Taipoutini polytechnic Mountain Week
Location Temple Basin, Arthurs Pass
Group Gat, Silas, Isaac
Instructor Kieran McKay, Zac Shaw, Peter Cammell
Duration Five days
Date 1/8/16 - 5/8/16
Weather Fine, Snow, Moderate winds
Learnings Avalanche awareness, anchor building, rope work, how to build a snow cave, assessing weather and snow pack
Day 1
We all pile into the vans. There has been a huge snow dump in Arthur's pass over the weekend so everyone is dressed in warm gear. We get as far as Otira before having to put on snow chains. It's snowing outside and everything is white. On arrival we load everything we can onto the goods lift then head off to Temple basin car park. This is where the journey begins. Each step we take we disappear in snow up to our knees. It's a hard 40 minute slog, especially if you lead the pack. Now up by the lodge its time to unload the goods lift. We strive into our work and battle the snow and the weight of what we are carrying. It's exhausting work but with everyone chipping in eventually we get there. The first thing we do once we have had a break in the lodge is to learn how to use our transceivers. The tutors introduces us to them and get us to conduct a transceiver check. Now we're ready to go out on the snow.
We don't walk too far but we find a good wide open space to learn how to build anchor systems with our steaks and a rope. The three anchor systems we are taught are the pig, the mid clip and the T slot. The key to building thee anchors are to push the steak in our dig a slot for it to go in then compact the snow around it, Once the snow has been compacted set it by pulling on the steak hard. We spend most of the afternoon practicing this and then learn about locating a transceiver. The trick to finding a transceiver is to be efficient and methodical. Me and Ryan give this a couple of goes and we both have success. Its been a tiring day but its not about to finish yet. We all chill out for awhile and smash some burritos for dinner. The last part of the night is a avalanche awearness seminar. Everyone is stuffed from the day and is struggling to stay awake. Luckily we had a few breaks so I was able to re energize by playing some table tennis. Its straight to bed after the avalanche tutorial in preparation for a busy week.
Day 2
We start another action packed day of learning with a continued tutorial on avalanche awareness. We are all starting to grasp the theory and the various mountaineering terms bit by bit so by mid morning we are all ready to go out and put it into practice.
We start by digging a large trench so that we can analyse the snow pack. The snow pack is stable but has many layers because of the various different weather systems that have come in over the last couple of weeks. I have a wrist injury from sea kayaking so digging is difficult and a challenge. Knowing we are getting assessed I feel at a disadvantage because of my injuries but I press on and put my best foot forward.
With the morning closed out its time for lunch. Hot burgers go down a treat, they refuel the body and gets us through the afternoon. The afternoon has us splitting up into groups doing an avalanche drill where the tutors replicate an avalanche by burying six transceivers for us to locate. When carrying out this drill it is absolute chaos. Communication is key in working in a stressed situation like this and a big one is knowing who has been found and what areas have been probed and check. In quick time all six transceivers are found and accounted for. Its been an exhausting day but a hearty roast gets everyone back on the rebound. There is still more to evening and we are not finished yet.
Kieran runs a session where he teaches us about how to set up a rope system while travelling into the mountains. Once we have gathered all the information given by Kieran we all place ourselves through out the lodge and use what ever we can find as a anchor for our rope systems. We play around with this for awhile until we feel we have the grasp of it. The days is done and polished off with a beautiful desert and relax in the lodge.
Day 3
Day three starts building on what we learnt and practiced the night before. With transceiver checks done its time to practice building anchors and bucket seats as well as using the rope skills we learnt from the previous night. At first I was really slow learning the process but when I did get it, repeating the process cemented the learning for me. It was really neat putting all the learning through out the week together and it was a really valuable session. We do this all morning then later again in the afternoon. We even manage to set up a rope anchor and abseiled off it. It had been a great day out on the snow and one that would set us up well for the next day ahead where we are to climb Mount Cassidy.
Day 4
Its the morning and we're all getting prepared for a walk up to mount Cassidy. We keep in our same groups and leave as soon as possible. Were the second group out. We follow the track across the bridge and onto the ski field. From here we follow the ski field until we reach the top of it and keep climbing. Along the way we consistently look at the snow pack and watch what the weather is doing. The track deepens and our team decide to put on our crampons sooner than later. This allows us to take harder routes if we chose to. Being in front is really tough so we try and rotate the leader frequently. Also we try to avoid stopping and sweating so we try and maintain a plodding pace. We reach a point where we can either walk up to a ridge or get on a knob to get a better perspective of whats in front of us. We all have a group chat and discus the option. It is decided that we should get to the knob as an advantage point and make a call from here. We get to the knob and continue our walk up the mountain. We get to a point where we are falling so far in the snow it is nearly impossible to walk up it, So we side sidle around until we can get a bit of traction in the snow. Once we climb pass this point the track flattens out for awhile so we take a bearing of where we are and note down the grid reference. We are almost at the summit now and the track is beginning to steepen.
From here we rope up and travel like this to the top. Climbing up this section is made difficult with the hard rock that pulls at my crampons. We get to the summit just before our turn off point and even get time for a quick bit for lunch. The temperature is cold and my beard has frozen over. It is now snowing and the winds are starting to pick the snow up and throw it at will. We hustle back down still roped up zigzagging around the rocks to make it as safe as possible.
We take a slightly different route back and still analyse and learn as much as we can. Just before the hut is one particular zone that requires extra care. Pete then introduces to a safety crossing technique called islands of safety. This is where you cross one by one to a safety point in the landscape. We do this and all make it there safely. Next on today's agenda is to build a snow cave. We have about an hour left of light so Gat, Silas and myself hustle and get building. Piece by piece we sculpt and shovel out our snow cave. By the time we are done we finish with light from our head torches. The last challenge of the night is to cook dinner out in the field. Silas, Gat and I take on this challenge and learn some lessons the hard way. It's freezing outside and with the temperature being so low it seems almost impossible to bring anything to the boil. The trick is to boil a small amount of water before adding snow or ice and building a cover around the cooker to block out the winds or cool air. Not wearing enough warm layers I let myself crash waiting for and stirring dinner. Because of this I jump into my ice cave and get in to warm gear and a sleeping bag. The lads look after me wonderfully by bring me my dinner. Once dinner is consumed its time for a bit of shut eye. As mush as I love being on an over nighter there is always a bit of excitement to get back home and this seems to be one of these times.
Day 5
Today is the big day it assessment time. We are to locate a transceiver in under three minutes and identify some avalanche terrain and features. I decide to get it out the way so I go first. I plow into locating my transceiver and run through the snow. I can see the distance shortening and when I get within two meter of the transceiver I get on my hands and knees and start monitoring more closely. Methodically I eliminate where it cant be and box around it. I get out my probe and make I strike I don;t hit it so I strike again. This time I get it and I call out hit. The instructor Pete calls out my time, i'm in i've made it with in the three minutes. Now that's all left to do is answer some questions about some avalanche terrain and features. I don't find this to difficult and Pete is happy with my answers. It's a great feeling walking back knowing I have passed the assessment. I take a breather and send the next student down to Pete to get assessed. Once a few people have completed there assessments Zac gathers us up and takes us on a what to do if you fall or are sliding down the mountain training. This is a heap of fun and we learn multiply ways to stop ourselves from sliding either with an ice axe or a wide leg stance. With everything completed and mountain week coming to a close all that is left to do is clean up the lodge, pack up and get out of there. Its a 40 minute walk back through the slippery hard snow and trust me plenty of snow balls were thrown on our way down.
I'm at the end of my three week holiday where I had almost done something in the outdoors everyday. I'm stuffed but i'm still keen to throw myself into a mountain day. Ryan, Jake, Silas and myself make the 40 minute climb up to temple basin ski field and prepare for a big day skiing and snow boarding. It's tough work being out on the snow and I can barely walk in the huge clumpy boots you have to ware, I force myself up and watch Ryan hit the hundred mark at crass into the snow. Stuff that I think to myself and go where it is less steep. At first I struggle to track forward and spend most of the time tripping up and sliding over but the more I do it the better I get at making my way down the slope. Its exhausting and thirsty work so I stop for lunch and enjoy some time in the lodge. Once I've rested up I get back to the snow and have a blat for a few hours. The ski lift is scheduled to leave at around six and by this stage its time to get a move on and pack up. It's been an interesting day in the mountains skiing and I can see I need to come back and give skiing a fair chance. Its always hard learning a new skill and today is no different. What I do love about skiing though is the amazing alpine environment you find yourself in and the power and majesty of the mountains and surroundings.
Date 1/8/16 - 5/8/16
Weather Fine, Snow, Moderate winds
Learnings Avalanche awareness, anchor building, rope work, how to build a snow cave, assessing weather and snow pack
Day 1
We don't walk too far but we find a good wide open space to learn how to build anchor systems with our steaks and a rope. The three anchor systems we are taught are the pig, the mid clip and the T slot. The key to building thee anchors are to push the steak in our dig a slot for it to go in then compact the snow around it, Once the snow has been compacted set it by pulling on the steak hard. We spend most of the afternoon practicing this and then learn about locating a transceiver. The trick to finding a transceiver is to be efficient and methodical. Me and Ryan give this a couple of goes and we both have success. Its been a tiring day but its not about to finish yet. We all chill out for awhile and smash some burritos for dinner. The last part of the night is a avalanche awearness seminar. Everyone is stuffed from the day and is struggling to stay awake. Luckily we had a few breaks so I was able to re energize by playing some table tennis. Its straight to bed after the avalanche tutorial in preparation for a busy week.
Day 2
We start another action packed day of learning with a continued tutorial on avalanche awareness. We are all starting to grasp the theory and the various mountaineering terms bit by bit so by mid morning we are all ready to go out and put it into practice. We start by digging a large trench so that we can analyse the snow pack. The snow pack is stable but has many layers because of the various different weather systems that have come in over the last couple of weeks. I have a wrist injury from sea kayaking so digging is difficult and a challenge. Knowing we are getting assessed I feel at a disadvantage because of my injuries but I press on and put my best foot forward.
With the morning closed out its time for lunch. Hot burgers go down a treat, they refuel the body and gets us through the afternoon. The afternoon has us splitting up into groups doing an avalanche drill where the tutors replicate an avalanche by burying six transceivers for us to locate. When carrying out this drill it is absolute chaos. Communication is key in working in a stressed situation like this and a big one is knowing who has been found and what areas have been probed and check. In quick time all six transceivers are found and accounted for. Its been an exhausting day but a hearty roast gets everyone back on the rebound. There is still more to evening and we are not finished yet.
Kieran runs a session where he teaches us about how to set up a rope system while travelling into the mountains. Once we have gathered all the information given by Kieran we all place ourselves through out the lodge and use what ever we can find as a anchor for our rope systems. We play around with this for awhile until we feel we have the grasp of it. The days is done and polished off with a beautiful desert and relax in the lodge.
Day 3
Day three starts building on what we learnt and practiced the night before. With transceiver checks done its time to practice building anchors and bucket seats as well as using the rope skills we learnt from the previous night. At first I was really slow learning the process but when I did get it, repeating the process cemented the learning for me. It was really neat putting all the learning through out the week together and it was a really valuable session. We do this all morning then later again in the afternoon. We even manage to set up a rope anchor and abseiled off it. It had been a great day out on the snow and one that would set us up well for the next day ahead where we are to climb Mount Cassidy.
Day 4
Its the morning and we're all getting prepared for a walk up to mount Cassidy. We keep in our same groups and leave as soon as possible. Were the second group out. We follow the track across the bridge and onto the ski field. From here we follow the ski field until we reach the top of it and keep climbing. Along the way we consistently look at the snow pack and watch what the weather is doing. The track deepens and our team decide to put on our crampons sooner than later. This allows us to take harder routes if we chose to. Being in front is really tough so we try and rotate the leader frequently. Also we try to avoid stopping and sweating so we try and maintain a plodding pace. We reach a point where we can either walk up to a ridge or get on a knob to get a better perspective of whats in front of us. We all have a group chat and discus the option. It is decided that we should get to the knob as an advantage point and make a call from here. We get to the knob and continue our walk up the mountain. We get to a point where we are falling so far in the snow it is nearly impossible to walk up it, So we side sidle around until we can get a bit of traction in the snow. Once we climb pass this point the track flattens out for awhile so we take a bearing of where we are and note down the grid reference. We are almost at the summit now and the track is beginning to steepen.
We take a slightly different route back and still analyse and learn as much as we can. Just before the hut is one particular zone that requires extra care. Pete then introduces to a safety crossing technique called islands of safety. This is where you cross one by one to a safety point in the landscape. We do this and all make it there safely. Next on today's agenda is to build a snow cave. We have about an hour left of light so Gat, Silas and myself hustle and get building. Piece by piece we sculpt and shovel out our snow cave. By the time we are done we finish with light from our head torches. The last challenge of the night is to cook dinner out in the field. Silas, Gat and I take on this challenge and learn some lessons the hard way. It's freezing outside and with the temperature being so low it seems almost impossible to bring anything to the boil. The trick is to boil a small amount of water before adding snow or ice and building a cover around the cooker to block out the winds or cool air. Not wearing enough warm layers I let myself crash waiting for and stirring dinner. Because of this I jump into my ice cave and get in to warm gear and a sleeping bag. The lads look after me wonderfully by bring me my dinner. Once dinner is consumed its time for a bit of shut eye. As mush as I love being on an over nighter there is always a bit of excitement to get back home and this seems to be one of these times.
Day 5
Today is the big day it assessment time. We are to locate a transceiver in under three minutes and identify some avalanche terrain and features. I decide to get it out the way so I go first. I plow into locating my transceiver and run through the snow. I can see the distance shortening and when I get within two meter of the transceiver I get on my hands and knees and start monitoring more closely. Methodically I eliminate where it cant be and box around it. I get out my probe and make I strike I don;t hit it so I strike again. This time I get it and I call out hit. The instructor Pete calls out my time, i'm in i've made it with in the three minutes. Now that's all left to do is answer some questions about some avalanche terrain and features. I don't find this to difficult and Pete is happy with my answers. It's a great feeling walking back knowing I have passed the assessment. I take a breather and send the next student down to Pete to get assessed. Once a few people have completed there assessments Zac gathers us up and takes us on a what to do if you fall or are sliding down the mountain training. This is a heap of fun and we learn multiply ways to stop ourselves from sliding either with an ice axe or a wide leg stance. With everything completed and mountain week coming to a close all that is left to do is clean up the lodge, pack up and get out of there. Its a 40 minute walk back through the slippery hard snow and trust me plenty of snow balls were thrown on our way down.
SELF DIRECTED LEARNING
SDL Mountain Day
Location Temple Basin, Arthurs Pass
Group
Instructor N/A
Duration
Date 3/9/16
Weather Fine Blue bird day
Learnings Reading weather, walking on snow terrain
Weather Fine Blue bird day
Learnings Reading weather, walking on snow terrain
I'm at the end of my three week holiday where I had almost done something in the outdoors everyday. I'm stuffed but i'm still keen to throw myself into a mountain day. Ryan, Jake, Silas and myself make the 40 minute climb up to temple basin ski field and prepare for a big day skiing and snow boarding. It's tough work being out on the snow and I can barely walk in the huge clumpy boots you have to ware, I force myself up and watch Ryan hit the hundred mark at crass into the snow. Stuff that I think to myself and go where it is less steep. At first I struggle to track forward and spend most of the time tripping up and sliding over but the more I do it the better I get at making my way down the slope. Its exhausting and thirsty work so I stop for lunch and enjoy some time in the lodge. Once I've rested up I get back to the snow and have a blat for a few hours. The ski lift is scheduled to leave at around six and by this stage its time to get a move on and pack up. It's been an interesting day in the mountains skiing and I can see I need to come back and give skiing a fair chance. Its always hard learning a new skill and today is no different. What I do love about skiing though is the amazing alpine environment you find yourself in and the power and majesty of the mountains and surroundings.
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