BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:Australia/Sydney X-WR-TIMEZONE:Australia/Sydney BEGIN:VEVENT UID:2590@unswoc.org DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20191125T000000 DTEND;TZID=Australia/Sydney:20200119T000000 DTSTAMP:20191127T013136Z URL:https://unswoc.org/wordpress/events/mountaineering-trip-to-the-new-zea land-southern-alps-expedition-beanie-grant-2019/ SUMMARY:Mountaineering Trip to the New Zealand Southern Alps - Expedition B eanie Grant 2019 DESCRIPTION:2019 UNSWOC Beanie Grant – Mountaineering Training Trip to th e New Zealand Southern Alps\n\nParticipants: Jenny\, Henry\, Maria\, Brend on\, Ash\, Jeffrey\, Matthew\, Stephen\n\n\n\nOver 50 years ago\, our club (The Climbing &\; Mountaineering Society) had a clear goal: to create a safe\, unique and supportive community of climbers within our university to climb mountains together. They achieved it. Nowadays\, UNSWOC is a thr iving community with hundreds of active members learning skills\, leading trips\, sharing their knowledge\, and exploring the outdoors. However\, mo untaineering\, the heart of our club and our most technical discipline\, h as almost vanished. Over the years\, a lack of investment in the developme nt of mountaineering skills has led to a massive reduction in the practice of this challenging sport. To overcome this problem\, we have formed a te am with some of our most active\, skilled and experienced trip leaders to bring mountaineering back to the UNSWOC.\n\nThe president\, vice president \, treasurer\, training officer\, gear officer\, former gear officer\, for mer events officer and caver of the year have meticulously planned a mount aineering training trip to New Zealand to safely develop our mountaineerin g skills and teach them back to the club. Our itinerary includes the compl etion of a 7-days High Alpine Skills Course with the NZ Alpine Club follow ed by 2-3 weeks of self-sufficient alpine ascents around the Mt Cook and M t Aspiring National Parks. The 2019 UNSWOC Expedition Beanie Grant will go towards subsiding a small part of the course.\n\nIn December 2019 we will hike to the Aoraki Mount Cook National Park in the south of New Zealand\, a well-known area for alpine rock\, snow &\; ice sites. Throughout the course\, the 8 participants will get training on crampon and ice-axe skil ls\, alpine rock\, snow and ice climbing techniques\, glacier travel\, cre vasse and improvised rescue techniques\, snow and ice anchors\, belay syst ems and pitched climbing\, abseiling\, route selection\, mountain navigati on\, weather forecasting\, avalanche awareness\, hazard management and eme rgency shelters. To conclude our training\, we will ascend Kaitiaki Peak ( 2222 m) or Turner Peak (2341 m) with our instructors. Afterwards\, our tea m will attempt to summit Mount Brewster unguided using the knowledge obtai ned in the course. Mount Brewster (2516 m) is the highest peak in the east ern corner of the Mount Aspiring National Park and requires classic New Ze aland alpine climbing skills. Depending on the conditions\, we will climb the South Ridge from the Mount Brewster hut\, a steep snow ridge to the su mmit graded 2+.\n\nSuccess in mountaineering comes from training\, experie nce\, good decision-making and good teamwork. All the participants have be en training for the past year\, including leading sport and trad single an d multipitches\, trips to the snowy mountains\, Coogee Death Stairs\, carr ying heavy (20-30 kg) backpacks\, swimming\, running\, cycling and hitting the gym. Knowledge of knots\, anchor-building\, rope rescue techniques an d crampons use has been covered and practised. Upon our return\, we will b e highly committed to sharing our skills by taking suited members ice clim bing and glacier crossing in the Snowy Mountains (2 weekend-long trips per year). Furthermore\, we will run a minimum of 8 one-day workshops per yea r focused on teaching the partaken course’s curriculum. Once UNSWOC has regular members involved in mountaineering\, the permeation of its skills and knowledge will not be hindered by the shortage of skilled people but o nly by the willingness of members to learn and be involved. It is time for UNSWOC to go back to its roots and climb big mountains again\, and thanks to the UNSWOC Expedition Beanie Grant to make it possible. END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Australia/Sydney X-LIC-LOCATION:Australia/Sydney BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20191006T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:AEDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR