Please keep this

Club Nights

Wednesday 7:30pm Student Union

President: Darren Evans

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Club Captain: Rene Artz

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Treasurer: Kerryann Murphy

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Secretary: Emily Tuffley

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Membership: Clare Mclennan

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Publicity: Stewart Hardie

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Trips: Glen Borrell

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Instruction: Rene Borsboom

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Safety: Benjamin Franzmayr

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Positions to be elected in March: 2 Gear Locker Officers

2 Newsletter Editors

2 Social Officers

2 TROG Editors

Environment Officer

Welcome to 1998 with the CUTC. The club offers a wide range of activities throughout the year associated both directly and indirectly with tramping. There are regular trips designed for people of all grades of fitness and experience. Information about upcoming trips is posted on the club notice board and published in a regular club newsletter (sent to you through the mail). Details of trips are usually worked out at the Wednesday club meetings before the weekend at about 8.30pm. If you are planning to go on a trip, please be there on Wednesday night. Transport for weekend trips normally leaves from the Students Association carpark on Friday nights (or Saturday mornings for those who can wake up at that hour).

GEAR LOCKER

The Club owns gear which is hired out to members at nominal rates. This gear includes tents, ice-axes, crampons, harnesses, ropes, snow shovels, billies, cookers, maps. The gear is stored in the gear locker in the Students Association building.

Location of gear locker and notice board. The pigeon hole is in the club’s room upstairs

The names and phone numbers of the gear locker officers will be on the gear locker door. Please note that you are responsible for the replacement or repair of any gear lost or damaged while hired to you. Please return gear promptly after use—fines will be imposed otherwise. Do not return gear by leaving it outside the locker. Note that a deposit of $50-100 is required for some items (cheque will do), hire charges must be paid when taking out the gear.

If you have any enquires or problems about anything in the club please don’t hesitate to ring any member of the committee.

TRIP GRADINGS

If you are not sure about a trip and its grade, talk to the trips officer, or the trip leader, or try out a cruisy or med-cruisy. Then re-assess your ability and fitness. The best training for tramping is tramping.

Below is an arbitrary scale for trips. The times shown below are only a rough guide but hopefully should be indicative of the trip. Daytrip time may be slightly longer due to lighter loads.

Easy: (2 hours walking)

• Highly recommended for those who haven’t been tramping much.

• No tramping experience required, fitness not essential.

• Typically include straight forward tracks, no bush-bashing, relaxed schedule, low passes, lots of scroggin stops.

• Chance to learn tramping skills rather than using all of them.

Easyish: (4 hours walking)

• Halfway between an ‘Easy’ and ‘Medium.’

Medium: (6-8 hours walking)

• A lot of the classic tramping trips are medium.

• Typically involves easy alpine passes; full days tramping along a known track or route.

• May involve some off-track travel, snow (in winter), river-crossing, route finding, etc.

Medium-Hard: (8-10 hours walking)

• Tramping experience needed.

• Often similar terrain to "Keen", but with a more relaxed pace.

• Reasonable fitness required.

Hard: (10 + hours walking)

• Must be experienced, tramping fit and have appropriate gear and skills.

Clothing:

Boots

Good waterproof raincoat and overtrousers

Warm socks (at least 2 pairs)

Warm jacket / bushshirt / jersey / fleece

Polypro or woollen longjohns and tops

Shirts / shorts

Woollen or fleece hat, mittens

Spare footwear (pair of sandshoes)

Sunglasses / suncream

Optional (but essential in snow): Gaiters/putties

Equipment:

Pack & waterproof liner

Sleeping bag & sleeping mat

Personal first-aid kit

Torch / compass / map / whistle

Water bottle, filled (1.51 soft drink does well)

Eating utensils / matches / candles

Toilet paper / plastic bags

Ice axe, crampons (in snow and ice)

Group Gear:

Tent (if needed)

Cooker / billy

Group first-aid kit

Map / compass

If you lack some of this gear talk to your trip leader / organizer and they can help you borrow / hire something. Some gear can be hired from the gear locker and use of group gear (tents/cookers/billies) is free on official club trips.

SUGGESTED FOOD FOR WEEKEND TRIPS

Half the fun of some trips can be the banquets at the end of a days tramping. On Friday nights most usually have takeaways.

Breakfasts (2) Muesli/cereal, milk-powder, porridge, sandwiches, rice & raisins, instant potato & cheese, mealmates.

Lunches (2) Bread, cheese, salami, spreads, biscuits, buns, fruit, sardines, mealmates.

Dinner (1) Pot luck: Meat, lentils, rice, vegies, macaroni cheese, spaghetti bolognaise, mealmates, etc.

Dessert: cheesecake, instant pud, stewed fruit, custard, ice-cream? mealmates!

Drinks Raro, tea, coffee, milo, water with mealmates

Snacks (heaps) Chocolate, sweets, mealmates; nuts & raisins, scroggin, biscuits, mealmates mate!

Emergency Food Always have an extra days food with you (plan for another breakfast, lunch and day of snacks). A couple of freeze dried meals can be useful here, leave them in the bottom of your pack. And of-course more mealmates.

On longer trips take dehydrated vegies and lighter types of food. Always take extra—you will eat more than normal. Freeze dried food can be good for very long, keen trips, but is expensive and normally unnecessary.

MINIMUM IMPACT CODE

1. Our forests and alpine areas are precious and fragile. It is vital that we all observe a code of minimum impact when we use this resource. Minimum impact is simply a matter of common sense care of the environment

2. Avoid damage to native plants and animals. Keep to the tracks and use existing campsites.

3. Use a stove for cooking—dead wood is a vital part of the forest community. If you must use a fire, keep it small: and preferably built on a riverbed, using river driftwood. Bury the ashes and return the rocks to more natural positions.

4. Make every effort to remove your rubbish. Bury food scraps as these will attract rats and possums if left exposed, and carry out all other rubbish.

5. Preserve the purity of waterways. Do not use soap, biodegradable detergent is suitable. Drain any washing up water into soft soil away from the riverbed.

GIARDIA—BEWARE!

Giardia has been found in many of New Zealand’s more popular tramping areas. It is spread by possums and other animals, particularly humans (people shitting in streams). Use your own judgement, but well travelled areas, and lowland areas close to farmland and bush are more likely to be infected. Even hut water supplies can be contaminated—possums shitting on the roof.

If you wish to avoid "explosive foul smelling diahorrea", you can

• boil all water for 2-3 minutes

• buy water purifying tablets from the chemist

• use iodine (10 drops per litre of water for 20 min —tastes a bit funny though)

• buy an expensive filter pump

• take water from home for road-end camping

Be sure to wash your hands after going to the toilet, but NOT in waterways. Use water from a bottle.