President’s Desk
We had an awesome crew of seasoned and first time helpers on this year’s Taranaki Alpine Clubs Open Climb, The event having an 80 year old colourful history, this year saw the climb to go ahead under the revised safety plan in which extensive member feedback was collected and incorporated generously by Jonathan Crane and Sophie Tucker. It was a great day all round with generally well prepared participants and even though there was no epic views, the chilly wind seemed to give punters an alternative sense of achievement pushing beyond their prior limits.
All 64 participants descended from the lodge under their own human power and a well earnt cold beverage and debrief at the lodge enjoyed by the open climb crew. There appears to still be some room for improvement, specifically how we can increase participation for future events up to the plans 120 limit.Once this work is polished off the open climb committee can enjoy a relaxing three month holiday before they kick in to 2024’s planning. Thanks to our open climb committee Mike Johns, Andrew Jordan, Carey Clow, Glen Hodges and Boyd Benton & Myself and to everyone else who assisted behind the scenes including the talents of TAC Secretary Sheryl Hamilton for sorting the initial stages of the tedious crew list.
With Autumn kicking into gear with a sprinkling of snow on the mountain already, planning is well underway for Snow Craft Instruction 2023. Keep an eye on the HiTAC for the next two issues to find out dates as they are set and more details on how to register. Instruction is for members only hence why it is advertised only in internal publications. Here is hoping that the snow season will be more amenable to courses going ahead compared with last year. If you are keen to help as an instructor or extra experienced body please let our club captain Finn know ASAP as he puts a lot of effort into planning a train the trainer day which had minimal attendance last year despite it being a fantastic half day on the mountain chewing the fat.
This coming Thursday is our Annual General Meeting at the Fitzroy golf club at 7:30pm. Along with election of the committee and presenting of club trophies your feedback is requested to assist the incoming committee’s decision for the 2023-24 financial year, the most urgent being the tripling of our insurance premium for the lodge. Andrew Darney, our treasurer has already provided a great summary of various options the committee could choose, if you haven’t already read this you will find it in your emails from the HiTAC email address. As is tradition after the AGM there will be a short film and some very light refreshments. If you can’t make it to the AGM and you please email me if you haven’t let me know already that you will be an aplogy.
One of our sister clubs, the NZAC – Taranaki section, had great weather for their rock meet last weekend, with routes being ticked off by its members, most also TAC members at various elevations of the mountain. If you want to crush the rock as much or more than you do on snow and ice, our rock and ropes courses are a great starting point to cover the basics. There are still limited spaces available, check our trips section for more information.
See you this Thursday!
Conrad Murray
President