Alpine Instruction Course, Auguat 7-9,1981.

- Peter Mansell

The stroll up to the Alpine Club hut above Whakapapa in the early hours of a calm Saturday morning was a brilliant way to start our AIC. Once joined by the rest of our lot later in the morning the masses assembled into their snow gears - many getting the feel of crampons for the first time - and set off into the big white.

Our group of Simon,Jenny and myself,instrueted by Matt,went through the basic and complicated forms of self-arresting,ending up throwing ourselves head-first on our backs without an iceaxe down the slope,then trying to stop.

Most groups also had a go at step-cutting,walking on various types of snow and ice,how to use crampons,and becoming more familiar with ropes and karabiners while practising several types of belaying.

After finishing off the day with glissading and more bumsliding we started thawing the feet out and awaited George's rather large-size stew.

Sunday turned out as a bit of a white-out,and after more instruction including front- pointing up a gully we returned to the vans realising how important correct route-finding in low visibility ia.

Thanks to the organisers and instructors everyone gained a lot of ability and confidence,and as a result the course has successfully encouraged us to take part in more advanced alpine and winter trips.