This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
eden Instruction Course I held at Whakapapa was designed to provide basic experience in walking in snow and self-arrest techniques. on this occasion for those participating the luxury was to be able to stay in’ the Club hut. Groups were limited to 4 students per instructor. The groups varied in ability and experience and were matched appropriately to their instructors; the less experienced participants concentrated on simple techniques whilst the fitter and keener students advanced on to belaying and rope work. Literature was provided to back up the practical work undertaken, “he Club Cemmnittce would like to ae the instructors on the cxcelience of their handout. Friday night, a group of 40 weary travellers creaked their way up Ruapehu by Mountain Goat. For those whc haven't seen the Hut, we can fully recommend:‘the showers, beds, stereo and drying” room — facilities to feel at home in after a long trip. or day. - After a good, wholesome» and greasy breakfast we @ivided. into our groups and worked our way upwards to the equivalent of the top of the second . chairlift,. where there was a reasonable covering of ‘snow for the intende ed activities.:. Tne weather was fairly uninspiring so that the Alpine Club Hut was a most attractive place to have mee - LGeepite the No. zo and No. 2's manually operated . loos. Most of fhe day was spent flinging ourselves frontwards ;. ‘backwards, sideways and headfirst ‘down various siopes, feebly clawing at the snow with our apprehensive ice axes. : 7 We wearily wended our way back *o ne Hut to find that’ ‘Murray (the bus @river) hac turned on, soup and a heap of cheese > scones. Gee thanks Murray: ; 7 ut Later on, the ‘oldhands' were seen gleefully surrounding a steaming vat of warm re@ wine which gave our faces. an equally rosy glow once con- — sumed. Needless to say. cur--imore-mature4+—leaders became rather verbose 22773
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ee afid excitable ~ after testing the aforementioned beverage, just to check the spiciness you understand. An enjoyable social evening was had by afl, with just a little intimidating thrown in to keep the younger instructors on their toes. sunday dawned a clear day and off we went again to test our skills. The snow was somewhat crisper than the day before and some. of us had-no choice but to practise the art of. self~-arresting. © Steeper slopes provided. bigger bruises and a faster challenge. _We also had a crack at 'duck= waddling' with our crampons, and cutting steps. Those lost in an ; avalanche should pray that’ there is a more competent person locating the beeper than one of the authors? gt? to We returned to the hut for.a late lunch. and 'a quick clean up. Reluctantwe returned to Wellington and ‘real-life', ee Eo Thanks to the instructors for a thoroughly instructive and enjoyable weekend — looking forward to AIC II. I - "The Intimidators"