Ski-touring Expedition ‘Northern Aoraki Serpent’, New Zealand, July 2006
243 Field Hospital (V)
It’s early July; the sun is shining brightly in a clear blue sky – so why am I wearing five layers of clothing? I didn’t mention the freezing temperatures and the snow covered mountains. Of course, I’m on Expedition ‘Northern Aoraki Serpent’ and its mid winter here in South Island, New Zealand. During my 15 year career in the T.A I’ve had many opportunities and new experiences, but this has to be one of the best, a three week ski touring expedition on the other side of the world.
I was introduced to ski touring on ‘Cold Soldier’ held in Bavaria earlier this year. It adds a whole new dimension to skiing, venturing further afield, off piste, up the mountains, across ridges and down through untouched snow. You also need knowledge of the weather, avalanche activity and procedures, good map reading skills and a good level of fitness, not to mention skiing ability. I couldn’t wait to practice my skills learnt in Garmisch- Partenkirchen and what better place to try than the mountains of New Zealand.
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After a long, but very pleasant
flight with Singapore Airlines, 24 of us (including 2 support staff)
descended over the spectacular mountain ranges and flat lands of New
Zealand. We landed at Christchurch armed with skis, boots, tents and all
the necessary camping equipment, loaded our three minibus and trailers and
headed 36 km out of town to Burnham Army Camp. We made the most of the New
Zealand Army’s hospitality and stayed a week in transit accommodation,
consisting of our own rooms together with a communal room ideal for
briefing. We also used their lecture theatre and the excellent dining
facilities; the food was delicious and plentiful (lots of lamb). Two
cooked meals a day, together with a well stoked packed lunch provided by
the very friendly and helpful kitchen staff meant we had to go out and
burn off some calories. Overall, the camp staff couldn’t do enough for
us; it was an excellent exercise for international relations.
Our first day on skis was spent at Porter Heights, an hour’s drive from base. On first impressions, many of us thought we were back in Aviemore; the clear blue skies had disappeared and we found our ski legs under a blanket of cloud. SSgt Hans Felder together with Sgt Gary Roper and WO2 Pete Johnson, assessed us all and made up three ski groups. The rest of the day was spent practising our downhill techniques which needless to say included backwards skiing and pirouettes! Luckily the next day was fine and we returned to Porter Heights (realising this wasn’t Scotland) ready to ski tour. Our group of six had already achieved ski tour proficiency and we were looking to practise and improve our skills. We bought a one way lift pass to the top and while most skied straight down, we headed off across the ridge. It really was spectacular, making our own tracks through the snow, with the most amazing views all around. The ridge itself was quite narrow in places with a shear drop either side (not for the faint hearted) but we made good progress until a decision was made not to go all the way to the highest point. The snow conditions were not ideal; there was a lot of bare rock to be seen and possible chance of avalanche. So we had lunch on a rocky outcrop amongst stunning scenery before retracing our steps and then skiing off piste, over the ridge and down through deep powder snow. It was real "Magazine Cover" stuff. Obviously these kinds of expeditions are designed to stretch the individual without pushing them over the top into panic mode. That’s fine until it comes to driving along the mountain passes to the actual ski area! shear drops, tight bends, icy conditions and NO BARRIERS. Needless to say, we all soon became very efficient at fitting snow chains and put a lot of trust in our expert drivers. Broken River was our next ski tour adventure in the same mountain range. Not having local knowledge meant we went in blind initially, putting a fair amount of pressure on our ski tour leaders to provide us with a good route for the day. It soon became apparent that New Zealanders were hardy skiers, we had to climb over 200 metres carrying skis before reaching the actual ski area, where we donned our skis and continued to climb. You may be wondering how to go up hill on a pair of skis; the answer is ‘skins’. Sticky on one side, with a moleskin type pile on the other, they are fitted to the bottom of each ski and enable you to walk up a steep slope without sliding backwards, ingenious. Accompanying this is the ability to release the heel of your ski boot from the binding allowing you to walk or slide along normally. When ski touring, it is also vital to wear a transmitting device and to carry a shovel, a probe and a group shelter, together with general hill walking equipment. You also need to be adept at performing kick turns, a technique which allows you to traverse a steep slope. We had plenty of practise doing this at Broken River. |
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The following day took a different tack and armed with ice axes and crampons, our group were shown Winter Mountain Proficiency (WMP) techniques. We had lots of practise climbing up and descending steep icy slopes together with breaking falls, when hurtling down a hillside, several bruises later, we were more confident in applying these important skills. It was now time to leave Burnham Camp behind after a visit to their museum and head to our next destination. We stopped for lunch en route at Timaku and again enjoyed the outstanding hospitality of the Quartermasters relatives.
On arrival at Lake Tekapo we found the whole camp knee deep in snow and had to clear the pats before occupying our beach huts, three of us in each six bunk cabin. It wasn’t long before several members of the group had taken to the kitchen under the control of Capt Royston Smith-Straney, ex master chef, and we were all tucking into a delicious roast dinner, we even had cake for afters. The only downside was that it was so cold, -23c outside by all accounts, so we had to eat dressed in hats and puffer jackets. However, Maj Sid Goodall and WO2 Andy O’Keeffe continued to produce superb meals throughout the next phase. The landscape had changed and despite the fact that more snow had fallen in June than they had experienced for 40 years so we were limited in our activities. However we explored the stunning area around Lake Tekapo and experienced 4 good days of ski touring, together with a day of practising our downhill technique. Unfortunately due to the snow conditions and problems with booking the mountain huts we did not undertake a 3-5 day expedition on our skis, which for me would have been the highlight of the trip. So I didn’t get to sleep in a snow hole or stretch myself fully but we did build a "Quincy", consisting of a huge pile of snow that is later dug out like an igloo. We spent a week cooking and cleaning up after ourselves after a day out on the mountain, before again heading to our next destination.
Queenstown is a vibrant buzzing place nestled between mountain ranges and beside a lake. A perfect place to spend R & R. After a few more days ski touring that’s exactly what everyone did. A lot of hard work goes into organising an expedition like this and although everything didn’t go quite to plan, we’ve learnt many useful lessons to ensure future expeditions go well. Thanks go to WO1 Steve Ashcroft and all those behind the scenes for making this happen. It was a spectacular experience.
Sgt H Winsor