NZAC Wellington Alp 1 trip, 28–29 October 2023.
Like almost all winter alpine trips, this one took a few attempts to get off the ground and by the time the rescheduled date came around we were down to a team of three — might have had something to do with the Rugby World Cup final clash — but it seems the rugby schedules don’t account for alpine weather windows.
We were a solid Alp 1 team, with the simple objective of getting some time on snow on the slopes of Taranaki Maunga. We drove up on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a serene bivvy sleep near The Plateau under the watchful eye of the Maunga glowing so bright in the full moon I was convinced I’d left my headtorch on.
On our way to the Manganui ski field (only suitable for grass skiing!) just after 6am we had good views across to Ruapehu as we made our way around to Tahurangi Lodge, where we joined the northern summit route. The icicles in the gully were intimidating enough to cause us to pause and don our helmets, only for one to come crashing down across the path in front of us minutes later to clearly justify our decision.
We made quick work of the ascent ahead, especially once we were off the scoria and on to the snow which to start with was in perfect cramponing condition. The wind was getting up and was surprisingly chilly, meaning our snack stops were brief and our buffs were riding high. We checked the GPS and were pleasantly surprised to be above 2200m. But another hundred metres of climbing and the beautiful cramponing conditions had turned unpleasantly icy. It was ok going up, but we could tell it wasn’t going to be fun coming back down so we made the call to start descending.
An hour later, we regrouped out of the wind on a grassy patch to take off our crampons and enjoy an early lunch. Back at the car by 1pm, there was a bit of a situation involving a misplaced doughnut, which thankfully resolved itself peacefully.
We spent the drive home trying to second guess the outcome of the rugby based on the vibes of southern Taranaki townships. Despite the rugby result and the icy conditions, this trip was a good 24hr mission to get some time on snow before all the north island options disappear for the season.
Emily Shrosbree