Lodge

Pinnacles traverse

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Date: 21 July 2012.
Trip type: Alpine 2 / 3.
Location: Tongariro National Park.
Author: Mike Phethean.
Trampers: Simon Bell, Mike Phethean.

The trip was a lodge based ice climbing trip. The difficulty: no ice. I only had one other punter and due to severe jet lag they decided to bail too. What to do? The answer was to recruit someone on really short notice. Luckily I was climbing with Simon on Thursday and persuaded him that … Read more

Naturists on Tongariro

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Date: 28 July 2012.
Trip type: Easy-Medium Day Walk.
Location: Tongariro National Park.
Author: Mike Gilbert.
Trampers: Mike Gilbert, Yingjie Zhang, Ilske Verberg At home with flu: Josh "It'll always be there, I'll do it later" Tabor.

Note to the Committee: I feel I must notify you of a conflict of interest I have, as myself and others have formed a new club that inevitably will compete with the WTMC.  A group of us have had a flash of insight that there is a totally un-serviced need in the tramping community, and … Read more

Ruapehu, fun for all the family

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Date: 17-18 March 2012.
Trip type: Family.
Location: Ruapehu.
Author: Angela Gilbert, Mike Gilbert, Marg McLachlan.
Trampers: Mike Gilbert, Angela Gilbert, Toby Gilbert (9), Tommy Rush, Yingjie Zhang, Alex Huang (10), Nick Wood, Marg McLachlan, Iona Wood (7), Charlie Wood (4).

A summer trip to Mt Ruapehu is a favourite of all of ours, so quite a few of us headed up for the family tramping trip in March. It ended up that we had three trips in one, with all of us doing different things at different times. Here are three perspectives on this trip. … Read more

Tongariro in the mist – peak bagging for 8 year olds – November 2011

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Date: 12-13 March 2011.
Trip type: Family / MF daytrip .
Location: Ruapehu Lodge.
Author: Mike Gilbert.
Trampers: Mike Gilbert, Toby (8), Beth Piggott, Taylor (4), Carly (1), Ally Clark, Simon Ward, Dominic (2.5), Hamish (6mth), Rene Van Lierop, Tom (10), Vincent (8), Daniel (6), (Mike, Toby, Simon, Rene, Tom, and Vincent headed up to Tongariro).

Everyone knows the Ruapehu Lodge is where you go for winter weekends; for snowboarding, alpine adventures and the like.  Summer?  What’s there in Summer?  Well, that was our mission: to find out. I well know that the lodge is very comfortable for regular punters and families alike. It needs to be because snowboarding at Mt … Read more

Never, never get out of control. A great day on Ngauruhoe – November 2011

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Date: 30 September – 1 October 2011.
Trip type: MF ALP 1.
Location: Mt Ngauruhoe.
Author: Kate Cushing.
Trampers: Kate Cushing (Leader), Stijn Schepers (Sleepy), Megan Banks, Ian Harrison, Spencer Clubb (Fearless co-leader), Tony Van Horik, Mike Travers.

Firstly, for those who know me, let me state that this trip actually started and was completed on Plan A!  Yes, I managed to actually lead a trip that not only went someplace but was successfully completed on the intended plan and I didn’t lose any punters along the way.  You can check with my … Read more

Covert Ops Black Tie Lunch at the Waihohonu Hilton – November 2011

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Date: 1 October 2011.
Trip type: Ruapehu Lodge Daywalk.
Location: Waihohonu Hut .
Author: Amelia White.
Trampers: Amelia and Mark White, Colin Bouttell and Nathaniel Bouttell (aged 8).

Friday night, 5.30pm, Wellington Railway Station. Perfect. We have infiltrated a party of climbers heading for “The Lodge”. This lodge will be a perfect base for our weekend operation. We hope this lodge will prove as comfortable as it sounds, even if it  traffic reports indicate we might be in for a long drive. Friday … Read more

Not your usual weekend trip

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Date: May 2011 .
Trip type: Lodge Working Party.
Location: Whakapapa Lodge.
Author: Ray Walker.
Trampers: Sue, Marie S, Anita, Mike, Karl, Mark, Amelia, Donna, Colin, Barbara, Ray, Andrew, Hannah, Pete, Kev and Barrie .

It was an offer I could not refuse!   It included free accommodation and food at the club lodge for the weekend.  There would be no sleeping under a fly at a shitty road end, no grovelling through Tararua mud, and I probably would not get my boots wet.  Of course there was a catch!  It … Read more

Ruapehu Round-the-Mountain

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Date: Easter (April 21-25) 2011.
Trip type: Easy-Medium Tramp.
Location: Mt Ruapehu.
Author: Amelia White.
Trampers: : Amelia White, Mark White, Mike Travers, Annie van Herck, Lieselot Whitbeck, Jonathan Karp, Tim McGurk, Vincent Grealish, Jo Boyle (part time at least).

Thursday Thursday 5.30pm found Amanda and I corralling punters into our respective vans at a very busy platform 9 on a warm and overcast evening. We were headed for the club lodge for the night; the other van was headed for somewhere north of Taupo. Unusually, we encountered no traffic issues; we were all the … Read more

Alpine Courses Update

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Date: Winter 2009.
Trip type: Instruction.
Location: Mt Ruapehu.
Author: Sharron Came (Photos - Katharina Monien).
Trampers: AIC: Andrew McLellan, John Thompson, Yibai He, John Duggan. Snowcraft: Allen Higgins, David Jewell, Marie Henderson, Steve Austin.

This year the Club again ran both an Alpine Instruction Course and a Snowcraft course. We had 6 people on the AIC and 14 doing Snowcraft so a total of 20 students. At the time of writing we had just completed the Snowcraft course while the AIC still had its final weekend to go. We enjoyed two brilliant … Read more