Spring is almost here…but there’s still plenty of snow adventures to be had in between planning for summer trips. Here’s a few updates about what’s been going on around WTMC in August.
Want help to gain experience and skills to further your tramping adventures?
We now have ‘Experience’ and ‘Instruction’ scholarships available to members! We are able to offer these through funds raised by bringing the New Zealand Mountain Film Festival to Wellington. Huge thanks to Megan for organising this (and doing all the leg-work to get the scholarships set up) as well as everyone who bought a ticket to see the films, dragged their friends along too or helped out with making the event happen in other ways. Check out this newsletter article on the WTMC 2018 Scholarships for more information including who’s eligible and how to apply. Thanks to Shauna and Paul who have agreed to help me review the applications.
WTMC – a clean, green tramping-machine?
My mentions in this column of one of the committee’s aim to promote ways in which we can reduce waste whilst tramping have sparked a few on-track discussions. It’s great to hear that people are variously either already well ahead of me in terms of their tramping waste-related habits, or very keen to learn what else they can do. If you were around for Maj-Britt’s awesome talk on Wednesday then you’ll now also be armed with heaps of information about how our tramping activities impact on the environment, and suggestions for how to minimise this, if this is something you want to do. In the post-talk discussion there were lots of suggestions about things we can do as individuals (like ordering your pre- and post-tramp takeaway coffee in your tramping mug, reducing purchases of new gear, and always leaving no trace out in the hills), and as a club (like including some related resources on our club website, having a dedicated ‘Environmental Officer’, and calculating the carbon-footprint of the transport for club trips). As with everything that the WTMC Community do, making these things happen requires volunteers, so if you are keen to get involved then let us know.
Dehydrator now available
Aimee has proudly taken on the vital role of ‘Dehydrator Monitor’ (thanks Aimee!). There’ll be some more information about how to rent it out to produce all those tasty lightweight meals for your big Christmas trip on the website soon. In the meantime contact Aimee via
Mountain shelters
We now have a couple of bothy-bag style mountain shelters available from the gear cupboard – thanks to Kevin for sourcing these. They are temporary/emergency shelters for four-to-six people, which can best be described as a big orange mushroom that the whole group can huddle under to keep warm. Trip leaders can choose to take them along on any trip, but they might be best suited to day trips with exposed tops or perhaps alpine travel. On an overnight trip, it’s still compulsory to carry a fly (or tent) for emergency group shelter, and on all trips individuals should ensure they are carrying adequate individual emergency shelter (bivvy bag, emergency blanket, pack liner etc) appropriate to the trip. This applies even if you also choose to test out the bothy-bag option.
If you choose to take one of these new bothy bags on a trip, please let the Gear Custodian know if you have any feedback about them. If they prove popular, we will consider supplying more.
I’ve had a great August, and have yet to spend a weekend in Wellington. I visited the Red Centre of Australia earlier this month where I managed to fit in an overnight tramp through the hot and dry outback landscape on the Giles Track.
Since then, I’ve been overcompensating for the temperature change by spending three consecutive weekends in various snow conditions at Ruapehu, Tongariro and in the Tararuas. Yay for winter! The new trip schedule is out for leader sign up, so the finalised version will be ready shortly. There’s heaps of great trips through until February to get yourselves signed up to.
I’m always happy to take suggestions if there’s things you think should be included in this monthly update. Just let me know via
Emily
WTMC President