The Tramping Report

Avalanche Pk Challenge 2005

It was before 6.00 am when the first marshals were up in Kennedy Lodge and the CTC hut. Stars twinkled in a clear sky. The full course was definitely on for the 2005 Avalanche Peak Challenge!

The Arthurs Pass village cranked into life for its busiest day of the year. It must be one of Dave "Wattie" Watson's busiest days too. He was to spend most of the day riding shotgun in a helicoptor supervising all of the day's logistics from the air.

Most of the 40-odd marshals, the drink stations and emergency equipment were flown in.

Honora was one of the early ones away. She was off to spend the day at mid-slide - one of the most scary sections for those new to the mountain.

Two and three at a time the marshals disappeared into the sky, til it was just me loading the drink containers into nets for their flight.

At the start line the trampers and runners filed through the gear checker's tent, to sign in, have their numbers issued and their required gear examined.

Bryce Curran was a familiar face in the crowd.

I'm a tramper, not a runner, and of course most of the contestants were runners. So I didn't know many there.

Bryce was more a tramper too but he'd taken up the challenge to run it with a group of his friends.

(Bryce finished the 26 km, 1100 m climb & descent, in 4 hrs 40)

But anyway, I was glad to spot someone I knew. I was keen enough to help support the run this year, but it made it even better knowing at least some of the people facing up to the challenge of it.

They're off!!

And so was I.

My job was 'tail-end-charlie'. Immediately the last runners were gone, I set off after them carrying the complete list of starters. I had to sweep through, clearing each of the six blocks. At each check point, I'd ensure all the recorded numbers that had passed matched the list of 300-odd that had set off.

Each check point missed one or two numbers, and these were sorted by radioing other checkers on the mountain.

As it turned out, only three contestants actually pulled out. And they were before getting beyond the first check point at bush-line.

For me, it was a tough old grind getting up the steep 500 m climb to bush-line. I was carrying a 15 kg pack and the temperature was rising. But Linda had a really cheerful bunch with her and I dallied 10 minutes there before carrying on.

The next 600 m climb to the summit was not quite as steep, but certainly didn't feel any easier. I paused for 5 minutes at low-peak for drinks before tackling the rocky ridge to the top. Radio messages from the summit had been sounding a bit impatient for my arrival. So was I, as I was needing food (2 hrs exactly from starting up). But it wasn't as comfortable a place to pause as bush-line, so I only wolfed down some tuna, and as soon as Gareth (Rappers) had checked the numbers I was off again.

Round on back-ridge Richard Wills and Ian Dephoff were guarding the deadly wrong slide. And just a bit further on I caught up with the the last of the runners. They were having problems with the slippery footing and travelling a bit off their pace. The view is astounding here so it's a shame they weren't able to lift their eyes from their foot placements.

There was a big team at top-of-slide. But no doubt, if they'd had problems down below, they would've had plenty to occupy them. Kerry checked off the numbers here and I bounded on down.

Half way down Steve and Honora emerged from behind their sheltering boulder at mid-slide. This is definitely a hard hat area. A short time later Dr Pat loosened a large rock that had Richard running sideways on the scree two hundred metres below.

Down in the Crow, Deidre and Sandi checked off their numbers while our last runner jogged off. This check point had the biggest group of first responder and pre-evac medics of the whole course. And that made a lot of sense when you thought about the numbers going down the slide in such a short time and, with many, their competitiveness pushing them beyond their normal boundaries of control.

I'd thought from here I would have a good brisk walk out, with my growing retinue of marshals. But before long we caught up with a slow travelling group from the trampers section.

We tailed the six people from 2 separate groups to the finish line at the Bealey Hotel. Wattie asked me by radio if they wanted lifting out by helicopter. But no way!

I had to admire their stoic determination to keep going for the finish. Three of them had never been in country as rough as that before.

The plastic tape guiding us out of the riverbed to the Bealey Hotel was fluttering forlornly, with no-one about. But up the hill at the finish line Chris Cox, the race organiser, was waiting there to greet and congratulate them. That was a nice touch.

Us marshals got a free dinner and drink for our long day. That was a nice touch too!

I've got to admit I felt like I'd done something. After all I had tramped 26 km, climbing 1100 metres, with a 15 kg pack in 8 hrs.

But I was glad to help out with the Avalanche Peak Challenge this year, especially after all the unpleasantness from those in the CTC who tried to torpedo it last year.

Canyoning in Woolshed Creek

Woolshed Creek, at Mt Somers, has a deep narrow canyon that can be traversed through. However it has waterfalls and deep pools in it. There are a couple of bits that usually need abseiling and, even on a hot day, you'll only be really comfortable if you're wearing a wetsuit.

The combination of skills and gear needed for this trip make it not really standard fare for any of the regular outdoor clubs, be they climbing, tramping, caving or whatever. Consequently the trip is rarely seen on the programme of any type of club.

However there are some individuals that have sufficiently eclectic outdoor interests to to give them just the right mix of expertise needed for this route. A small number of them have been organising their own 'shoulder-tap' trips through the Woolshed Creek canyon.

Jonathan Carr is one of these. Jonathan's connections with watersporters, cavers, university and social trampers and climbers are the perfect mix for a trip like this.

Jonathan got a group together in January, but I was helping on a leadership workshop for the Christchurch Tramping club that weekend so I missed out. But there were others too who were still keen to go so Jonathan scheduled another mission.

This time it was the Main/Shanks and three youngsters family, UK couple Andy & Kirsty, Aroha, Tim, Brent, Kerrie, Ian and me on Jonathan's list. I can't imagine any other trip that could pull together a group of such disparate interests.

It was a hot walk over the hill, past the old coal mining relics, to the Mt Somers hut. It took us nearly twice as long as the hour it usually takes Honora and me. But of course some were carrying full wet-suits, ropes and harnesses, etc.

I was glad to see the old hut one more time. I probably won't get there again before DoC replaces it with the new 'Super Sized' tourist quality model.

After lunch we headed down into the creek at the top of the gorge and prepared for getting wet.

There was quite a range of gear being pulled on. Most had either full wet suits, or springers with half length arms and legs. The UK cavers had matching caving overalls. The two trampers had polypro tops and bare legs. I feel the cold, and I didn't want to be typecast as a tramper out to prove how tough I was, so I pulled on long-johns and overtrous, two thermal layers and parka, with a beanie under my helmet. Then I got very hot waiting for the off. But maybe those in full wetsuits did too.

Of course we all had harnesses, and there was every possible type of mechanical descending device.

Then commenced the long wait. It took about an hour for everyone to abseil down into the gorge.

That was fun. The abseil took us down into Morgan Stream and over a small waterfall into a large deep pool. Most finished their abseil in the pool.

I stayed on the rope, climbed out and dropped over a second waterfall into the main Woolshed Creek canyon. Most downclimbed this shortish steep piece past the second waterfall. However Kerrie slipped and fell, hurting her tailbone.

Next was another long wait, especially for those first down. Those who weren't heavily insulated found it quite a cold wait too.

The first section of the canyon was only a metre or so wide. But after 20 metres it widened out to 3-4 metres. From there it became mostly just a walk. In some sections pools required a swim or pack-float.

After a couple of hundred metres there's another short waterfall. This is only about two metres high and most just jumped into the pool below it. However there's a rock a metre below the surface of the pool so care was needed. If people didn't want to jump here there's an anchor to abseil from.

Beyond this it just becomes an easier and easier walk down a bouldery stream bed. There are a few pools to jump into. That became the goal of the more fun-oriented, seeking out everything that could be leapt into, swum, splashed or floated in. Others just walked on.

Quite a long way down we arrived at a large pool deep-set below a broad rock shelf. This was a perfect place to stop for food in the sun. Almost everyone joined in there, leaping into the pool and then shooting down the hydro-slide below it.

After this it was just a long tramp down a stream bed. With all the heavy wet gear and wet suits, I think most were glad to get out onto the track and back to the car park.

The day was a lot of fun and a good chance to mix with a bunch of outdoors people who don't see themselves first as trampers. Also I think it was good for the pure trampers to see how much fun can be had on a water trip.