James Wright, Kevin Patterson, Pete Shanahan and I recently caught a jet boat up the Arawata to the confluence with the Waipara, where we spent a few days pinned down by rain. The next couple of days were spent getting into position at the base of Apparition Spur. The river travel was fairly straightforward with the highlight being provided by James Wright who had to re-sew the soles of his boats onto the uppers. Apparition Spur was a very big day, with a couple of hours of scrub (and spear grass) bashing, plus some committing slabs at the top. But we were now safely encamped in the sheltered head of Third Mate creek. Unfortunately we were cheated of our primary objectives by two days of inclement weather. Kevin consoled himself with an ascent of Moonraker. Once the weather started to settle it was retreat time, which meant a high-level traverse of the Haast range to Colin Todd hut (night) before exiting down into the crowded Matukituki, and then onto a sticky-bun welcome in Wanaka by ex-patriot Wellingtonian Steve Hart. Don French Pete’s Post 50km south from Scott Base across the ice of McMurdo Sound are two islands. Black Island has had most of its snow removed by the winds. White Island remains snow-covered. Between them is White Strait, which we call “Herbie Alley” because that’s where the worst storms (or “Herbies”) first appear. We’d had cold conditions for a few weeks, and the ice was likely to be thick enough for reasonably safe and easy travel. So we decided to make an attempt to drive to White Island and hopefully to climb its highest point; Mt Nipha (792m). Different groups from Scott Base made three attempts, so that everyone would have a chance to participate. I led the second trip. The first trip made it out to the bottom of White Island, before their Hagglunds tracked vehicle developed a fuel starvation problem. They slowly returned to base with the engine only capable of half revs. A rubber seal in the fuel selector valve had rotated and partially blocked the fuel outlet. The temperature outside was -40 deg C, which may have caused the rubber to shrink. A few days later, with the vehicle repaired and a reasonable weather forecast, my group left at 8am. We made good progress, and had timed our arrival at White Island for the middle of the day when we’d have enough light to pick out any crevasses. We were following a GPS-route and we also had trip notes from similar expeditions in 2004 and 2002. Travelling in a vehicle on Antarctic ice is something you need to do quite carefully. The standard routes are marked with flags, and have been checked for crevasses and tide cracks. But once you venture off-road you must find your own safe path. Even reasonably gentle slopes can contain quite large crevasses, and the transition from ice onto solid land is often quite treacherous. . Travel was easy along the marked route towards Black Island. White Strait contains a broken-up area where dust and gravel from Black Island has been deposited onto the ice. The darker colour of the gravel attracts solar radiation, and in summer melting occurs around the rocks. Adjacent cleaner areas of ice don’t melt as quickly. The result is a broken and jagged landscape that would be difficult to traverse if our American friends hadn’t maintained the road using their bulldozers. They have a satellite communications station on Black Island, and need to drive there regularly. We had an uneventful trip, with no crevasses spotted on our path. At -30degC the temperature was warmer than the previous group had experienced, and the vehicle performed faultlessly. We traversed across White Island in a north easterly direction with the terrain climbing gently until we reached Mt Henderson. We stopped to refuel the vehicle from drums of diesel, and took lots of photos. Then we turned north, and headed towards the base of Mt Nipha. We parked the Hagglunds and scrambled up the 100 vertical metres to the summit. It was a mixture of frozen scree, ice, and soft snow. With my cold-weather mountaineering boots, I was able to kick steps in the harder areas for the others, who were wearing softer mukluk boots. Near the top we took a few more photos, and then it was time to head home. On the way back we were lucky to see the sun peeping over the horizon. We’d already had our last sunset at Scott Base a week earlier, but from the elevated position on White Island we were treated to an amazing sunset. The trip home was easy, since we could follow our own tracks and be reasonably sure that no crevasses were present. By the time we arrived home, it was completely dark, but with a clear and starry sky. The third group went out the next day, and had colder temperatures. They also climbed Mt Nipha, but on their way home they experienced a repeat of the fuel problem with the vehicle. Perhaps this wasn’t a very significant mountaineering expedition, but it was an opportunity to bag an Antarctic peak. It was also a fun day out with a great bunch of people in an amazing environment. Pete de Joux from Antarctic News from the May 2005 NZAC CCM The Club Committee is NZAC’s main governing body. It is made up of representatives from all the sections, and meets twice a year, in May and November. At the May 2005 Club Committee Meeting, the focus was on the idea of “one club” rather than separate sections and a “head office”. It was agreed that: • Sections should exchange information (via the website) about speakers, trips and instruction courses, with a view to sharing resources. • Profits from the Banff film festivals are unevenly distributed between sections, and donations to national funds, which benefit all NZAC members, are recommended. Some sections have already made donations to the Home of Mountaineering, but others may want to consider it. Priority should then be given to climbing related funds – huts, overseas expeditions and bolting. • Smaller sections should be helped to run Banff showings, or given financial assistance where ne