No. 806, May 2017 Vertigo
View from Yosemite Point (2,114m), across to Half Dome (2,693m), spring 2017 (Peter Laurenson)
Newsletter of the New Zealand Alpine Club - Wellington Section www.facebook.com/nzacwellington Twitter @NZACWellington
Section News
New venue / change of night for section nights As most of you should be aware of, we’ve been searching high and low for a different venue for our section nights. After a long search we’ve made the call to move our section nights to the Third Eye Tuatara Brewery at 30 Arthur Street - upstairs. It’s just around the corner from the Southern Cross. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this venue will provide all that we need for successful section nights without being interrupted by music.
The downside of the move to the Third Eye is that the venue wasn’t available on the first Wednesday of the month. We’ve arranged that our standard section nights will, instead, be held on the last Wednesday of the month. At this stage we’re sticking to a 6pm start but don’t forget that there’s time to mingle, get a drink, etc before the speaker kicks off, usually around 6:30pm. Come along and check it out and let the committee know what you think.
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June Section Night – Wednesday 21 June, 6pm Traditionally we don’t have a section night in June due to the clash with BANFF screenings. This year though we’re having a bonus night where Aviette is going to present on Avalanche Awareness. For all those heading into the mountains this is a brilliant opportunity to learn about safe route choice, avalanche triggers and much more. For this talk there’s a $5 charge for each section member, $10 charge for non-section members – you’ll need to show us your membership card. Don’t forget this will take place at the Third Eye Tuatara Brewery. Make sure you pop this into your calendar and we’ll see you on the night.
Upcoming Section Nights Wednesday 26 July - we’re lucky enough to have section member Nigel Roberts coming to talk to us about his Aussie 8 experience – summitting the highest peak in each of the Australian states and territories. Wednesday 30 August – section photo competition. For all those budding photographers out there, it’s time to start sifting through your photos. We’ll have more details in the next Vertigo on the categories and method of entering etc. Wednesday 27 September – photography course run by Peter Laurenson. For those who don’t know Peter, you can see his work at www.occasionalclimber.co.nz . Peter has put together a course aimed at photographers who rely on the auto or programme settings on their camera, but who are ready to invest more headspace into their photography and who want to know what’s really possible with outdoor photography.
Please don’t forget the koha for section night – there’ll be an ice bucket at the entry door for that purpose. ☺
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Chairs Report May 2017
What does it take to become a mountaineer? Do you need to enrol in the school of hard knocks or can you sign up for a course and consider yourself trained? The school of hard knocks has it benefits, mostly in the form of hands on experience. It also has its limitations, mainly that other climbers (no matter how good) don’t always make the best teachers. On the other hand, while courses might be good at providing theory based knowledge, they almost always try to cram in more information than you can absorb and don’t allow enough time for reinforcing the theory with practice. So, what’s the solution? We (Wellington Section) think it involves a combination of all of the above. Short experience- based courses followed by practical application spread over several years such that each course provides bite sized learning with participants practically applying what they have learned in each course over the remainder of the season. Having developed their competency and capability in shorter steps allows them to progress to the next level and repeat. This gives participants the opportunity to reinforce what they have learned by gaining valuable experience at the same time. Unsurprisingly, courses that cram several years of learning and experience into three or four weeks of intensive training without practical application in the field have lower levels of retention. The Wellington section snow craft courses are already full for this year and the waiting list is growing. If you have any thoughts or experience on what has worked well for you or have suggestions of how our courses might be improved further we would be pleased to hear from you. We are keen to attract and build good instructors. We run instructor development courses, support our instructors in developing their personal climbing skills and will fund accreditation as Alpine 1 and 2, Outdoor First Aid and other qualifications if they would like to obtain them. If you are interested in coming on board as an instructor please let us know. If you have any comments on what you liked or didn't like send an email to [email protected] or tweet us @NZACWellington or post a message on our facebook page www.facebook.com/nzacwellington.
Finally: “We learn from failure, not from success!” ― Bram Stoker, Dracula
Simon Chair: NZAC Wellington
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For quick access to the section’s page on the NZAC website, scan the below QR code.
Gear Hire
Don’t forget the section has gear for hire : avalanche transceivers, ice axes, shovels, stakes, hammers, helmets, crampons, probes and PLBs. If you’re keen to hire some gear please fill in the form here. Each item costs $5 per week with the exception of PLBs – PLBs are free but require a deposit of $50 refundable on its return. The section is continuing to upgrade gear with new avalanche transceivers and more crampons among the more recent purchases.
A little bit of advance notice would be appreciated as gear often needs to be retrieved from the gear store in Lower Hutt. Gear collections and drop-offs are usually available in the city during the working day or at section night.
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Upcoming Trips, Courses and Events
Wellington Section Trips, Courses and Events All our planned South Island trips come with the added bonus that rental vehicle costs are covered for section members by the section. If you’re uncertain about the skill level required with any of the trips, would like to register your interest or know more email us on [email protected].
Also, please contact us if you’re keen to run a trip yourself – the committee can help with advertising / logistics.
When? Where? Queen’s Birthday Mt Hopeless, Nelson Lakes 30 May BANFF Programme A – 1st screening, 6pm www.banff.nz 7 June BANFF Programme B – 1st screening, 6pm www.banff.nz 14 June BANFF Programme A – 2nd screening, 6pm www.banff.nz 21 June Avalanche talk by Aviette – 6pm, Third Eye Tuatara Brewery $10 / head 25 June BANFF Programme B – 2nd screening, 1pm www.banff.nz 30 June – 2 July North Island Ice Climbing Meet, Tukino 21-23 July *FULLY BOOKED* Beginner level Snowcraft course – Mt Ruapehu 26 July Section night – Aussie 8 by Nigel Roberts – 6pm, Third Eye Tuatara Brewery 28-30 July *FULLY BOOKED* Beginner level Snowcraft course – Mt Ruapehu 18-20 August *FULLY BOOKED* Beginner / Intermediate level Snowcraft course – Mt Ruapehu 25-27 August *FULLY BOOKED* Intermediate / Advanced level Snowcraft course – Mt Ruapehu 30 August Section night – section photo competition – 6pm, Third Eye Tuatara Brewery 27 September Section night – photography course – 6pm, Third Eye Tuatara Brewery 6-8 October North Island Ski Touring Meet, Tukino Labour Weekend – 21-23 Paynes Ford rock climbing October November Aspiring Take 2
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BANFF Mountain Film Festival 2017
That time of the year is coming up fast – movies from the BANFF Mountain Film Festival will be screening at the Paramount Theatre in Wellington in May and June. We have two programmes of movies to screen and two dates have been set for each programme as follows :
Programme A : 6:00pm Tuesday May 30th 6:00pm Wednesday June 14th Programme B : 6:00pm Wednesday June 7th 1:00pm Sunday June 25th
See www.banff.nz for more details.
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North Island Ice Climbing Meet
Location: TASC Lodge, Tukino Ski Field, Mt Ruapehu Date: Weekend of June 30 - July 2 , 2017
Cost: $89 for the weekend (this covers accommodation – Friday and Saturday, breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday, and Saturday night’s dinner)
This is a climbing meet so you are expected to organize your own climbing partners and transport to TASC lodge (4WD plus snow chains required!).
To book your place follow these instructions : go to https://tukino.checkfront.com/reserve and select start date 30 June.
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Select NZAC Events at Tukino, under “NZAC Ice Climbing Meet” select “Book Now” Make sure you enter Check-in date 30 /6/2017 and Check-out date 2/7/2017.
The event organiser will get an email notifying them of your booking. They will confirm your booking. Payment instructions will be on the Booking email. Email receipts of payments will be sent. You will be sent information relating to the meeting by email closer to the weekend.
Check out our Ice Cameras Margaret’s Leap area http://tukinoalpinesportsclub.org.nz/latest.jpg and Bowl Wobbler Area http://tukinoalpinesportsclub.org.nz/latest2.jpg
Contact Eric Duggan (021 350 161) or [email protected] for more information.
See http://climbnz.org.nz/nz/ni/tongariro/mt-ruapehu/tukino for information about climbs.
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All photos by Jonathan Cook
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North Island Ski Touring Meet
The ski touring meet will take place at Tukino Ski Field, Mt Ruapehu on the weekend of 6-8 October 2017. Further details will be made available on the national website here and on Facebook.
Outdoor Training NZ Courses
OTNZ Wellington are running training courses as follows: • Risk Management (24-25 June) - $70 • Advanced Bushcraft (2-3 September) • Intermediate Bushcraft (16-17 September) • Navigation (6 and 11 November) • River Safety (3 December)
More information on these courses and how to book your place can be found on http://www.outdoortraining.nz/courses/courses.php.
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Trips
Two days at Yosemite
Words and pictures – Peter Laurenson
‘Yosemite’. It’s a name I’ve been familiar with since childhood. There were nature programmes about it on black and white TV. Yosemite was the trail breaker for the American national park system, which is a world first. Yosemite is the very first wilderness space set aside and protected for public access and enjoyment. And more recently, since I became interested in climbing, names like El Capitan and Half Dome are also familiar.
My family and I were in the US on a whirlwind April school holiday trip to Washington DC and New York on the east coast and San Francisco on the west, with a four hour drive inland from San Fran to finally (I’d never been) take a quick look at Yosemite – just three nights and two days in the park. Not much, but better than nothing.
Our log cabin and the view to El Capitan from it
We rented a charming, spacious log cabin off Big Oak Flat Road, inside the park gates, just a ten minute drive from Yosemite Village. Ten minutes that is if the traffic doesn’t stack up. Being there in April put us outside the busy summer season, but road works still caused major jams on the single road tracing the Merced River into Yosemite Valley. I’m not a fan of crowds and, even in springtime, there were more than enough punters and their vehicles roaming the valley. I wouldn’t enjoy the congestion that must be part of a summer visit.
Staying inside the park gates is a good way to avoid the traffic, but accommodation is expensive – the price of fame. To keep costs down there are several camp grounds taking reservations five months out. Yosemite Valley is at about 1,200 metres though, so camping outside of summer is a chilly option.
Once in the park it quickly became apparent that there are numerous beautifully formed trails leading up valley and in all directions up the steep valley walls, accessing the tops a thousand or so metres above. One of the most expansive view points, Glacier Point, can be reached by road in summer, but only via a steep climb on foot when the roads are still blocked by snow. This was the case for us, so we opted for a valley walk up under Half Dome on our first morning, with a climb to Yosemite Point on day two.
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Beyond Mirror Lake, beneath the west face of Half Dome While there were lots of people milling about with their cameras near the village, it didn’t take very long to leave most of them behind on the trails. To get the most from a visit to the park definitely requires walking, though even in the valley, the views are fabulous. Imagine Milford Sound, only with a river valley where the ocean is, so you can walk beneath the sheer cliffs surrounding you. And the further you walk the more you’re rewarded with ever changing magnificence.
Mirror Lake, from the true right side of Tenaya Creek
On our first morning we headed up beside Tenaya Creek, which passes directly beneath the imposing western face of Half Dome. A recurring question kept popping into my mind as I developed an ever more noticeable crick in my neck from looking up – “do people REALLY climb that”. About half way along this trail we came to the Mirror Lake, reaching the true-left side first and the far true-right side on the way back. It was completely still and overcast, so the reflections were mirror perfect. It was lovely, but I think our own Lake Matheson is even more spectacular.
In the afternoon, after checking out the village visitor centre and the base of Yosemite Fall, we headed out of the valley and up to a carpark beside a tunnel, named unimaginatively ‘Tunnel View’. From there an hour’s climb saw us at the slightly more imaginatively named ‘Inspiration Point’. At about 1,700m we enjoyed a wide vista directly back into Yosemite Valley, taking in El Capitan, Half Dome and Bridalveil Fall. I returned to Tunnel View again at dawn on our last morning, but unfortunately the sunrise was a fizzer.
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The view from Inspiration Point, with a zoom on Half Dome
Of course, there’s more to Yosemite than spectacular views. For the serious rock climber, Yosemite is a mecca. Just scrambling up through forest to the base of El Capitan on the afternoon of our second day was enough for me. As you pop out of the trees you’re confronted with a near vertical wall of granite, soaring straight up for 1,200 metres. Feeling the quality of the rock, I could see why climbers love to get on these mammoth walls, but the level of skill required is way beyond me. From where I stood gorking skyward, a twin rope led vertically up to two climbers fifty or so metres above. Just how they got there I had no idea – the wall was so sheer and featureless.
A view up from the base of El Capitan
For the less ambitious, from sometime in May a steel cable is installed on the east, least steep side of Half Dome. It’s an eight or so hour day trip from the valley to then climb to the top – I guess a bit like climbing an Ayers Rock on steroids. I would like to have done that as, at 2,693m, Half Dome is the highest point in the park, offering stupendous panoramic views. As it was, we were a bit early.
While our options were somewhat curtailed in spring, an upside was all the spectacular waterfall action going on around us. When standing in the village, the most obvious is Yosemite Fall. In spring this is a thousand metre gushing cascade with a giant step in the middle. Apparently, some summers it completely dries up.
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Upper Yosemite Fall and Yosemite Point (2,114m)
Yosemite Fall was our focus on the morning of our second day. From the valley floor a stone staircase zigzags up about 500 metres to a narrow shelf, which leads around to a mist soaked basin where the upper portion of Yosemite Fall cascades down a sheer wall. Across the valley are nice views of Half Dome, until the trail cuts up a steep chasm, seeming to almost disappear behind the Fall. Actually it pops out a little up river from the jaws of death, leading to a footbridge across Yosemite Creek which, for us, was more a raging torrent.
I’m not sure if ‘Jaws of death’ is the correct name for the point where Yosemite Creek becomes Yosemite Fall, but the name works for me. People, more than one, have actually been swept over it – just the thought utterly terrifies me.
Across the foot bridge we found ourselves plugging up through spring snow. Invisible down in the valley, beyond the valley rim the terrain changes dramatically into rolling, pine clad snow fields. We soon reached our high point for the day at 2,114m back on the valley rim. Here, to calm myself after gazing over the sheer edge, I worked a bit more on supersizing myself with yet another bagel (these were the best sandwich option due to American bread being pumped full of sugar).
The view from Yosemite Point
On our return we found another side trail just before the foot bridge leading right to the Jaws of Death. An easily negotiated but, at times, exposed staircase dropped down to a shelf where you can peer directly down the 500 or so metres of the upper portion of the Fall. Ooooweee.
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Looking down upper Yosemite Fall. Part of the access trail is on the right, far below
Our round trip to Yosemite Point took six and half hours so, back down on the valley floor, our time at Yosemite was running out. After paying my respects at the base of El Capitan we just had time to pop over to the base of Bridalveil Fall, another impressive gusher in springtime, where we got a good drenching.
Two days at Yosemite really is the bare minimum needed to get a feel for this magnificent place. But because the trails are so numerous, well marked and well formed, it is possible to pack in quite a few different excursions in a short space of time. We saw enough at least to tell me that I need to return some day. I’d at least like to get my hands on that cable leading up the back of Half Dome and catch a sunset around at Glacier Point.
For more - http://www.occasionalclimber.co.nz/?p=12633
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Notices
2017 Remarkables Ice and Mixed Climbing Festival – 17-20 August
The Remarkables Ice and Mixed Climbing Festival is the annual climbing meet of the Expedition Climbers Club Incorporated. This festival :
• Brings together a huge cross section of climbers from around NZ and the world. Beginners get to rub shoulders and share the rope with the top winter alpine climbers in NZ. • Offers clinics, competitions, races and social gatherings to advance and promote modern mixed climbing. • Showcases the new and existing route potential on NZ’s most accessible multi-pitch winter training area, the Remarkables. • Shares local knowledge and forms new climbing partnerships. • Fundraises for the ECC Expedition Capital Fund.
You need to be a club member to attend this event. Those who wish to join can visit the registration page of this website. You can join the club and register for a clinic all on one simple form.
Information on the event can be found at www.iceandmixedfestival.co.nz
Fluoro Block Party in New Plymouth 9 July
The YMCA Taranaki and The Crux Climbing Gym are running New Zealand’s first Black Light Pump Fest Style Bouldering Competition on Sunday 9 July (first weekend of the school holidays). For more information about this fun event, click here.
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Wellington Section 2017 contacts list
We are always thankful for volunteers and members stepping forward to help the section run smoothly. If you’d like to learn more about how you could get involved, please email us at [email protected] Position Name Contact Chairperson Simon Williamson 021 054 7684 Co Chair Eric Duggan 021 350 161 Treasurer (Acting) Peter Laurenson Secretary & Vertigo editor Carolyn Ellis 021 574 287 Patron John Nankervis Other Committee Members Elisha Watson Matt Pemberton Sandy Britain
Alex Waterford
Rock Drill Overseer Jeremy Tries 027 55 55 893
www.facebook.com/nzacwellington
Twitter @NZACWellington
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