Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
A full 24 of us piled into both vans to drive to the Lodge and scale Mt. Ruapehu, the highest peak on the North Island. We got there in time to catch the tail end of the “Tasman Tempest,” and thus were unable to ascend the peak. We did still, however, have a great weekend … Read more
Next van trip is 1/2 October – more coming later; Weekday opening 4-8 Sep and throughout the school holidays; 16-18 Sep Interclub ski racing; Tips on getting to the lodge in bad weather; rates and how to book.
The Ruapehu snow season’s well and truly kicked off with a couple of storms to coat the mountain, plus something like a metre of snow over the last week. We now have a base of over two metres which sets us up nicely for a primo season. Our Lodge on Mt Ruapheu is filling up nicely and … Read more
We’re getting excited about the 2016 Whakapapa snow season. The Ruapehu crew have secured a licence renewal with DOC, and so a flood of money is set to hit the Whakapapa facilities. This means a new quad express lift to replace the Centennial Chair this year, and a quad chairlift to replace the Waterfall T-bar in 2017. Good … Read more
There is a misconception that the mountaineering group in the club is hard core and tough. Hopefully once I have finished this article that misconception will be cleared up. If this does not do the trick then Frances and Henry’s talk on the 2nd December should sort it out once and for all. We didn’t meet … Read more
I mentioned to Pete one weekend at Ruapehu Lodge that I was doing some Life Member interviews and he promptly said ‘Right we’d better bloody get on with it then’. So he regaled me with decades of club adventures over coffee surrounded by kids playing and with stunning views of Taranaki out the window. When … Read more
When I met up with Ron at a local pub, he belied his 80+ years with a twinkle in his eye, a clear voice and a sharp memory. We spent the afternoon over a pint, as club life in the 1960s came to life in Ron’s reminiscing. How did you first get introduced to the … Read more
This is the first in a series of interviews with some of the WTMC life members. Sue Walsh is one of the life members that is well known to a lot of us who go to club regularly. She’s been the friendly welcoming face you saw up front on Wednesday nights for several years up until … Read more
After heavy overnight thunderstorms at the Lodge, this route was predicted to be a wet one underfoot. The initial section from the top end of Whakapapa Village (09:40 hrs) South West to the Whakapapaiti track junction (11:25hrs) contoured around the lower slopes for Mt Ruapehu. Undulating, but a good track through the big gulleys (The … Read more
This was a day trip as part of a lodge weekend over 6-8 March 2015. About 20 minutes from the Lodge, we crossed the railway line near the station in National Park village on to Fishers Road. The gravel road took us to a small car park at the start of the track. The local community … Read more