Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club
Enjoying the great outdoors since 1947
Thursday We piled onto the Thursday afternoon ferry, and the group started to get to know each other. We had a good mix of new and more experienced group members, including Harry and Paul, who had both attempted Snowflake via this route before – notably before the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake https://wtmc.org.nz/trip-report/slippery-snowflake/. We had a good … Read more
Are we on the right track? Our journey began with a traffic jam at Kaimanawa Road end. Being Labour Weekend, every man and his dog (literally – we were joined by a gorgeous kelpie) was out tramping. After a skillful 100 point turn, our shuttle driver deposited us at the beginning of the Umukarikari track. … Read more
Megan and Sam arrived at the train station to meet Simon on the Friday night, and the three of us were the only ones rattling around in the WTMC van. We stopped briefly for pizza & kebabs at Carterton, then drove to the Holdsworth road-end to arrive at about 7pm. We then hoofed up to … Read more
This was not a WTMC trip, but, with the five passes coming up on the schedule soon, I thought it might be useful to share our experience, times (walked at a leisurely pace) and route finding tips. We had three weeks on South Island to go anywhere and do anything. Plan A was the Tin … Read more
Who names a mountain “Hopeless”? By all accounts, “an early survey party with a poor attitude”! Three days before our ferry left Wellington, I carried out my standard ritual of emailing all the trip plans to my Dad. He usually replies with “Thanks Son, be safe out there” or encouraging words to that effect. This … Read more
Every time I’ve ever visited Whakapapa, like most others (I imagine) I have stared up in awe at this ridge line and wondered just what it feels like to stand on the tops and look back down at the ski field. The guide suggests it’s not difficult, but it depends on your experience. I wouldn’t … Read more
All photos taken by Tony S. Tony’s Tarn Ridge trip appealed to me for two reasons. The first being the physical challenge. The trip had an “MF” label that would usually have sent me screaming in the other direction. However, over the past few weeks I had done a number of long day trips and … Read more
On the Wednesday before our Wellington Anniversary long weekend trip up to the Kawekas, Megan gave a talk about a trip she did with Tony, Fons and Rohan at Labour Weekend last year, where they were able to visit seven huts over the three days. Not that we were into anything like competitive hut-bagging but … Read more
Taking an extra day off work for this adventure was bittersweet – 6 interested punters were whittled down to just 3 as we were the only ones who could get the time off before the closing date for the trip. However in the end we were glad we did it as we ended up with … Read more
The tip of my left pick tentatively balances on the smallest of burrs in the rock. I wriggle it around, and angle the axe up to make sure that it doesn’t pop off as I haul up. I’m on a top rope, but that doesn’t provide much comfort when you are 6 metres up a … Read more