snowcraft

Only ten spots available, and over 60 people interested. Only the elite were chosen...

After a crazy week working on my Maori Health assignment and my dissertation I was psyched to head out tramping for the weekend..again. Brought my pack down to the office in the morning, and felt really cool-as but really conspicuous walking around with an ice axe, crampons, and helmet strapped to the outside of my pack. Spent the day working, then threw my pack on and met up at Clubs and Socs around 6:00. Other trips leaving as well so it's always a good time to catch up with friends. An equal gender ratio this time, unusual for one of Stephen's trips : ) Had five guys (Tom, Steve, Jared, Geoff, Florian) and five girls (Melanie, Christine, Cushla, Sophie, Suzanne) packed into one big, white van. Steve had two speakers and an amp hooked up to his Discman, so we had a sweet stereo system which I proceeded to monopolise for the remainder of the trip... DJ Christine in the house (well, the van anyway). Left Dunners and started the 440km drive to Arthur's Pass National Park. Stopped for tea in Timaru, then on to Arthur's Pass Shelter for the night. There Cushla discovers that she was meant to pick up her own mountaineering gear from the tramping club gear room.

Got up far too early and ate all the oatmeal including what was meant for tomorrow's breakfast. Tried to figure out who snored. Learned how to fit our crampons. Discovered that my camera battery was dead so no photos for the rest of the trip : ( Drove to Temple Basin and walked up the long, steep, and winding road to the hut on the club ski field. Florian and I went into the hut, thinking we were taking part in the mountain safety course... but apparently we weren't. I had my overtrou down because they weren't breathable (note to self - buy breathable overtrou). Walked up...um, Mt Temple?...and checked out a snow cave. Learned how to put on our crampons, how to use an ice axe, and how to self-arrest. Ate lunch and learned basic weather stuff. My cheap sunnies are now quite munted (note to self - buy decent sunnies). Learned French cramponing technique. Made snow angels and climbed into a snow cave. Built an anatomically correct snow-woman with Geoff. Had a massive snowball fight. Florian whacked me in the head with a big snowball, and Steve proceeded to pelt me with large chunks of snow. I took the breasts off our snow-woman (they were big and round and perfectly formed). Threw one at Florian (it missed) and saved one for Steve who had already started walking down the hill.

Walked back down to the ski hut. Whacked Steve with the breast, he threw snow in my face, and we called a truce. Started the 270km drive to Fox Glacier. Stopped for an early tea in Hokitika, and got some non-vege pizzas for supper (fruit for me). On to H.E.L. Porter Lodge in Fox Township. Got settled while Tom attached some ropes to the beam in the hut so we could practise our climbing skills.

Geoff introduced us to to the game table traverse. Hot showers for a few lucky people.

Got up far too early again after one of the guys pounded on our door. Pretended that we were already awake...um, nope...didn't sleep in at all, eh? Eat all the lunch for breakfast. The guys ask whether we heard them gossiping about women last night... We decide it is prudent never to reveal everything you know. Met Alpine Guides (Craig, Abel, Marius) around 8am and got fitted with technical ice axes and plastic boots while Steve goes in search of food for lunch. Walked to Fox Glacier and geared up. The glacier moves at the rate of one cm per hour...this is pretty fast for a glacier in case you were wondering. Learned how to walk on hard ice and how to rope up for glacier travel. Pouring rain.

Had lunch consisting of Weight Watchers cruskets (Steve is watching his girlish figure), cheese, chocolate, and biccies. Abel let us drink most of his tea. Had to pick up bits of food that fell on the ground because they decompose really, really slowly on a glacier. Made tentative plans with Melanie and Cushla to do some more climbing and mountaineering (Tasmania, Long Beach, Mt Earnslaw, Cascade Saddle, Mt Tyndall, Ball Pass). Learned how to escape the system and some assisted and unassisted hoist techniques. Moved to the edge of the glacier and practiced top rope climbing on a vertical wall of ice for the rest of the afternoon. Florian climbing faster than I could belay him. Melanie going hard. Sophie dropping Abel who proceeded to self-arrest and got a cut on his chin.

Packed up and returned to Fox Township.

Dropped off our gear and said thanks to the guides. Marius keen on coming to Copland Hot Pools... Had a shower and tidied up back at H.E.L. Porter Lodge. Left on the 540km drive back to Dunedin with a stop in Cromwell for dinner, where we met up with some people coming back from Copland.

Steve "Cushla can have my gear, I'll go commando."

Christine "This breast has Steve's name written all over it."

Tom "A knot not neat is a knot not needed."

Cushla "I'm taking her out for coffee." Steve "Can I take her out for coffee too?"

Sophie "Stop falling."

Florian "Just drop your harness and come in."

Christine "But hey, if I met a great looking guy who was really rich, maybe I would." Florian "I'm good-looking, and a billionaire."

Florian "Last night when you were asleep I touched you." Later, Florian "Let me show you how I touched you last night."

Crampons. Fit your crampons before you head out. Don't fit them on a scree slope because if you drop the screw finding it again will be impossible. Tie all the back straps together, then all the front ones. Walk like a cowboy so you don't get your crampons stuck together or shred the bottoms of your trousers. French technique involves walking downhill sideways, rolling your ankle so all ten points of your crampons touch the surface of the slope. When cramponing on hard ice, walk downhill with your toes pointed directly downward and take small steps with your knees bent so your weight is over your heels, still walking like a cowboy.

Ice Axe. Your axe should always be on the uphill slope, the strap should be around your wrist so you don't lose it, and the axe head should be forward. Move only one point at a time. Knock your crampons with your axe periodically when climbing in soft snow to knock off the chunks. To self-arrest, point your knees into the slope, lift your feet up so your crampons don't get stuck and you hurtle down head first, jam the saw part of your axe into the slope, and grab the shaft of the axe with your other hand holding it diagonally across your body so you don't stab yourself with the end.

Prussic Knots. Use a fisherman's knot to tie the ends of a piece of prussic rope together. To tie a Clemheist (someone stole all the clams? it's a clam heist!!) prussic knot, slip a loop of prussic rope under a length of the lead rope. Wrap four loops of prussic rope around the lead rope (three times a lady and one for luck), bring the end of the prussic through the knot, and pull down. To tie a classic prussic knot, tie a clove hitch around the lead rope and then wrap the prussic twice more through the inside of the clove hitch.

Climbing. Make sure buckles on the harness are closed by looping straps back through the buckle (open looks like an "O" and closed looks like a "C"). Attach a biner onto the front loop of your harness. Tighten the screwgate then loosen it half turn so it doesn't lock up when you fall. The person climbing ties a figure 8 knot close to the end of the lead rope, runs it through the front loop of their harness, ties it back through the figure 8 knot, and tightens it. The belayer runs a loop from the other end of the lead rope through the small hole in a figure 8 belaying device, then hooks the loop of rope onto a biner and attached the biner to their harness. Keep the lead rope tight as the climber goes up - pull, lock, grab, slide.
 
Roping up for Glacier Travel. Measure 5m from either side of the middle of the rope and tie a random knot there to hold the place. Take one end of the rope and tie a figure 8 knot onto your harness. Loop the remaining rope around your body and tie off so that a loop of rope dangles almost down to your harness. Hook this loop to your harness using a biner (B #1). Tie a prussic rope (PR #1) onto the lead rope and attach it to your harness using a second biner (B #2). The person in front has the prussic rope slightly slack, so if they fall into a crevasse, they don't strangle themselves with the rope wrapped around their body. When you're in back you have the prussic rope tighter than the lead rope, so if the person in front falls into a crevasse, their weight pulls on the harness and not the rope wrapped around your body.

Anchoring and Escaping the System. If the person in front falls into crevasse, you do a self-arrest with your ice axe and jam your crampons into the ice. Tie a prussic (PR #2) onto the lead rope, then use a biner (B #3) to attach the prussic to the strap on your ice axe, forming a temporary anchor. Put in an ice screw, attach a biner (B #4) to the ice screw, and hook a sling into the biner. Use two identical biners (B#5 and 6) to attach the sling to the lead rope using a flash technique - clip the lead rope through both biners, then clip the lead rope through the first biner only. Remove the lead rope from your body. Unclip the prussic (PR #1) from the biner (B #1) attached to your harness.

Unassisted Hoist Technique. The person in the crevasse can climb out using two prussics - one is already attached to the lead rope (PR #1) and the other should be longer and tied further down (PR #3) to use as a foothold. Place your foot in the lower prussic (PR #3), hoist yourself up the rope, slide the top prussic (PR #1) up, sit down in the harness, slide the lower prussic (PR #3) up, and repeat until you get out of the crevasse.

Assisted Hoist Technique. Tie a prussic (PR #4) on the lead rope a few metres from your harness and hook on a biner. Bring the end of the lead rope (you have removed it from the loops around your body when you escaped the system) through the biner, then double it back away from the crevasse so there are three lengths of rope parallel to each other. Pull on the rope like a pulley system to get the person out of the crevasse. You should be attached to the lead rope with a prussic (PR #5) so that you don't fall into a crevasse as well.

Ice Climbing. Three techniques - iron cross (old), step and stem (standard), monkey hang (flash). Screw one or two ice screws into the top of the ice wall, run the rope through, and let the two ends dangle down the wall. One person belays, the other climbs. Place your axe behind your head then flick forward like a flyswatter. Ice axes should be no more than shoulder width apart and should be at the same height so they carry your weight equally. Jam the toes of your crampons in only once at a 90 degree angle to the ice face. Take small steps up the ice face with your head up and bum in to the ice [step]. When you are far enough up jam your feet into the ice more than shoulder width apart [stem], also at the same level so that both feet take the same weight. Remove your axes one at a time and place them in further up the ice face. When you reach the top you can abseil down when you're ready to come down you abseil with help from the person belaying you.

Love Christine