – then bookings will open up.

As noted above, we are also making changes to the Lodge refund policy and booking fees, more info here.

Make sure to follow the Ruapehu Lodge facebook page for any updates and key dates for bookings.

LODGE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

We’re pleased to welcome Josh to the Lodge team, who will be assisting Rene with food orders.

We are still looking for a Lodge Booking Assistant to help Paul with bookings: which consists in answering booking enquiries, coordinating with the food officer to ensure that food is ordered for winter guests, processing bookings and refunds, sending out pre trip info emails and assign guests to bunks. The role is shared with another volunteer.

We are also looking for one-off volunteers to help with the June bulk food delivery and getting it all moved up to the lodge; as well as some minor maintenance. This would occur either on King’s Birthday weekend (i.e. 1-2 June) or the following weekend (8-9 June)

If you are able to help, please get in touch with Miles at .

APRIL WORKING BEE AT THE LODGE

Lodge Work Party (April 2024) – Another successful working bee took place at the lodge, building on the extensive preparatory work of the previous working party in February! Once again we had an absolutely top team of hard working and highly focussed clubbies! Thanks go to Rene and Jo, Nicci, Sam, Brian and Jan, Miles and Roger for all their hard work – and Sue for re-lining the curtains from Wellington.

Work completed:

Sanded, stained and varnished (4 coats) dining tables and benches
Sanded and varnished (3-4 coats) all window frames throughout
Sanded and varnished benches in Ski room and painted windowsills
Repaired Bunk Guards and manufactured one more
Gib repairs Bunkroom 1
Replaced Taranaki window curtain lining
Painted exterior of deck door to a DOC compliant colour
Gutter Snow Covers Repairs (ongoing)
Deep Clean of Kitchen & Bathrooms
Store Room food stock take
Replaced torn linings underneath lounge chairs
Re-labelled Water Pump (simplification)
Re-sealed fire hydrant through-wall fitting bunkroom 3

Lodge working bee in April. (Credit: Roger)

FMC Expedition Scholarship Trips

Last year, Mathew and Monique were granted a FMC expedition scholarship to take trips in remote locations. Sarah was also granted a FMC scholarship in 2022 and completed her trip early 2023.

FMC scholarships are granted annually, with application closing on the 15th of September every year – more info here.

Mathew and Emily headed into the Darran Mountains with the intention of reaching spot point 2024 near Lake Turner. Despite attempting two separate routes, the steep and exposed terrain prevented them from reaching that objective, but over the course of a week they enjoyed stunning mountains, impressive waterfalls, extensive bush bashing, and precarious camping locations, all in a beautiful part of the country they wouldn’t otherwise have visited.

As the proud recipient of the 2023 Simon Bell Memorial Scholarship, Monique led an Easter tenting expedition to the Humbolt Mountains which included evocatively named locations like Valley of the Trolls, Sugarloaf Pass and the renown Lakes Harris and Wilson. An unseasonal snowfall curtailed travel over the Serpentine Range, but enhanced the beauty of this magnificent location.

Sarah completed a 14 night solo tramp that started at Pegasus with a visit to Gog and Magog and then traversed the Tin Range to link up with the Southern Circuit before walking out to Oban around the North West Circuit:
“This journey certainly challenged me – there were a lot of unknown factors beyond my control which is something I tend to find difficult. There were last minute curveballs like having to go solo after my friend and tramping mentor, Tony, got injured. While I had done a number of solo trips and many off track tramps, I had never done a solo off track tramp and this was in a tough part of the country – the Tin Range certainly has a reputation that precedes it. I experienced that while sitting out a storm in my tent in the most sheltered place I could find – each wind gust sounding like it was a turbo jet coming while wondering if my tent would withstand it all. I had tried to leave my campsite at the Kopeka River that morning but quickly realised that I could already barely stand and the wind was only forecasted to get stronger throughout the day with a severe weather warning in place. I made the decision for safety to turn around and sit it out. In the 15 days I experienced some challenging weather – gale-force winds, hail storms, heavy rain and sudden drops in temperature. I believe I came away from the trip with more resilience and more confidence not just in my navigational and tramping skills but also in myself. Over the 5 days I was on the Tin Range and Southern Circuit I didn’t see a single person. I enjoyed having to rely on myself and all the gear I was carrying for the 15 days and using my map and compass to navigate. To me it embodied the value of remoteness, challenge, solitude, self-reliance and discovery. It has given me a lot more confidence in myself knowing that I could do this.”