Captain's Comment
G’day, and welcome to what’s going to be a gnarly 1999 with CUTC.
Everyone from legends, fossils, funky gals to sifters have joined the club and we’ve
extracted the deneros, so make the most of it this year by getting fully involved. Whether
you’re a fossil or new to this club and country, there will be something for everyone
to enjoy.
The first term will be a real rip-snorter with plenty of trips and social activities to get through in what will be a damn pearla four weeks. A wide variety of trips have been planned so if you’re a nimble footed goat on nutri-grain or a slug on a trail there will be something for you. As for the rest of us – tough! Well O.K not at all as I tell you now there are plenty beautiful trips to enjoy. Trips in the first term will range across Arthurs Pass, Lewis Pass, the Kaikoura ranges and Nelson way – bag them all and I guarantee you’ll loose a few pounds! Many trips are lead by experienced group leaders who will often share their knowledge and enthusiasm for our great outdoors with you.
With a large number of members (#1 largest / most funky club on varsity) we have a wide range of skills and resources to call upon, hence even seasoned knobbly legged trampers can gain some new knowledge or skills from participating in club activities. When you’re involved with the club the enthusiasm is contagious, it is often a great way to clear the mind by going on one of the trips each weekend.
Winter is my favourite time of the year and after climbing a mountain or camping beside a high country tarn (with a compulsory swim) you come back to lectures / work with a sensational buzz (and a week of thawing to allow for the shrinkage!!!) – it’s the best high around!? Being involved in the tramping club is also a great way to meet people of like mind, to make strong friendships with both the same and opposite sex (so don’t be shy!). Too often we walk in parallel lines to one another - here’s an opportunity to walk in the same line, so be respectful and make the most of it.
The best way to get to know people is to go on a few trips with them; at the beginning of the year the workload is often light (if you’re doing a BA it’s always light!) and everyone is in the same position of not fully knowing each other. Afterward meet them at the meetings and introduce your friends, then we all have something to talk about and someone to talk to – one big happy family eh!
Wednesday night meetings throughout term at 7:30PM in the Upper Common room form a large part of the club calendar. At meetings we have guest speakers, slide shows, social events and we plan the trips for the weekend – its one totally hip night every week that you don’t want to miss out on – see for yourself!
Two of the clubs major instruction courses will be run during the second or third weekend. On a Saturday learn how to pack float in controlled conditions at the Waimak. These courses are really gnarly and it’s really important to practice your river crossing skills as often as possible; particularly packfloating as you often never have to use them except when you’re about to drown – and you pups don’t want to be doing that!!
On Sunday there will be a rockclimbing day at Castle Hill, if weather is harsh we’ll do it in the gym. The Easter break will be a time to go on a few much awaited longer trips and we’ve got a few ideas down for around the Nelson lakes area - we’ll see what trips the folks squeal for and take it from there! One thing I can promise is that the area is pretty darn awe-inspiring and provides magical tramping. The last few terms are yet to be planned in detail by the funky freeze (a.k.a ‘the committee’) yet there are a number of events not to be missed out on. The first of these will be TWALK – basically a go mad 24 hour orienteering event held at a mystery location known only to the organisers and the good fairies – so get a team and theme together for TWALK which will approximately be on the 1
st of May.Another highlight of the year is the Bushball (where if you’re lucky you may win the coveted toilet seat award off me – but be rest assured of stiff competition from M-Wah as it looks great on my wall!). This ball rocks the universe with compulsory club cocktails, music, dancing and a funky theme – and no tramping clothing allowed! It’s held deep in the bush somewhere in a wicked little hut far away from the society police (or so I thought last year).
Winter is the most awesome time to tramp as it offers unsurpassed beauty,
uncrowded huts and tracks and a landscape out of a fairytale like SnowWhite!!! Some tend
to think that you can’t tramp in winter, well let me say this - CRAP! However the
right skills, knowledge and equipment are needed to safely enjoy tramping in the winter.
As a consequence CUTC offers several far out snowcraft courses in the third and fourth
term by some of Canterbury’s biggest legends – namely Phil, Adrian, John &
Co.! These guys teach you how to use ice-axes, crampons, ropes, the art of building
snowcaves and the awareness of hazards (like cornices!?) Snowcraft along with other
courses such as bushcraft, first aid and river-crossing are all heavily subsidised by the
club ensuring no barrier to participation. For the gear freaks like Darren and myself
there is a way-out gear sale at the beginning of the year (see page 7) where everyone has
the opportunity to buy top quality gear that is not offered to the public at such unruly
discounts. If your budget is as tight as a spit-wad then never fear - we have an extensive
gear locker with the latest women’s packs, to tents and crampons. There is pretty
much everything you need to tramp with in there (except me!). If you need the gear for a
trip just see our friendly gear-locker officer Chris. 
The University Tramping Club has a lot to offer however you can’t take advantage of it by sifting around home wondering where all the real men and women are (as we’re all tramping!). To get the most out of your membership you need to be an active member and participate as much as you can. The more you join in the more you get out of your varsity year and I guarantee to all those that participate some memorable experiences – many you’ll never forget even as a fossil some day!! So don’t act out a pasty-faced potato existence – get off your broadside and come along to meetings and enjoy the great outdoors on the weekends. Participate, and take some photos! For in the words of the ultimate Daz "there’s nothing quite so satisfying as sitting in your Monday morning lecture knowing that the day before you were standing on top of a mountain living life to the fullest".
Tramp ’99 to history!
All the best for the year and I’ll see you around
Rene Artz.