Back from NZ trip

[Spaceman347]

Hi everyone, I just arrived back from a fantastic trip to New Zealand (Not Nepal I know, but a great trip just the same).

The trip was amazing with everything from a last minute helicopter rescue from some nasty weather, 36 hours holed up in a snow cave (hiding from the weather not the LYW), some great ice climbing and amazing scenery.

I only just got back so I'm pretty tired but have taken a moment to get some photos up if anyone's interested in having a look:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaceman347/sets/72057594109293865/

[Sharon]

Wow, great photos! Looks like an amazing trip. Funny to see fall colours when we are hitting Spring here.

[yakshaver]

Thanks spaceman... Really nice photos. Was that Muller's hut on Sealy Ridge? Probably not... But it looks a lot like it.

Must give us a bit more details on your days as a caveman... Hmm.... Must have been a bit scary.

[Spaceman347]

Yakshaver: nah, the hut was the "Colin Todd" hut in the Aspiring national park, right near the base of Mount Aspiring.

I was only over there for 9 days (which included 2 travel days), so it was a bit of a short trip, but I managed to squeeze a fair bit in. All of the scenic photos from around the lake were taken last Sunday whilst I was wandering around - I could have spent serveral days hiking around the fringes of the lake even without heading out toward the mountains but didn't have the time.

The training course that I was on started on the Monday and we were due to fly in to the mountains to avoid the tough 2 day hike in with full packs and supplies. We had to carry all food and fuel for 7 days as well as full mountaineering equipment so the pack weights were well up over 25kg each.

The weather wasn't kind to us on the first day and although things looked fine from where we were apparently the landing zone up in the mountains was clouded in and flying in wasn't a possibility on that day so we spent our time learning rope techniques and other things that were necessary for our journey.

We flew in on the Tuesday, which proved to be a beautiful flight in through the foothills, passing over crystal clear streams and forrest. There had been some unexpected early season snow which made it a bit of a difficult slog across the glacier but rewarding all the same with blue skies and plenty of sun.

The rest of the week was spent learning various aspects of glacier travel, rope and knot techniques, crampon work, ice climbing, rescue techniques and other such fun activities, mostly involving copious quantities of heavy breathing and sweating (and not the good kind).

The final 2 days were planned to be used for hiking out, the hike out being mostly downhill and the fact that we had eaten most of the food made for this to seem like a sensible plan. We had some conflicting weather reports, with the the forecast being for another clear day followed but some rough weather. The forecast and the actuality seemed to differ as we were already seeing the weather turn and our thoughts were that the actual weather was a day ahead of the forecast. As a group we decided to make a go of it, mainly because most of us needed to get back to town so that we could meet our respective flights out from New Zealand.

We didn't have any tents with us as we had been using the National Park alpine huts (one big room with bunks around the outside, a table in the middle and cooking bench along one side, no actual cooking facilities supplied) and had planned on a bivouvac on the way out, weather permitting. We were all carrying bivvy bags which provde "some" shelter but not ideal for a comfortable night out.

We packed up everything and started heading out only to be met by some steady rain around lunch time. Another radio check and we were again told that the weather was fine and that rain was predicted for late the following day. This was NOT what we were seeing and decided despite the forecast to hunker down for the night and dug a couple of snow caves that we could squeeze into in an emergency as the rain and wind seemed to be increasing.

Once the caves were finished (a couple of hours work) we squeezed in, 2 people in each shelter, made a cup of tea and sat things out for a while. The weather kept getting worse and we realised that the weather front was definitely coming through 24hrs in advance of the forecast.

Another radio check and the weather forecast was now confirmed to be for continued rain and wind squalls up to 100km/hr. Given the forecast we spent another couple of hours digging the shelters out large enough such that we could actually sleep all 4 people in them. One thing that I learned about the whole process is that a snow cave can actually be quite functional, there's no room for a plasma screen or espresso machine, but dry and warm('ish).

Anyway I actually slept pretty well that night, considering the circumstances. Radio check the next morning and the weather forecast still hadn't improved so we called for a helicopter out as everyone had commitments to keep and it was getting late.

The company's regular helicopter wasn't available due to an airshow commitment so another (smaller machine) was arranged but they warned that given the weather it would be touch and go as to whether they could make it in or not. There was only 1 designated landing zone in the area (landings are restricted due to national park regulations), it was about 3 hours away and the chopper would be there in a bit over 2 hours, only slot available.

We quickly packed and rushed across and up toward the landing zone, arriving just in time, dripping with sweat and stumbling with exhaustion only to find that the landing zone was in a complete white-out. A couple of minutes later and we could here the helicopter down and to the right, then down and to the left, then going away, then coming back, then going away. We couldn't see anything, only hear him trying to get up to us.

The pilot radio'ed and said that he couldn't get to the saddle that we were on, but if we could get about 250m down the other side, there was a clearing he could land in but we had to be quick as the cloud was closing in. Several packs we launched straight off a 40m cliff, a rock anchor was quickly smashed into the nearest crack and a rope thrown over for us to abseil down.

We got down, leaving the rope and 2 bags of food for our guide to come back for next week and made it to some level ground were the clouds cleared and the helicopter was hovering. Upon seeing us come through the cloud he landed on the snow, opened his door and waved franticly to get in.

I've never seen 5 guys move so quick, people, packs, hardware were all thrown in and piled on top of each other and within seconds we were in the air. I flew out with someone's pack mashed in my face, and my neck all twisted so that I couldn't move, I didn't even get a chance to get the earphones on so my ears were ringing for the rest of the day due to the noise of the helicopter.

We set down in an open valley near the end of the trailhead and basically fell out of the machine when the doors were opened, landing on the soft grass. Our guide threw out the rest of the equipment, shook hands with the pilot and off he flew leaving us laying on the ground watching him fly off and being very grateful for the lift.

That was an exciting end to our week in New Zealand, we hiked back to where the van was left and drove into town for much needed showers and copious eating.

We were never in any real trouble as we had plenty of food, fuel and shelter, but had we not gotten out when we did we were in for a couple of uncomfortable days. So not really scary but a I was certainly happy to have made it out.

[Hendrik van Dingenen]

Man, that is what I call an adventure. Glad you guys make it.

And beautiful photos, by the way.

[]'s

Hendrik

[yakshaver]

Had a bit more time to savour the pics. Good stuff.