Hey all,
This weekend 6-8 August is the snow caving trip on Mt Ruapehu! The plan is to drive up Friday night, camp somewhere pretty close to the mountain (or stay in a shelter) and head up through the skifield early on Saturday so we can spend the afternoon digging... ideally this would be around the summit regions, but if the weather looks like it might crap out it will be further down the mountain. After a night in the snow cave we will either go for a walk around the summit area or hightail it back down the mountain, again depending on the weather...
There will be an opportunity for those that haven't used crampons and ice axe to learn these vital winter tramping skills, but you need to be suitably equipped - ie have full waterproofs (boots, gaiters, overtrousers, jacket, gloves) and a lot of warm clothes - down jackets are great, or lots of jerseys/fleece plus the usual thermal base layers... see this page for a fairly comprehensive list of the sort of stuff you will need. Also important is a warm sleeping bag and a sleeping mat - a cheap foam roll is fine, as long as it is reasonably thick (7-10mm).
The club doesn't have much in the way of personal gear so if you don't have it you'll need to do your best to beg, borrow etc - we will however provide ice axes, crampons, snow shovels, cookers, pots - and tents (in case snow caves go pear shaped).
The cost will be around $50 to cover the transport up there, and we will be meeting at Hunter Carpark at 5pm on Friday. To sign up come to the meeting and put your name down on the list, or email me at patonomatic@gmail.com. Gear and safety considerations will put a limit on the number of people we can take so get in quick! You will then get divided up into groups with leaders, who you can direct any further questions to.
Cheers,
Kieran
Kieran,
Co-Treasurer