Winter is a great time to be out and about in the mountains. Crisp clear days, spectacular vistas and plenty of the white fluffy stuff under foot await those who venture into the hills.

While winter in the mountains is a spectacular season, it also brings additional risks and dangers. When planning your expeditions to the mountains during winter you need to plan for and consider these risks and dangers.

Probably statistically the greatest danger facing any tramper lies not in the risk of avalanche, rockfall or rivercrossing, but in the drive to, and from, your tramp. In winter, road conditions deteriorate, ice, snow and darkness can all combine to make driving far more dangerous than climbing many mountains. Carrying chains, maintaining your car well and driving conservatively can reduce the dangers of driving in the mountains during winter. For those of you who have trouble with this last one, remember that you’re driving your car on behalf of your passengers not just yourself.

While the dangers of driving in winter are frequently overlooked, the dangers of the cold and hypothermia are more easily remembered, particularly on those cold frosty mornings biking to varsity. Make yourself aware of the symptoms of hypothermia and how to treat it. Always be aware and assess that members of your party are not showing any signs of hypothermia when conditions turn bad. It’s a group responsibility to do this, for an individual can rarely detect the onset of hypothermia in themselves.

Being prepared can lessen the dangers of hypothermia. Take adequate clothing and plenty of food. Jacket, overtrousers, gloves and hat are an absolute minimum. Food is also important in keeping your body temperature up. One good idea in winter is to take an offcut of foam mat with you; it provides an ideal lunch seat in the snow and is a good insulator from the ground if you get caught out overnight.

Always check the weather forecast (Press Info free mountain forecast 366 6644 ext. 1030). While macho mountain people may charge up mountains in all weather, smart people stay at home by the fire when conditions are bad. After all the mountains will be there tomorrow.

Nights in winter are much longer; many people overlook this and often get caught out as a result. Always leave early in winter so that you can take maximum advantage of the available daylight (That means an extra effort is required from you slackers who show up LATE to club trips). In addition build in extra time into your trip time budget as conditions such as soft powder snow or tracks covered by fallen/snow-laden trees can result in considerably slower progress. A torch in your pack can be a handy addition.

People’s fitness can also be considerably lower than in summer. Winter being far less conducive to keeping up ones level of physical fitness. Please also remember this when you’re going on a trip too. Do not go on a trip beyond your current skills or physical fitness, its not fair on yourself or on the other members of your party who may have to give up their chance of obtaining their goal because of your lack of fitness or skills.

Avalanches are deadly killers. While the risk of an avalanche occurring can never be totally eliminated, (New Zealand’s foremost avalanche expert was actually killed in one!) a good awareness of their dangers and how to minimise the risk should be obtained by all who tramp above the bushline in winter. To this end the club has arranged a talk by Dr Ian Owens for the second week of term to raise the general awareness amongst club members of this winter risk.

Falling off mountains as a result of slipping on ice is another risk you can minimise by mastering safe winter travel techniques. This means learning how to use the necessary equipment (ice axe and crampons) to travel safely in the mountains during winter. It is vital that you can actually use this equipment and not carry it to merely decorate the outside of your pack! This takes time and practice, and is not something one can learn in ten minutes.

The club is running a series of snowcraft courses to give people the chance to learn these skills. Please take advantage of these, as many of the trips that will follow will require these skills as a pre-requisite.

One final point please remember to have a base contact. In addition tell friends and family where you are going and when you expect to be back. Also tell them a PANIC DATE, that is a time when they should contact the authorities in the event you do not return. People who do not tramp have no idea of the delays that can result from a flat battery, soft snow or twisted ankle. Spell it out for them. My suggestion is 24 hours or mid day the day after you are due back. As a general rule the authorities will not do anything except in the case of mountaineering parties until this time. Most tramping problems e.g. flooded river, broken down car are resolved in this time.

I have heard about two cases where bad communication has lead to problems. The first involved a certain strapping young lad (who regularly features in these pages) who decided to go kayaking at Okarito. Alas he forgot to tell his mother this, she panicked when she rang from the North Island, expecting to find her son home studying only to find that he had bunked on his study and gone bush. The problem was none of his flatmates knew where! Alas the poor mother became somewhat distressed!

The second incident that occurred only last week involved a worried girl friend. She rang me worried that her boyfriend had not returned from a trip with two other club members. The group had been back in the Christchurch vicinity for over an hour prior to me talking to this worried girl friend, alas the boyfriend had not contacted his girl friend immediately on his return, leaving her worrying that he was lost somewhere up in the cold dark snowy mountains! Obviously not a sensitive new age guy!

The morale of these stories is PLEASE communicate with your nearest and dearest about your intentions, when you expect to be back and a panic date. And when you do get back, LET THEM KNOW!

Well folks I’m sorry I’ve dwelled so much on safety issues, but I think it is important with winter upon us we all stop and think of the extra dangers there are for those who recreate in the mountains. Do not let me scare you off, just use common sense and consider all the risks when you head into the mountains during winter.

Finally, a disclaimer. The classified advertisement in the last newsletter was not by my hand, but a certain Dutch-Kiwi with a creative imagination! You will keep RENE JOESPHUS ARTZ!

And as for our beloved editor, please try and avoid making pictures of me look like Dr Frankenstein’s new pet project!

Well that’s all for now folks, hope to see you up in the snow in the coming term.

Darren

Some winter tips:

1. S/he who throws the first snowball, always loses the war!