Post: Monday 31, August 2009

RUAPEHU: At last, I'm up and running

Well not really running, the pack is too heavy and the snow's too soft… It's taken a lot of work to get here, but at last I'm actually on the slopes of Ruapehu and climbing!

The preparation needed to get this point has been pretty impressive. I have been working ever since May this year, with fitness training, climbing training on Ruapehu, and assembling all the gear. In addition, wanting to raise funds for the Foundation of Youth Development added an extra dimension to the expedition – it's no longer just about me getting up the mountain. I really want to meet my target of raising $30,000 in donations to the Foundation.

That's why I want to thank Mark Adams who came on board early on to help me promote the expedition. Mark shaped the story and created a mini brand campaign, putting in a huge amount of time developing the website with the web guys at Function Eight. It is a big load taken off my shoulders, so I can concentrate on getting up the mountain…

Fitness training is going well; up at 5:30am 5 days a week for an hour ¼ of my program of cardio vascular and strength training. On Saturday morning a hike up One Tree Hill a couple of times with my boots and pack.

Buying the gear bit by bit is a big job. Every item you need to research, try to find, try on and compare and then buy – very time consuming.

Climbing training with NZ Alpine Club on their snow craft course has been great fun! 16 of us are on the course with 7 great instructors.

Delta Ridge, 2nd Aug - Ready to go

So eager to get out on the first weekend at Ruapehu, except I paid big price on our 2 hour climb from the Top of Bruce road to Alpine Hut on Delta ridge. In addition to what I needed, I seem to have taken the kitchen sink as well, so my pack was extremely heavy compared with the others I picked up! However, great for my fitness.

Delta Ridge, 2nd Aug - Sunday morning

Have just come back from the second weekend. Another blast! The climb up with a lighter pack started at 11:00pm and we arrived at the hut at 1:00am. Climbing up on soft snow was like walking on soft sand for 2 hours with a pack. Combine that with wind and sleet. Really got the body going.

Walking up on Friday night 28th Aug

It was a fun on Saturday with improving weather, doing a few pitches and getting some belaying instruction. Then spending 4 hours building a snow cave in the afternoon. After that back breaking work we had a well deserved tasty meal of pasta sauce and vegetables. Darkness set in with a wonderful star filled sky and half moon… beautiful! But it didn't take long to collapse inside our sleeping bags in our cosy snow cave.

Standing outside our snow cave at dusk…Magic! 29th Aug

On Sunday the weather started packing in, so we headed down the mountain in the late morning with some avalanche responder training on the way down.

Now back in Auckland… back to the fitness training again!

Dave