Auckland Section of the NZAC

The Auckland Section of the NZ Alpine Club runs a variety of alpine, climbing & other trips throughout the year and new members are always welcome. We have a club meeting on the first Monday night of each month (may be changed for public holidays), and we also organise special events such as the Banff Film Festival or international speakers throughout the year. We run instruction courses in both snowcraft and rock climbing during the year and there is some hire gear available for members. The Auckland Section looks after the Ruapehu hut in the Tongariro National Park which provides a base for climbing, ski-touring or just getting away from the city.

Please feel free to come along to a club meeting or email one of the committee members for more information.

July 2008: Sean Waters is Back!

Monday 7th July, 2008 at 7.30pm
Venue: St Luke’s Community Centre, Remuera Rd, Newmarket

Sean Waters, one half of the irrepressible legendary adventure duo returns to the Auckland section to tell us about his 2007 expedition to the Northern Patagonian Ice Cap. He and adventure buddy Jo Kippax kayaked fjords, navigated glaciers and snuck in a first ascent. Two years in the planning, once in Chile, things didn’t quite go to plan (do they ever?). To whet your appetites, here, in Sean's words, a bit about their expedition. "We had an expedition of extremes – many highs and some pretty deep lows, we completed a difficult traverse on the icecap, tested our mental strength, saw places that few people on the planet lay eyes on, survived to tell the tale and are still firm friends!"

"It felt like we had to dig pretty deep to pull this one off - more mentally than physically - 25 days of bad weather will do that to you, as you see the trip you have planned for two years slowly slipping away in a windy rain cloud. We were so close to descending and flagging it on day 25 after yet another storm and another bout of watching our industrial size snow wall (our only protection from the legendary Patagonian wind - everything they say about the wind here is true) melt in the driving rain - but in the end we decided we had to stick it out to the last possible day - if only for our peace of mind and the knowledge that we had done all we could. Next day, after a wild night - the weather cleared and suddenly, unbelievably, we had our fine spell…".

See you there for what has got to be a highlight in the Auckland section calendar!

If you have any questions or queries, call Matt on 362 1984 or 0272 241 3596.

Next meeting August 2008: Annual General Meeting

Monday 5th August, 2008 at 7.30pm
Venue: St Luke’s Community Centre, Remuera Rd, Newmarket
See the Meetings page for details.

T-Shirt Design Competition

Help us take on the big guns of fashion and create the next big thing! Show off your creative genius and design a t-shirt for the Auckland Section. See the News page for details.

Summits for Ed Tribute Tour

Please see http://www.summitsfored.org.nz/ for more information on the Summits for Ed tribute tour. The tribute tour was an opportunity to recognise and further the work of Sir Ed in helping young people gain confidence though enjoying the environment.

Find out more...