From the President – August 2025

Kia ora,

We have had a lot of events in the past few weeks, and I have really enjoyed meeting more members and getting a better understanding of what you think makes the club tick. This month read on to find out about:

• Who won the quiz with TTC, NZAC and Vic Uni
• a recap of recent club activities,
• the photo competition at the end of August, and much more!

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback. Please feel free to email me at president@wtmc.org.nz. 

Ngā mihi

Daniel Madley
President

Welly Clubs Quiz 2025

Last Tuesday (29 July) we had approximately 200 people from across 5 clubs (Hutt Valley Tramping Club also made an appearance) to raise funds for GWBN and ACAT.

A team from Vic Uni was the winner on the night, with a WTMC team coming in third.

Irrespective of the winners, good times were had by all, and approximately $7,000 was raised through ticket sales and raffle tickets to be shared by GWBN and ACAT. A big thanks to Sam and Nye for their work, along with the other clubs, behind the scenes to organise the evening and secure some epic sponsor prizes.

It was great to see so many club members on the Tuesday night. We’re also keen to make the mid-winter quiz an annual event so there will be opportunities to reclaim the well-worn billy that WTMC donated as a trophy.

Recent club trips, and club talk

A big thank you to Tiffany and Mike for all their work leading the Snowcraft course over the last few months. This all came to a culmination with a recent weekend trip to the lodge. Over three days, the group practiced front-pointing and self-arresting, practiced avalanche rescue with transceivers and probes, and built a massive snow cave. On the final day the group headed up Pinnacle Ridge, with exposed sections forcing people to put their skills into good use. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the course and will be doing our best to make it an annual event!

Our Chief Guide Sara led a group, including six brand new club members, on a navigation day course in Remutaka Forest Park. With a focus on mindful tramping and knowing where you are at all times, the group covered how to read a map, how to use a compass, how to take a bearing, and setting and following a bearing.

Anne led a day trip up to Mt Hector to help build up the fitness for alpine trips, and get some time in the snow. It took 11hrs, with the highlight being able to drive on the new Otaki Gorge Road and having a surprisingly calm day on the tops.

Mon led a heavily oversubscribed EM trip to Washpool Hut in Aorangi Forest Park, and shared the hut with another club trip led by Tony and Debbie. Recent rain fall made it necessary to be extra careful around river and stream crossings. The group made it out via Washpool Creek the next day with some boulder hopping, route finding and scrambling.

And Jeremy and Lia led a trip further afield into Pureora Forest Park in the central North Island. The highlight was great birdlife, and several whio right by Waihaha Hut, with the odd whistling call of the male whio and the screeching sound of the female whio.

Hopefully you have also seen the post on the club website outlining the key lessons learnt from a recent PLB activation. I would encourage you to read it. The key takeaways include the importance of walking together as a group, communicating clearly and managing expectations on a trip – including if you are struggling with the pace, and making sure the personal PLB details you register with RCCNZ reference WTMC – all of this really helps with running trips safely and co-ordinating behind the scenes if a PLB incident does occur. Thank you to Sara, Mon, James, Andrew and India for your efforts in preparing and reviewing the incident report.

We are also starting to get our thinking hats on for the Summer trip schedule. If you have any ideas for trips you would like to go on or lead, please email James Hancock – Assistant Chief Guide (Operations) on assistantchiefguide@wtmc.org.nz.

Finally, we were fortunate to have Noel Thomas speak at a club night recently on ‘Tramping, The Way It Used To Be!’ The hall was packed – a great testament to the support and interest of Veteran members (and Roger’s promotional efforts!) and we all enjoyed a slide projection (no Powerpoint!) of adventures in Mt Aspiring National Park in the 1960s. I could see a few people following the story on their Topo app and becoming increasingly astounded by the terrain being covered, and some of the more questionable health and safety practices back in the day – my favourite one being strapping an injured tramper to the outside of a helicopter! Many people stayed afterwards for supper (many thanks to Jenny for her efforts here) and to talk, and it was lovely to meet new people, hear of your enthusiasm for the club and share in the stories of your adventures.   

Upcoming events – photo competition and film festival

The annual WTMC photo competition will be held on Wednesday 27 August at the clubrooms. You have until 15 August to email your entries to photos@wtmc.org.nz and more information can be found here. Thank you to Anna and Sam for your efforts running this behind the scenes, and many thanks to Coffee Outdoors for sponsoring some fantastic prizes.

The winning photos from the WTMC competition will be put forward as entries into the FMC photo competition, with great prizes up for grabs from the likes of Bivouac and RAB. More details on the FMC photo competition can be found here.

We are also working to confirm when the film festival (that we co-host with Vic Uni Tramping Club) will be running this year, so please keep an eye out for more details on that soon.

Other happenings

• On the recommendation of the Lodge Sub-Committee, the Committee has decided to change the lodge refund policy. The new policy means you can secure a full refund less any payment booking fees up to two weeks before you arrive at the lodge (was previously three weeks).

The new lodge refund policy, effective immediately and valid for all bookings made since winter bookings opened, is:

*Up until 2 weeks before arrival date = refund less any payment booking fee.
*Between 1 to 2 weeks before arrival date = no refund but can move booking.
*From 1 week before arrival date = no refund but can move booking for 30% fee of total booking less payment booking fee.

If you have any questions, please contact Sam Kempthorne on lodgebookings@wtmc.org.nz.

• FMC has encouraged member clubs to share the FMC monthly newsletter – the latest of which can be found here. In particular, please note FMC will be running the ‘Love Our Huts’ campaign again from November. As mentioned above we’re seeking trip ideas for summer, so if there is a trip you would like to do and you’d be willing to support the ‘Love Our Huts’ campaign, please let James Hancock know at assistantchiefguide@wtmc.org.nz.