Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

SMAD. An Organ of Student Opinion. 1936. Volume 7. Number 13.

With the Tramping Club — In the Wind and the Rain

With the Tramping Club

In the Wind and the Rain

Saturday's deceptive sunshine saw about a dozen necesarily untidy male members of the Tramping Club packed neatly in the back of a small truck headed for the Tararuas near Masterton.

Our objective on this trip was Mt. Mitre (5154 ft.) which appears to have a fearsome recored of winter trips.

At the end of the road we shouldered our packs and set off for Mitre Flats, making our arrival at eight o'clock. The snowcovered slopes of the mountain presented by moonlight a fine spectacle.

The Hut on Mitre Flats had three bunks in it; the floor wa rather damp. It was WUITE surprising to see the number of volunteers from amongest the floor-seleepers who forsook their blankets at 4 o'clock on Sunday morning to prepare the breakfast of burnt sausages.

By daylight we were high up on the ridge leading to the peak. Weather conditions during the night had changed considerably and most of the party, prepared for the worst, were clad in windproofs, balaclavas, sou'westers adn mittens. The snow, right down to the bushline, was in good firm condition, fine for climbing and allowing up to make fair progress. The wind was sharp and keen, all the while increasing in intensity. When we reached an altitude of about 4500 feet wee found it difficult to keep our feet. This state of affairs however, compared more than favourably with the conditions further up. At times, a single gust of wind would hurl the whole party flat to the ground, and then bombard them with fragments of ice and frozen snow whipped off the ridges. In spite of these handicaps the climbers struggled to within a few minutes' climbing of the top where the attempt had to be abandoned the mountain and the wind combining too successfully for the labouring party. Back they turned, racing for the warmth of the bush and the fire in the hut. A good meal and a few songs and yearns helped to pass the time until we had to leave. It had been raining steadily since we had come down off the mountain and showed no signs of clearing up.

We crossed the river by means of a swing bridge comprised of two wires—one to stand on and the other to hang to—and trudged out through the height of the storm to the road, where "Old Faithful" was waiting for us. All climbed on as best we could, and the old bus more or less speedily transported us to shelter, dry clothes, and hot food.

The meeting closed with a motion "that the chairman has controlled this rowdy meeting with excellent tact and discretion—with the press in the background and the senior member of the bar (Mr. McGhie) in the foreground," the same being carried with acclamation