Disclaimer: This recap of events may or may not include varying levels of embellishment, exaggeration and truth. As always, safety is the number one priority in the mountains.
Beginning 12 hours early, the first snow school of the season was off to a rough start. Thinking we’d all been organised and ahead of the game, we arrived at the National Park YHA in leisurely time. Keen to utilise the climbing wall, get to know each other and get to the pub, we lounged around waiting for Jayden to finish some phone call with senior instructors.
No sooner had he hung up, there was a shift in energy; something big was about to disrupt our evening. “We can either go up the mountain tonight and wait out the storm in the hut,” Jayden told us, “or, cross our fingers we get some decent weather in the next few days… but we might have to call the whole thing off..” Offended that he’d even suggested we turn around and make the 5 hour journey back without experiencing any snow (on SNOW school) we eagerly agreed to scale the beast that evening.
Plans were made, and everyone sprung into action! Bags were hastily packed, gear was quickly assigned and everyone shoved on their buffs and gloves and hats. But wait, there were only 9 members of a 10 strong crew! Where was Hamish? Still stuck on Advanced Bush, 3 hours away! Reluctantly, we left him to fend for himself, and await his future escort from Jayden.
Up the mountain we climbed, and it wasn’t long before we reached snow! (Whether it was real, or just from the snow machines shall remain undisclosed.) Before long, darkness fell and out came the head torches. Up and up we climbed, with poorly packed rucksacks, tired feet and a severe lack of knowledge. A few challenges, including a dizzy Libby and several tight 5’s later, we decided that crampons would be best for the remainder of the journey.
‘Learning on the job’ would be an apt way to describe the entirety of our trip, and the first night was no exception. A hastily given lesson on crampon basics was well received and we were off again. Eventually we neared the hut, but not before we stopped to gaze at the beautifully clear milky-way; what a treat, Cecille’s first ever experience of it!
We finally made it to Ruapehu Hut and into the warmth! The usual delayering, bagsy-ings of bunks, and cooking began, with poor Jayden heading straight back down the mountain to rescue Hamish from his low altitude sickness.
The morning brought absolutely no view (even though we’d more than earned it!) and very very slushy snow. An announcement that this was an ‘inside day’ chilled Lara to her core, and she promptly insisted on going outside even if it was just to stand on the ledge like a moron getting wet.
After plenty of theory, coinciding with a slight dropping of winds, Jayden decided enough was enough and we all realised that actually we were outside people and a little bit of sleet wasn’t going to stop us! So ensued the 40 minute dressing routine: thermals, layers, thick socks, waterproofs, buff, another buff, hat, gloves, boots, helmet, goggles, crampons, phew! Only to get outside, become extremely excited about the snow, learn a few walking techniques, huddle lots, and then decide perhaps the wind hadn’t died down so much , and we weren’t in fact penguins after all, and head back inside to reverse the whole process. Kitting up and kitting down took up the majority of the day!
Dinner was followed by fresh ice cream! Ask Jayden for his recipe. And an aerial croc wrestling tournament extravaganza. First up were Lara and Nicole, with Nicole (being the more experienced in the sport) taking an easy win. Libby vs Lance followed with a successful win from Lance. Hamish versed Jayden next and due to an unfair height advantage, Hamish suffered a heavy loss. Next, came Lance vs Lachlan and, after an exciting and end to end match, a draw was declared. Everyone wanted to challenge Jayden to see if he was really as difficult to beat as Hamish had made out. He was! Though Lance and Lachlan both took a sole victory over Jayden, the overall victor was unquestionable. A very successful evening.
Officially day 2, Tuesday was met with similar white out conditions, as well as a drop in temperature. With an improving afternoon weather forecast, the morning was spent indoors learning more avalanche theory. After replenishing our stomachs, we headed outside into what was basically a blizzard.. (not quite but it was heavily snowing!) Lara was freezing for the rest of the day but fortunately her toes didn’t drop off! Phew! A venture down the slope took us to practising some more skills including how to climb up and down steep slopes as well as our digging technique. The evening was lots of fun again, this time with the challenge of firstly attempting to beat the jigsaw record of 1 hour (we came very close but had some interference from the ice cream man!) and secondly to navigate the table traverse and bunk flip. Hamish, Nicole and Lara gave a good go but all were beaten by the mighty table. Next time!
Our last day was looking by far the nicest weather-wise, so we rose early to see the sunrise (much to Lance’s excitement) and the rest of the mountain we’d been standing on. Libby even glimpsed a pointy cloud (otherwise known as Mt Taranaki!) As had been the case for the rest of the trip, our day started with a steep learning curve of daggering down the self-arrest slope to an area more sheltered from the wind. We all felt like true mountaineers by now and not one of us chose the safe option of a belay assist!
Safely down the slope, the fun part began; everything was better in the sun! We learnt edging and ledging, how to cut steps, slip, trip and fall techniques, self arresting, and there were even two avalanche’s! (scenarios). Though we’d covered all of the steps on avalanche rescues heavily up in the hut, the surprise and pressure meant we were off to a bad start. It was all a bit of a panic really, and our debrief on what went right (not much) and what went wrong (quite a lot) lasted just about as long as our slow paced rescue. Determined not to repeat the mistakes again, our second surprise scenario went much better. Still a few things to work on though.
Just before wrapping up for the day, we got a demo of the different layers of snow that had fallen over the past few days and weeks, which Donald was very interested in. We learned how to do a basic snowpack test too, before huddling up under the emergency shelter just for fun.
We headed down the mountain late in the afternoon in high spirits, Nicole taking point on nav, showing us how she chose her route based on map and live conditions. You never stop learning!
A well deserved meal in National Park had us fondly recalling our favourite times from the last few days, before the late night drive home. That trip was, as Toby would say, Legendary!
Based on a true story.
Disclaimer: No students or instructors were harmed in the making of this trip. (Outside of wrestling)
Disclaimer: Don’t try this at home. (You can try the ice cream though)
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