President’s Desk
Kia ora Taranaki Alpine Club and Prospective New members,
Well October has come out of nowhere, with warm spring conditions prevailing, its all full swing planning for the Annual Club event the Open Climb. So if you have helped in the Past, and we can rely on your support to get up to 120 Punters (technical name for members of the public) to the top or as near as we can of Taranaki Maunga save this date: Saturday the 10th February 2024. Also try to make it to our 2nd November Club night for a general and specific role open climb inductions including some updated knowledge on the personhood status and bicultural significance of the Maunga that is currently in transition to be more formalised than has been in previous open climbs. This will be a great asset to add to your personal repertoire when guiding participants on the annual open climb.
October Club Night is an out of town guest speaker in collaboration with the NZAC Taranaki Section. Chris Prudden is a previous club member who I don’t know personally, but from what I have been told he can certainly talk, so you are ensured to be entertained. See below in the club night section or on the Club Facebook for more details.
For those who missed out on Snowcraft this year or have joined the club recently, do make sure you get on a trip or two over the summer/autumn period as this all helps you to get the most out of snowcraft which builds upon general tramping and outdoors skills. On this topic see below and on facebook for courses on bush navigation and river safety coming soon in October and November.
I was fortunate enough to be part of organising and taking part in a mountain to sea trip, and while I didn’t quite make the full distance myself, it was great being part of a team switching between the four modes of human powered travel – snow climbing, skiing(or boarding), biking and paddling was an exhilarating day of both a physical and mental nature. Will include a few photos below for those interested. Big thanks to my accomplices for joining me on this special day. If you have done a noteworthy trip lately that you think will inspire others within the club send through a brief blurb and some pics to our HiTAC editor at hitac.tac@outlook.com
Conrad Murray
President