Search results by user ID 2169

WANTED: FIELD ASSISTANT

Terra Dumont — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:35:50 GMT

WANTED: FIELD ASSISTANT

Where: Nelson Lakes National Park

When: NOW till Feb 7th and Feb 13th - 24th and March 20th - 30th (if you can only do one of these times that is fine, and the March time is slightly flexible).

What: Helping me monitor skink populations for my Msc ecology thesis. It would be a volunteer position with food, accommodation (tent + electricity in Kerr Bay Campground), transportation and chocolate paid for. The work involves working from about 8am to noon or early afternoon checking 238 pit fall traps for skinks and recording what is found. No experience necessary. I will give you all the training you need :)

Your help will be much appreciated! I was expecting to be able to do this work by myself but I have become quite ill and unable to do it alone.

Contact: Terra Dumont enviro_runner@hotmail.com 027 643 3899

Thank you! :)

Skink catchers wanted!!

Terra Dumont — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:00:42 GMT

Hey all,

I'm up in Wellington doing some field work for my Msc in Ecology and I need to catch skinks! Thus I am looking for people to help me this weekend. I'm planning on heading out to Pukerua Bay tomorrow afternoon, and then again on Sunday.

No skink catching experience required!

If you can help for anytime please contact me.

Terra :)

enviro_runner@hotmail.com

027 643 3899

Remarkables Ice and Mixed Festival

Terra Dumont — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:34:15 GMT

Note from Terra: Don't be afraid to come if you are a beginner - you may not win anything, but it will be a fantastic way to increase your skills, knowledge and meet other climbers! :D

SO WHAT'S THIS FESTIVAL ALL ABOUT?

Bringing together the top winter alpine climbers in NZ as a means of advancing and promoting modern mixed climbing. Showcasing the new and existing route potential on NZ’s most accessible multipitch winter training area. Sharing local knowledge and forming new climbing partnerships. All festival attendees will receive the latest guide for the Remarkables. This will have over 30 unclimbed routes and detailed information on more than 150 possible summer and winter climbs.

Fundraising for local anchor replacement initiatives and the NZAC expedition fund.

NOT FOR PROFIT

All proceeds raised will be used to provide funding for anchor replacement, NZAC Expedition Fund, festival running costs and award prizes.

EVENTS CALENDAR

THURSDAY 16TH AUGUST

Registration & social drinks 7pm–8pm at The Frankton Ale House. All attendees must register on Thursday night to be part of the festival. Attendees will select routes and or areas they wish to climb in on each day of the festival. Once a particular crag or sector has its allocated amount of climbers, attendees will have to choose from a different crag or sector. First in first served. All multi pitch routes will be climbed with teams of three. Where possible a local climber will join a team of two out of town visitors. Along with selecting your climbs for the weekend you will also register for the dinners and festival talks that you wish to attend.

At registration all participants will receive the festival goody bag with an “up to date” full ice and mixed guide for the Remarkables plus special bonus products from our sponsors and some participants bags will also contain spot prizes.

Registration cost is $50 and covers your entry to all guest speaker talks, slide shows, gear auctions, copy of the up to date ice and mixed guide and accommodation with a local climber if required. You will also receive discount drink and meal vouchers for our sponsoring pub and restaurant. Welcome bags will also include discount vouchers for local climbing shops and FREE BEER vouchers form our official festival beer sponsor.

FRIDAY 17TH AUGUST

Meet at the top of the Remarkables road in the carpark at 6.30am.

Section leaders will take their groups to the various mixed lines on:
- The West faces of the Telecom Tower, Double Cone and South Face of Single Cone. 60 places available.
- Lake Alta, Border Crag and Grand Coluior. 10–12 places available.
- Wye Creek intro to ice and mixed 20 places available. (this will be a ski or snow show in day trip good fitness required).
- Chicks “n” Picks up to 8 places available for Wye Creek and 6 dedicated spots for the multipitch climbs. Learn and climb with local Queenstown woman. Two female guides have been provided by Adventure Consultants to train and inspire 8 lucky woman festival participants. Sleeping accommodation at Wye Creek on Friday night has also been provided by Adventure Consultants.

FRIDAY NIGHT 17TH AUGUST

Dinner from 6pm – 8pm at the Frankton Ale House.

Slide shows and movies from NZ’s latest mixed climbing crags. Each speaker will also detail at least two of their UNCLIMBED projects. Talks will last approx. 10–15 minutes with a total of 6–8 speakers. Hear from NZ’s top mixed climbers and see the future projects they wish to climb. Part of this evening will also be a talk on the unclimbed winter lines on the Remarks. We will be opening these projects up to all participants over the weekend. Saturdays nights dinner will include a prize for the hardest new route climbed on either Friday or Saturday. Featured speakers will include:

Al Uren, Jono Clark, Jamie Vinton Boot, Ben Dare, Al Walker, Daniel Joll, and Rupert Gardiner.

SATURDAY 18TH AUGUST

Meet at the top of the Remarkables road in the carpark at 6.30am.

Section leaders will take their groups to the various mixed lines on:
- The West faces of the Telecom Tower, Double Cone and South Face of Single Cone. 60 places available.
- Lake Alta, Border Crag and Grand Coluior. 10–12 places available. Learn from Al Uren one of NZ’s most experienced climbers.
- Wye Creek intro to ice and mixed 20 places available. (this will be a ski or snow show in day trip good fitness required).
- The Adventure Consultants Chicks “n” Picks up to 8 places available for Wye Creek and 6 dedicated spots for the multi pitch climbs. Learn and climb with local Queenstown woman.
- Climbs of both Double & Single Cone from the east unlimited number of participants may partake.

SATURDAY NIGHT 18TH AUGUST

Awards Dinner, Festival Party, Guest Speaker and Fundraising Auction. Dinner from 6pm – 8pm at The Frankton Ale House.

This will be followed up by a feature talk from Guy Cotter one of NZ’s top expedition climbers & mountain guides. Prior to the talk beginning we will be having a fund raising auction with excellent climbing gear, clothing and associated products available from our sponsors. Awards are allocated for:

- Hardest New Route of the Festival (male and female team award).
- Hardest Repeated Route (clean redpoint or onsight male and female award).
- Winter Climb of the Season (submissions for this route may be put forward by festival participants prior to registration it is open for any new winter climb or repeat. Judges will be looking for technical difficulty, length, consistency and style.

Major prizes will be awarded for each of these categories. Prize value will be between $300-$500

SUNDAY 19TH AUGUST

Social climbing day.

Our aim is for all festival participants to climb the Grand Traverse of the Remarkables on Sunday. Those wishing to multi pitch climb still need to register their route intention so we don’t double up on climbs. Others may wish to take part in the grand traverse challenge. We will also be leading groups to various dry tooling crags for some technique lessons and some arm pumping action. We will have leaders taking groups up Single Cone, Double Cone, Lake Alta, Border Crag etc.

The Grand Traverse Challenge - put your pride on the line and step up to the plate for the chance at some great prizes from our sponsors. Starting at 8am from the Remarkables ski field car park the fastest person to complete the grand traverse will be the winner. Climbers will leave at 15 minute intervals. Solo is the preferred style however if a roped team think they can keep the pace then we are open to this type of entry as well. Entrants will leave at 15 minute intervals starting at 8am. All those partaking in the general climb will leave around 9.30am.

Please be aware that if you do decide to race over the traverse and fall at any stage of the climb if unroped you are likely to die. So please dont take this climb lightly and make your decisions accordingly.

SUNDAY NIGHT 19TH AUGUST

Farewell drinks and dinner starting from 6pm. There will be a hosts shout with free beer and finger food.

PRIZES & SPONSORS

Competition Prizes & Event Sponsors:
- Show Me: www.showmeshop.co.nz

Industry Sponsors:
- Adventure Consultants: www.adventureconsultants.com
- NZAC: www.alpineclub.org.nz
- QCC: www.queenstownclimbing.com

Charity Auction:
- Export 33: www.dbexportbeer.co.nz
- i climb: www.iclimb.co.nz
- NZAC: www.alpineclub.org.nz

Food and Beverage:
- Export 33: www.dbexportbeer.co.nz
- The Frankton Ale House

REGISTRATION

All registrations will be made through the NZAC. To register call +64 (0)3 377 7595 or email Narina at narina@alpineclub.org.nz

Registration costs $50.

For more information on festival registration and for the details you will need to provide please visit our website.

Website	http://www.iceandmixedfestival.co.nz

How to live at Wyn Irwin for 2 months and climb one (or is it three??) little mountain

Terra Dumont — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:10:04 GMT

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How to live at Wyn Irwin for 2 months and climb one (or is it three??) little mountain

Psyched from two months of climbing in Europe and excited about mountains with snow on them I literally bounced into Wyn Irwin, ready for my second season of filming with Tony Rac. Regardless of my enthusiasm, I did harbour some small doubts as to the sanity of spring climbing in Mt. Cook after two disastrous previous seasons. The theory was that this year it would be fine, as we were starting in September as opposed to November. The weather would be settled, the snow would be consolidated, the crevasses would be filed in...

Due to a patchy forecast with only a small window, Tony and my first trip was Novara. The plan was to camp out on the top and get the sunrise on Cook. But half way up we encountered waist deep powder and strong winds. Needless to say we retreated, set up camp in the most sheltered spot we could find and headed back to Mount Cook Village the next day.

In the comfy confines of Wyn Irwin Cam started my training in the art of sifting. This involved cuddling up in my down jacket and blanket by the fire with a cup of tea and my lap top, on which I twiddled away at my thesis. And so the months went by...

There were a few intermissions in my sifting. Both Cook and Sefton lured me from my chair onto their inviting slopes - full of promises of consolidated snow and clear starry nights. Upon venturing onto their flanks I found their proffered flowers to be fakes.

Tony and my first attempt on the NW couloir of Cook resulted in having to kick in the Gardener Hut door as snow had piled up more than a meter high behind it (sorry DOC!). We didn’t even make it to Empress Hut as the weather turned early on us. My next attempt was a few weeks later with Sleak. We decided to attempt the climb from Gardener Hut, but only made it about 400 m from the hut before turning around due to deep pow. Watching the avalanches come down on the walk out made us very happy about our decision.

The story of my relationship with the East Face of Sefton is sadly very similar. You would think I would learn! Tony, Sleak and I only made it about 300 m from Sefton Biv on our first try – the wind crust was breaking off before I even managed to finish digging my avo pit. Cam had a good giggle at us and then enjoyed a ski down as we trudged back. Tony and my second attempt was barely more successful. This time our plan was to camp below Tuckett Col. We only made it to the start of the traverse over Huddleston Glacier where we again found serious instabilities in the snow pack. We enjoyed a camp with a lovely view, and headed home to Wynies the next day.

On a single day window I even tried a solo trip up Mt. Annette via Sebastopol ridge. It was again aborted half way due to unstable slab. Climbing Mt. Sebastopol barely counted as an accomplishment, despite being the only thing I had summited so far! In desperation to actually climb, Rob, Pat and I ran away twice to the safety of the bolts and solid rock of Wanaka and Queenstown. Some things sport climbers do have right... But the lure of the mountains would always bring us back; most commonly to black clouds and horizontal rain as soon as we drove past Freds Stream.

Finally, after being in Mt. Cook over a month, there was a decent weather window. The snow pack was still looking a bit unconsolidated on Sefton and the GT of Cook looked blue, so we decided to try something a bit different and so started our date with La Perouse. Sadly we didn’t even get to meet her properly, but instead went for her more accessible friend Jellicoe. The night started out perfect - clear, calm and crisp. From Empress Hut we soared over the glacier and up the flanks of Sturdy on perfect neve snow. We then dropped down onto the West Coast side and sidled the ridge. After some calf-burning soloing on front points we found our first difficult section around the back of Jellico which involved climbing down steep, rough snow. I headed down first, setting up a fixed line for Rob and Pat, Tony then cleaned it. From there we headed up to the summit of Jellicoe. At this time it was 11 am and we knew we still had plenty more ground to cover before summiting La Perouse, and we had no inclination to go back the way we came up. As we could see what appeared to be a straightforward way off Jellicoe we decided to wait until the evening freeze before heading down. It was a fabulous warm, wind free day. Perfect conditions for a picnic and afternoon sift on the summit!

As we enjoyed the view we discussed how many raps it was going to take to get down to the point where we could walk to the glacier; the bets were between two and four. Given we had four snow stakes between us this seemed good. Around 4 pm we made a t-slot and I headed down to make the next. After the 4^th t-slot we tried down climbing for a bit, but found a shrund. Being out of stakes, I made a snow bollard, and headed on down again. I made another bollard, then another. Next I ended up half way down an ice cliff, so it was time for a v-thread! It was quite the party with the 4 of us on one anchor point (2 v-threads and a screw)! And then back to the bollards.... we lost count. Somewhere around the 15th or so abseil we hit the glacier, 600 m of rapping... Being able to walk again felt so good! 23 hours after leaving the hut we re-entered her doors. After only four hours sleep in Empress Hut we pulled ourselves out of bed to try and get back to town before the storm, which was already howling, got any worse. We made it back in 5 hrs... running in front of the rain the whole way!

The forecast for the next week was terrible, so I decided to take a vacation to sunny Christchurch. Two weeks later I made it back with Wouter. As the forecast kept on changing and ended up being marginal we decided to head up to Mueller Hut for some ski touring and climbing. The plan was to ski over to Seally, climb the North Face and ski down the West side. The snow was quite icy and steep in the morning, and thus my lack of ski crampons meant we had to walk. Sadly the snow froze over only partly, meaning we were breaking through to our shins or knees with each step. We only made it as far as Annette Plateau due to this pace (sorry Wouter!). We enjoyed about half an hour of decent skiing before it all turned to mush and we headed back to Mueller Hut. The next day Wouter decided he would like a refresher on technical pitching skills, so we found a random couloir up Mt. Ollivier and headed up. We call our route “Bumblies Couloir” and the recommended (and completely unnecessary gear) is two 30 m half ropes, 2 snow stakes, 2 pitons and an ice screw (extra points the more imaginative your placement). For footwear I suggest the running shoe – crampon combo, while Wouter swears by ski boots. Enjoy the 13 pitch wonder!

So in conclusion, regardless of the lack of climbing it was a fantastic spring – my thesis is going along better than I had hoped for and I met many fantastic people. I send out a special thanks to all the lovely people that made Wyn Irwin home for me; especially: Cam, Tony, Sleak, Dan, Anne-Laure, Pete, Rob, Pat, Carl, Nina, Arthur and Martha. Wuz to you all!

Terra :)

Climbing shoes for sale

Terra Dumont — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:26:53 GMT

five ten v mile size 41 $75 ONO

Very good condition

Selling as I just bought them off trade me and they don't fit well.

Terra :)

027 643 3899

enviro_runner@hotmail.com

Warning: Ipods interfere with avalanche beacons

Terra Dumont — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 02:33:38 GMT

Doing a avalanche rescues practice some friends found out a very important fact: Ipods can interfere with your ability to use a avalanche beacon. So if your partner is caught in an avalanche turn off your Ipod or mp3 player before you start searching for them! Would be worth seeing if cell phones affect beacons. None of us new this, so we thought is was worth passing on!

Re: A short guide to being a climbing bum in Europe

Terra Dumont — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:55:24 GMT

oh I forgot to say: make sure you bring fishing gear to Norway - lots of excellent fish = yummy yummy!

And sorry about the bad formatting on the above post...

A short guide to being a climbing bum in Europe

Terra Dumont — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 19:53:40 GMT

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Bergell Mountains, San Martino, Italy

In an effort to avoid the crowds of the Dolomites and Chamonix, I decided to visit the Bergell Mountains. I was not disappointed. Beautiful granite peaks rising out of quaint Italian villages. I only saw one other climber and a couple walkers during my time there. My climbing partner and I attempted the East Pillar of Cima Del Cavalcorte (TD-, VI/6a-/17, 350m). We ended up bailing ¾ of the way up do to loosing the route, my partner dropping his atc, and a thunderstorm. Due to rain on the forecast for the next 10 days everywhere in the Alps we escaped to sunshine and beaches in Corsica. I definitely want to return to Bergell!

Corsica

The perfect place when the weather is bad in the Alps. Nice dry, warm Mediterranean weather! It is only a €9 train ride from Milano and then a reasonably priced ferry ride. The climbing is fantastic on very unique rock – think granite tufas! We predominantly climbed trad, though there is supposedly also some very good sport climbing. We climbed at Mt. Gozzi (near Ajaccio) and Col de Bravella. Threads where the predominate gear. There is a good English/French guide book to the sport climbing and a bit of the trad climbing (including Mt. Gozzi), but the only guide for Bravella I could find was in French and composed of water colour paintings for topos... So be prepared to put up new routes if you are there as it is very hard to find the actual route! And a word of advice – add a few grades onto whatever they grade the routes as – they tend to be quite sandbagged! My favourite routes on Mt. Gozzi were Voie du Caf (5+ (17), 250m) and Bassinet Laverdan (5+ (17), 180m). We camped by Petite Gozzi, where there was a small stream. From there you can walk into town to get food from the small Tabac. My favourite routes in Bravella were Autoroute Direct, Punta Aragale (6a (18), 200m) and Tribulazioni, Punta Ciaccianu (6a (18), 150m).

Henningsvaed, Lofoten Islands, Norway

A trad climbers dream! Beautiful granite walls with perfect crack lines. The gear is so good it’s like climbing on bolts. The climber’s camp by Gandalf wall is a fantastic way to make lots of friends, gather beta, and find climbing partners. And it’s free! My favourite route was Celebrian (6- (17), 400m). My favourite short multi-pitch route was Lundeklubben (6 (19), 90m), and favourite single pitch routes where Skiløperen (6- (17), 45m) and Dosethrisset (7 (22)).

Tips for living cheap:

Freedom camp. I paid for accommodation once in 2 months. In Norway as long as you are a couple hundred meters from a house it is legal to camp anywhere. In Italy they are very easy going and really don’t seem to care. In Corsica it is illegal, so make sure you hide well!! If you need to stay in towns, couch surf, or sleep in airports or bus terminals. In Bødo (Norway) the airport closes, but the info centre by the ferry depot stays open. And be warned, the Genova ferry terminal closes.

Take public transport of hitch hike. Trains are very cheap in Italy, so it is the best way to travel longer distances. In Corsica they were more expensive, but still reasonable. Avoid having to use public transport in Norway – it is VERY expensive! I found hitching very easy everywhere, especially in Norway.

Be flexible with your diet and don’t eat out. I did not eat out once on the trip. In each country I went to I had fun looking through the supermarket to see what I could afford to eat. Rice was cheap everywhere. Lentils were also affordable. Cheese and yogurt is very cheap in Italy and Corsica. Polenta is cheap in Italy. Oats are cheap in Norway, but not found in Italy or Corisca. Food is expensive in Norway, so a way to get around it is to go looking for food that has passed its best before date. In ‘Kiwi’ you get given the money for any expired food, and in Bunnpris you get the food for free! I ate a lot of nachos due to this...

For photos check out: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.248595468496017.64773.100000366969500&l=c11569b062&type=1

To the editor of Heels/Baa (sorry I'm behind on club politics and forget who has this position): if you want photos just ask and I can mail them to you. And I think it is about time we got a publication out hint hint nudge nudge... and please tell me when one is published so you can mail me a copy (with chocolate of course!!)!

Harness for sale

Terra Dumont — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 06:07:28 GMT

Hey I have just bought myself a new harness, so I have a well loved Black Diamond Primrose, size medium for sale. $40 ONO

Has served me well!

Sorry I don't have a phone, so please just reply to this message.

thanks,

Terra :)

Climbing shoes for sale

Terra Dumont — Wed, 18 May 2011 00:31:39 GMT

Hello all,

I have just got myself a new pair of shoes and thus have 2 pairs of used climbing shoes for sale.

They are:

a pair of Mad Rock's, size US8/UK7/EUR41. Good entry level shoe. Good condition. Lots of life left in them. $30 ONO

a pair of Five Ten Anasazi's, size US 9.5/UK 8.5/EUR 42.5 (regardless of technically being a size and a half larger than the Mad Rocks they actually fit tighter). A beautiful climbing shoe, used by lots of climbers around the world. The rubber on the right shoe is starting to peel back at the toe. $30 ONO.

If interested please email, text or phone me.

Note: I am in Christchurch.

Terra :)

027 643 3899